TROY — How do area military veterans share their stories in the national archives at the Library of Congress so that their children and grandchildren can access them?
Just email Dr. Vivian Blevins at Edison State Community College ([email protected]) to schedule an appointment to be interviewed during the month of May. Several appointments are still available.
Know that it’s all about collaboration to complete this project successfully although the Miami Valley Veterans Museum in Troy is the initiator,
Michael Maloney, chair, and Dennis Young, vice chair, of the Veterans Memorial Park and Digital Library at Greenville, are providing an RV especially equipped for the task, and the RV will be parked at the museum.
Valerie Mulikin, founding director of Operation Veteran and Caregiver Support, is contacting female veterans who have been involved in that organization’s program to invite them to participate.
Monies for the camera equipment to be used for the project were donated by the Piqua Community Foundation several years ago. MWM board president and Vietnam Era U.S. Coast Guard veteran, Ted Jones, will be videoing the interviews. Interviews are being scheduled from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. each Monday, Wednesday and Thursday beginning May 6.
Interviewees will come to the foyer of the museum 15 minutes prior to their scheduled interview to bring the two-page biographical data form and veterans release form, both required by the Library of Congress (available by request or at https://ioc.giv/programs/veterans-history-project) to be checked by Penny Adams, Vietnam War veteran and museum volunteer. Air Force veteran Amy Cost will provide office support and maintain the extensive records required by the Library of Congress.
U.S. veterans Mel Shane, John Bankowitz, Mitch Fowler, and Carl DeSantis will conduct the interviews with a focus on the chronology of the veterans’ experience from the time before they entered military service through their lives following their exit from the service. No veteran will be required to reveal experiences he/she wants to keep private.
These interviews are not just for combat veterans as anyone familiar with the military knows that multiple positions from cooks to truck drivers are valued in the military.
In addition to the Library of Congress, copies of the DVDs will be housed at the Miami Valley Veterans Museum, the Piqua Public Library, and the Veterans Memorial Park and Digital Library in Greenville.
