WASHINGTON — A new online photo and document collection released to commemorate the anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the start of World War II makes it easier for people to share family stories and histories of the Greatest Generation.

The National Archives partnered with www.Footnote.com, a historical document archive site, to launch the new interactive collection Friday as a way to keep the story of World War II alive.

"We can't afford to forget this period in our history," said James Hastings, director of access programs at the National Archives. "What we are making available today is a Web site that will tell the story of many of the soldiers and sailors who served in the war."

One part of the four-part online World War II collection features documents related to the USS Arizona Memorial, which honors the 1,177 men killed when the battleship was sunk at its moorings at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

Readers can search records of those memorialized by typing in a name and seeing the area of the actual memorial where the name appears. Placing the cursor over the name will bring up a box with information about the sailor, including a place to contribute photos and stories.

Seaman 1st Class Jay W. Young of Tropic, Utah, was among those killed and among the first to have a page created.

A photo of Young has been added and an excerpt from a letter the sailor wrote is posted. Young had written to his sister a month before the attack about a trip to San Francisco for ship maintenance that was delayed. Young talked about how disappointed the sailors were that they had to stay at Pearl Harbor.

Other parts of the collection include memorial pages of World War II service members and millions of war photographs and documents previously unavailable on the Internet.

In the memorial section, called Hero Pages, people can track down Army personnel or create a tribute to any World War II service member with comments and records, such as photos, documents or even letters, like the one Young wrote to his sister.

"These pages will tell a story that is not included in history textbooks," said Russ Wilding, chief executive of www.Footnote.com. "What we find is the Hero Pages add to history with stories that were not always documents, but rather passed down from generation to generation."

Under the partnership with the National Archives, www.Footnote.com will host the World War II collection. www.Footnote.com features original searchable documents from other periods as well.

Access to the World War II collection will be free through December.

Hastings said the partnership helps ensure that the stories in the photos and documents are accessible to everyone, particularly those who cannot travel to the 20 National Archives research centers across the country. The National Archives is responsible for safeguarding all federal government records.

The collection includes Pearl Harbor muster rolls, reports on missing air crews, Air Force photos, Japanese air target analysis, Army and Navy judge advocate general case files, Navy press clippings, allied military conferences and submarine patrol reports.

The submarine reports even include one from the USS Finback about the rescue of Lt. j.g. George H.W. Bush, then a Navy pilot and later president, after he bailed out of a torpedo bomber that was hit by anti-aircraft fire during a mission over Chi Chi Jima in the Pacific on Sept. 2, 1944.