thedrifter
04-26-06, 06:49 AM
Posted on Wed, Apr. 26, 2006
War stories for history's sake
By Jim Warren
HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER
WINCHESTER - Edsel Pelfrey is telling Don Rose about the scary night when bullets started whizzing past his Huey helicopter over South Vietnam.
Pelfrey, of Winchester, still remembers the sound -- "Psst! Psst!" -- even though it was 36 years ago, when he was a crew chief on an Army helicopter picking up the wounded and injured during the Vietnam War.
Rose listens and takes notes, while Richard Doughty records Pelfrey's story with a video camera.
The conversation last week marked the 102nd interview that Rose, Doughty and other volunteers with the Veterans Oral History Project in Winchester have completed since 2003. During that time they have interviewed and recorded the war memories of Kentucky soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen -- plus some civilians -- who served in every U.S. conflict from World War II through Operation Desert Storm in 1991. And they're still going strong.
A videotape of each interview goes to the Library of Congress to be preserved in its oral history collection. The Clark County Public Library also gets a copy, as does Morehead State University, where some of the tapes have been used in teaching. Finally, each veteran gets a copy of his interview to keep.
The program is intended to collect the firsthand experiences and recollections of Kentucky war veterans before they're gone forever, and preserve them for use by historians, students or anyone who wants to know what the typical soldier's daily life was like during past conflicts.
It actually dates back to 2000, when Congress authorized a national effort to collect the oral histories of American war veterans, under the sponsorship of the Library of Congress and the American Folklife Association. It was set up so that any organization could participate by collecting oral histories and sending them to the Library of Congress to be preserved.
One of the national organizations that joined in was the American Association of Retired Persons, which got oral history projects started in several areas, including Winchester. Don Rose, an AARP member from Winchester, began doing veteran interviews, with support from the Marine Corps League and the city of Winchester, which made its city council chambers and camera available for interviews. Several people have helped, but Rose has been involved in virtually every interview.
Except for occasional donations from veterans, Rose and other volunteers foot the bill for the project themselves.
"I don't get a nickel for this and I don't want any," said Rose, a retired business executive and Marine Corps veteran. "The reward for me is hearing these stories, and understanding what went on during these times. I know things now that I would never ever have known if I hadn't done these interviews. I couldn't buy the education I've received."
Most important of all, Rose says, is preserving these individual pieces of U.S. history, which are fast disappearing as older veterans die off.
Rose and the program's other volunteers have interviewed men who served in combat in virtually ever theater of war, as well as soldiers who served, but never came under fire. They also have interviewed women who stuck it out on the home front, helping build airplanes during World War II.
They haven't interviewed any veterans of the Iraq war yet, but Rose says that's coming.
The only war they've missed covering is World War I, and that's because living veterans are very hard to find.
Morehead State University became involved after Yvonne Baldwin, who chairs the Department of Geography, Government and History at Morehead, heard about the project. Baldwin, who has had some experience gathering oral histories herself, arranged for the Winchester group to send copies of its interviews to the university. Baldwin used the tapes in a junior-level seminar last year, and arranged for some of the veterans to visit with her students.
Now, students are using clips from veterans' interviews to create a database soon to be available on a yet-to-be-named Morehead State Web site, where anyone with a computer will be able to access them.
"The students were enthralled with everything the veterans had to say," Baldwin said. "I think it's critical that students understand war from a soldier's perspective, and that the people who lived these experiences have an opportunity to tell their stories."
Tapes of all interviews done to date also can be checked out at the Clark County Public Library.
A few years ago, some volunteers also were gathering veteran's stories under the AARP's auspices in the Louisville area. But AARP officials in Louisville said the project there is not active now, and that the group in Winchester may be the only one in the state still gathering soldiers' stories.
Rose says the Winchester group locates veterans through word of mouth or newspaper articles, and is constantly looking for new people to contact. Most interviews are done in Winchester, but he says the group will go to other sites around the area.
Anyone who knows a veteran who might be an interview subject can call Rose at (859) 737-0626.
Ellie
War stories for history's sake
By Jim Warren
HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER
WINCHESTER - Edsel Pelfrey is telling Don Rose about the scary night when bullets started whizzing past his Huey helicopter over South Vietnam.
Pelfrey, of Winchester, still remembers the sound -- "Psst! Psst!" -- even though it was 36 years ago, when he was a crew chief on an Army helicopter picking up the wounded and injured during the Vietnam War.
Rose listens and takes notes, while Richard Doughty records Pelfrey's story with a video camera.
The conversation last week marked the 102nd interview that Rose, Doughty and other volunteers with the Veterans Oral History Project in Winchester have completed since 2003. During that time they have interviewed and recorded the war memories of Kentucky soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen -- plus some civilians -- who served in every U.S. conflict from World War II through Operation Desert Storm in 1991. And they're still going strong.
A videotape of each interview goes to the Library of Congress to be preserved in its oral history collection. The Clark County Public Library also gets a copy, as does Morehead State University, where some of the tapes have been used in teaching. Finally, each veteran gets a copy of his interview to keep.
The program is intended to collect the firsthand experiences and recollections of Kentucky war veterans before they're gone forever, and preserve them for use by historians, students or anyone who wants to know what the typical soldier's daily life was like during past conflicts.
It actually dates back to 2000, when Congress authorized a national effort to collect the oral histories of American war veterans, under the sponsorship of the Library of Congress and the American Folklife Association. It was set up so that any organization could participate by collecting oral histories and sending them to the Library of Congress to be preserved.
One of the national organizations that joined in was the American Association of Retired Persons, which got oral history projects started in several areas, including Winchester. Don Rose, an AARP member from Winchester, began doing veteran interviews, with support from the Marine Corps League and the city of Winchester, which made its city council chambers and camera available for interviews. Several people have helped, but Rose has been involved in virtually every interview.
Except for occasional donations from veterans, Rose and other volunteers foot the bill for the project themselves.
"I don't get a nickel for this and I don't want any," said Rose, a retired business executive and Marine Corps veteran. "The reward for me is hearing these stories, and understanding what went on during these times. I know things now that I would never ever have known if I hadn't done these interviews. I couldn't buy the education I've received."
Most important of all, Rose says, is preserving these individual pieces of U.S. history, which are fast disappearing as older veterans die off.
Rose and the program's other volunteers have interviewed men who served in combat in virtually ever theater of war, as well as soldiers who served, but never came under fire. They also have interviewed women who stuck it out on the home front, helping build airplanes during World War II.
They haven't interviewed any veterans of the Iraq war yet, but Rose says that's coming.
The only war they've missed covering is World War I, and that's because living veterans are very hard to find.
Morehead State University became involved after Yvonne Baldwin, who chairs the Department of Geography, Government and History at Morehead, heard about the project. Baldwin, who has had some experience gathering oral histories herself, arranged for the Winchester group to send copies of its interviews to the university. Baldwin used the tapes in a junior-level seminar last year, and arranged for some of the veterans to visit with her students.
Now, students are using clips from veterans' interviews to create a database soon to be available on a yet-to-be-named Morehead State Web site, where anyone with a computer will be able to access them.
"The students were enthralled with everything the veterans had to say," Baldwin said. "I think it's critical that students understand war from a soldier's perspective, and that the people who lived these experiences have an opportunity to tell their stories."
Tapes of all interviews done to date also can be checked out at the Clark County Public Library.
A few years ago, some volunteers also were gathering veteran's stories under the AARP's auspices in the Louisville area. But AARP officials in Louisville said the project there is not active now, and that the group in Winchester may be the only one in the state still gathering soldiers' stories.
Rose says the Winchester group locates veterans through word of mouth or newspaper articles, and is constantly looking for new people to contact. Most interviews are done in Winchester, but he says the group will go to other sites around the area.
Anyone who knows a veteran who might be an interview subject can call Rose at (859) 737-0626.
Ellie