thedrifter
04-12-07, 07:54 AM
Pamlico World War II veterans honored
Staff Report
BAYBORO - As a youngster, Jim White relished the times when his father talked about his experiences in World War II. Later, as a history teacher, White decided that those wartime stories were worth preserving.
So, 13 years ago he began a project with students, documenting oral histories of veterans.
He has continued the project with his classes through the years, and now has cataloged audio and video and written histories of more than 900 veterans.
Seventeen of White's current Pamlico Community College history students conducted 17 interviews this year. They have identified 38 known living World War II veterans in the county and honored them at a recent ceremony at Pamlico County High School, with U.S. Rep. Walter B. Jones Jr., R-N.C., delivering the keynote address.
One of those veterans, James Grimes was a heavy machine gunner in "Blood and Guts Patton's Third Army in Europe from France to Germany."
Grimes told his story - one he kept for years from his five children - to the college students as part of the ongoing project that has recorded more than 900 others for posterity.
"That gun took seven head to operate, and we fought from the Battle of the Bulge to Rhineland to Central Europe. They didn't want to tell you where you were. Sometimes we didn't know when Sunday was," he said.
Grimes, who is "going on 84," was joined by 10 additional World War II veterans at the ceremony.
About 100 were in attendance to honor their work and the sacrifice of 35 former Pamlico residents who died in that war.
"They are part of history that should not be forgotten," said Kacynta Garner, a history student participating in the recording effort to be shared with archives at Pamlico County History Museum and the Southern Historical Collection at UNC.
Jones urged the school to also share the stories with the Smithsonian Institution as he thanked White, the students and the college for honoring those who served this nation in battle.
"The nation should never turn its back on these soldiers or you under any circumstance," he said. "We should say thank you by guaranteeing the benefits we promised would be there for you."
White said the long-term history project has been a benefit to both students and veterans.
It gives the veterans a chance to talk to someone about their experiences, sometimes stories they have not talked about since the war, he said.
"For the students, it gives them a first-hand point of view," White said. "They find out that heroes were sometimes their own family, sometimes people down the street, people they go to church with.
"They find that history is not just text in a book. They become writers of history, not just readers of history books."
Ellie
Staff Report
BAYBORO - As a youngster, Jim White relished the times when his father talked about his experiences in World War II. Later, as a history teacher, White decided that those wartime stories were worth preserving.
So, 13 years ago he began a project with students, documenting oral histories of veterans.
He has continued the project with his classes through the years, and now has cataloged audio and video and written histories of more than 900 veterans.
Seventeen of White's current Pamlico Community College history students conducted 17 interviews this year. They have identified 38 known living World War II veterans in the county and honored them at a recent ceremony at Pamlico County High School, with U.S. Rep. Walter B. Jones Jr., R-N.C., delivering the keynote address.
One of those veterans, James Grimes was a heavy machine gunner in "Blood and Guts Patton's Third Army in Europe from France to Germany."
Grimes told his story - one he kept for years from his five children - to the college students as part of the ongoing project that has recorded more than 900 others for posterity.
"That gun took seven head to operate, and we fought from the Battle of the Bulge to Rhineland to Central Europe. They didn't want to tell you where you were. Sometimes we didn't know when Sunday was," he said.
Grimes, who is "going on 84," was joined by 10 additional World War II veterans at the ceremony.
About 100 were in attendance to honor their work and the sacrifice of 35 former Pamlico residents who died in that war.
"They are part of history that should not be forgotten," said Kacynta Garner, a history student participating in the recording effort to be shared with archives at Pamlico County History Museum and the Southern Historical Collection at UNC.
Jones urged the school to also share the stories with the Smithsonian Institution as he thanked White, the students and the college for honoring those who served this nation in battle.
"The nation should never turn its back on these soldiers or you under any circumstance," he said. "We should say thank you by guaranteeing the benefits we promised would be there for you."
White said the long-term history project has been a benefit to both students and veterans.
It gives the veterans a chance to talk to someone about their experiences, sometimes stories they have not talked about since the war, he said.
"For the students, it gives them a first-hand point of view," White said. "They find out that heroes were sometimes their own family, sometimes people down the street, people they go to church with.
"They find that history is not just text in a book. They become writers of history, not just readers of history books."
Ellie