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November 22, 2003Veterans entrust stories to history'These are some of the most amazing people'ByRecord-Eagle staff writer INTERLOCHEN - Faded photographs show the soldiers, diaries are reminders of the battles, but only a veteran can describe the sounds and smells of war. Veterans who share their stories, preserving them on tape and video and entrusting that memory to someone else, are ensuring the battles they fought and the soldiers they fought beside will not be forgotten. That's the motivation behind the Veterans History Project. Area students participating in the Library of Congress project interview local veterans, record their stories and commit them to history. "This is very important," said Rob Kite, an Interlochen Arts Academy sophomore. "These are some of the most amazing people." Twenty-two Interlochen students paired up with 19 area veterans this week. They recorded interviews and will send copies of the tapes to the Library of Congress for cataloguing. It was the first of a number of interviews that will take place in schools and communities throughout the area. The project, organized locally by RSVP of Northwestern Michigan, is signing up veterans and students at area high schools to participate. Jack Miller, who joined the Army in 1949 when he was 17, frequently talks at schools. His interview at Interlochen was a little different than most, however, since both he and the student he was with spoke Japanese. "By kids asking questions, we think about things that we hadn't before," he said. "To know that it is going to be written down and kept, that's why I keep going back to schools." The Interlochen interviews were arranged by history teacher Brian McCall. He went to veterans groups and posted a request on the Internet looking for veterans interested in telling their stories. McCall's students, initially shy and unsure about the idea, later told him how excited they were to hear a first-person account of the history in their text books. Alice Klock said she began to care deeply about the veteran she interviewed after talking with him for an hour and a half. She hugged the veteran before he left. "This is interesting, and something I knew absolutely nothing about," Klock said. A World War II veteran and member of the 490th Bomb Squadron recounted the joy he found fixing airplanes. Ken Shugart returned to Traverse City in November 1945 and said life was less exciting. He also missed the fellows in his squadron, who he said were "closer than family." "I just loved airplanes and was doing the job I always wanted to do," he said. For more information on the Veterans History Project or to participate, contact RSVP at (231) 947-3200.
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