Today we had a full day of interviewing our World War II Veterans in remembrance of Pearl Harbor Day. Several local history classes, as well as classes from Illinois and New Hampshire participated in the sessions. You can read more about the questions in my blog entry about last year’s VC.
This time I want to say a few words about running these kinds of events.
First, I do these for my local schools (that’s my job of course!). But if I can’t fill them locally I offer them free to the rest of you. This year I turned away so many. So, here’s what I think. It’s time for more schools and educational service agencies to be producers of content and not just receivers. And the good ideas should be copied! Like this idea. Take it and do it yourself!
I’m sure you have local veterans who would love to participate in such an event. One of the students today asked the veterans how they felt coming home. The answer included this: “Programs like this are still a welcome home and make us feel appreciated.” They long to tell their stories and to share their experience with younger students. It makes them proud and honored to see students asking quality questions and thinking carefully about World War II before talking to them.
So take the plunge! If you have access to a bridge to connect several schools together and share the incredible value of live interviews with our treasured veterans, do it! I depend on one of our veterans to coordinate, call the veterans, remind them to come, etc. They appreciate the opportunity and help me make it happen. You can do it too!