Mar 01 2008
Living History: Preserving Veterans’ Stories
“History is a guide to navigation in perilous times,” author David McCullough once wrote. George Santayana took a more cautionary view, warning that anyone who ignored the lessons of history would be “doomed to repeat it.” But for Minnesotan Ron Hagberg and Holly Hinkle of Alabama, history isn’t just a series of events far removed from their lives; it’s personal.
Hinkle and Hagberg, both representatives of the Visiting Angels organization, have spent the past few months listening to and recording the personal experiences of World War II and Korean War veterans. “Every day, approximately 1,000 veterans of World War II and Korea pass away,” says Lawrence Meigs, president of Visiting Angels. “It’s critical that we capture their stories for future generations. Their personal roles in two of history’s most significant conflicts are priceless, both for their families and for our country.”
Because Visiting Angels provides in-home care for senior citizens, the organization is uniquely positioned to find and speak with veterans, Meigs says. In addition to soliciting stories from clients and their families, franchisees are actively getting the word out into the community that they are looking for veterans, he adds.
Working with the U.S. Veteran’s History Project, some 300 Visiting Angels franchises are finding veterans and collecting their oral testimonies and biographies. The organization’s goal is to archive at least 300 biographies by the end of the year, and donate them to the Library of Congress.
To participate in the program, Hinkle, Hagberg, and members of their staff, have trained in how to interview the veterans. American StoryKeepers of Mesa, Ariz., supplies Visiting Angels franchisees with audio-biography kits, tape recorders and step-by-step interviewing instructions.
Everyone who has done an interview has been deeply moved by the experience, Hinkle says. She recalls one interviewee whose wife was amazed by his eagerness to tell his story. “She said she had never heard him talk about his war experiences before,” Hinkle says. “Some have made their peace with their experiences. But for others, the healing process is still ongoing, and these interviews are very healing for them.”
Another interviewee, who happened to be Hinkle’s uncle, recounted being wounded behind enemy lines during World War II. Afraid he might not be able to make it back to his unit’s medical facilities, he took refuge in a house. He ran into the basement only to find it full of Germans hiding from the gunfire outside. “They were as scared as I was,” he recalled. One of the refugees dressed his wound.
Hagberg interviewed an 83-year-old former high school social studies teacher who had fought in Korea. When Hagberg and his assistant arrived at the man’s house, they found his dining room table covered with photographs, notes and memorabilia. The man had stayed up all night preparing for the interview. At the end of the two-hour interview, he broke down and told Hagberg: “I cannot tell you how important this is. No one has ever asked me to tell my story before.”
Interaction with these older vets made Hagberg realize, he says, the impact military service has on the lives of those who serve, including the Americans currently fighting in Iraq. While the eyes of the world are on conflicts that impact history, Americans need to remember that “these are personal stories” as well, Hagberg says. “These events have shaped their lives.”
Any veteran who would like to be interviewed should contact their local Visiting Angels franchise, or call the corporate office at (800) 365-4189. For more information about Visiting Angels and the Story Keeper program, visit www.visitingangels.com. For more on the Veterans History Project, visit www.loc.gov/vets.
Courtesy of ARAcontent
EDITOR’S NOTE:Visiting Angels is a national franchisor with over 300 locally owned and operated offices across the United States and Canada providing in-home care to thousands of senior citizens so that they can remain independent in their own homes.