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South County joins national veteran’s history project
The Library of Congress wants your story!
By Penny Fletcher
penny@observernews.net
SOUTH COUNTY — It’s starting in Sun City Center but those involved hope to include all those with war stories to tell.
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| Jan Bassett photo
Richard Wallace, left and Gordon Bassett, center, both from MOWW (Military Order of the World Wars) prepare to interview Dr. Kenneth Barringer for the Library of Congress Veterans History Project. Dr Barringer was in the U.S. Navy and participated in the Okinawa Invasion in 1945. Part of the MOWW mission is to preserve memories and memorials for the country’s wars. |
As soon as I heard about this project, I became personally involved. How could I help it? I’ve been writing about this area for nearly 30 years and I know I’ve written first-hand accounts of countless veterans of World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, and since 2001, ongoing accounts of those fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Oh- they’ve been sporadic, as veterans present themselves.
In fact, my own grandson, a 23-year-old sergeant with the Army Airborne Rangers now in Afghanistan was featured here in November.
I usually don’t inject myself into a news story but I’m going to here because as a reporter, I’ve heard your stories and I know there are people out there who need to come forward for the project that’s about to begin.
Ten or 15 years ago I interviewed a man who had his hands on the gates of Auschwitz as they were pushed open, liberating thousands of starving, tortured prisoners. He had an album of black and white photographs he had taken with an old Brownie camera. I remember wondering how I was going to get through the interview without crying.
As it turned out, I didn’t.
I felt so honored he should be telling me the story of how his unit had given all their rations to the people they liberated until they had nothing left for themselves. Of course, it wasn’t enough. But it was the beginning of their salvation. I remember looking at his hands, then aged and partially withered, and picturing how strong and dirty and wonderful they had looked to those behind the barbed wire as they pushed those gates apart.
Then there was the medic who trudged through bodies up to his knees on Normandy Beach, his heart bleeding inside for the men he knew he must pass over because they were too close to death to save. All his time, medicine and attention had to go to those who had some chance at life.
Over the years I’ve interviewed Navy men whose ships have been bombed and sunk; Airmen shot down in combat zones behind enemy lines; men who (like my first husband) crawled through Vietnam’s rice paddies underwater, breathing through a bamboo shoot that acted like a snorkel.
Veterans, come out, come out, where ever you are. I cannot remember your names and the three veterans who are spearheading the collection of stories in South County for a Library of Congress veteran’s project would really love to hear from you.
The project is called The Veterans History Project and is part of the Library of Congress’s record of personal stories in its Folk Life section.
Donna Borden, who heads up some of the projects at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., says that preservation of Americana from music to crafts to ways of life in various areas of the country are all part of a larger project called Folk Life. The Veterans History Project is a huge part of this, covering every war since World War I.
People who want to learn more about it before becoming involved may do so on the Library’s detailed Web site, www.loc.gov/vets. Then they can call one of the three men involved with gathering the stories in interview form and volunteer to take part.
“It started because I wanted to record my naval experience in the latter part of the World War II Okinawa invasion. So I contacted the Library of Congress and found out how they wanted it put together,” said Dr. Kenneth Barringer, a local psychologist who is also active in Veteran’s groups and affairs.
Then Kenneth called MOWW (the Military Order of the World Wars) because he knew they were also interested in such documentation.
He immediately involved Gordon Bassett and Richard Wallace, both of whom are Vietnam veterans active in local veterans associations and they agreed to help.
Because the Library of Congress has strict guidelines for producing a video, even to the point of what questions need to be asked, the three met to discuss their questions and then called Donna Borden at the Library of Congress Jan. 25.
When I spoke to Donna later in the week, she was delighted. “I know there are a lot of veterans in your area,” she told me. “I hope this really brings them out so we can preserve their stories.”
So far the collection has about 80,000 tapes of veteran’s stories.
“A lot of these are just shot as home videos,” Kenneth said. “But we want to do a really good job.” So they hired a professional videographer, Bob Swing, also a Sun City Center resident.
Bob said he would do this taping without charge because he feels privileged to be a part of it, Kenneth said.
The group plans a dry run of the taping to practice their interview techniques Feb. 26 with an actual taping the following day in Room 3 of Community Hall in Sun City Center, 1910 S. Pebble Beach Blvd.
Anyone interested in becoming part of this project may call Kenneth Barringer at (813) 633-8490; Gordon Bassett, (813) 642-0691 or Richard Wallace, (813) 642-0212.
Below, a volunteer interviews a WWII veteran on The Mall in Washington DC.
Photo courtesy Library of Congress
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