Weekly Column: A Meaningful Local Use Of World War II Parachute

The Veterans History Project (VHP) is a growing, treasured collection of the reflections of Idaho veterans and veterans across our great country. The collection includes the account of a World War II parachute being used for a very special purpose in Idaho.

In a blog posted on the Library of Congress’s website, Kerry Ward wrote:

“On September 9, 1947, in Nampa, Idaho, Nancy [E. Rutan] married World War II veteran Leonard L. Rutan. While serving in Honshu, Japan, Leonard had come across a warehouse full of military supplies. Among them was a brand-new silk parachute. Knowing he wouldn’t be able to bring it home in his duffel bag, he mailed it to his parents. He didn’t know yet what it would become.

After the war, Leonard met Nancy. When they became engaged, a neighbor and seamstress named Martha Miller had a suggestion. Why not use that parachute silk to make a wedding dress? The result was a stunning gown, elegant and filled with meaning. On their wedding day, Nancy walked down the aisle in silk once intended for war, now transformed into a symbol of new beginnings.

Stories like these remind us that history doesn’t always arrive in a textbook or a museum display case. Sometimes, it’s folded in a cedar chest. Sometimes, it’s passed down with a photograph, a handwritten letter or a shared memory.

At the Veterans History Project, we are proud to preserve these deeply personal narratives. These are stories of service, sacrifice, love and innovation. Through their voices and memories, veterans and their families continue to teach us about resilience, hope and humanity.

Because sometimes, history is not just written. It is worn.”

You can see a picture of Nancy Rutan in the dress here: https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2025/04/the-parachute-dresses-of-world-war-ii-a-story-of-resilience-romance-and-resourcefulness/. Leonard Rutan’s VHP interview can be accessed here: https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.19612/?loclr=blogflt.

Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2000. Since, the Library of Congress’ American Folklife Center has been working with the public to collect veterans’ oral histories to preserve and make them available to the public “so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war.” I have interviewed Idaho veterans to preserve their stories for the Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress because recording the life stories of Idaho veterans helps ensure their service is honored in a way that enables us to learn from their examples.

Idaho veterans and their families have provided more than 1,900 collections for the VHP so far. These personal service accounts can be viewed at www.loc.gov/vets/. The VHP website also contains guidelines for conducting interviews and submitting stories to the project. Veterans’ unedited audio or video-recorded interviews, photographs, letters, diaries, journals, military documents, two-dimensional artwork, maps and unpublished memoirs that pertain to the service of U.S. military veterans are among the materials accepted to the VHP.

Future generations of Americans will remember the service and sacrifice our brave veterans have made because of these documented veterans' histories. Thank you to all those who take the time to ensure Idaho voices are part of this national treasure.

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