>> Karen Lloyd: I'm
Karen Lloyd, the director
of the Veterans History Project
under the America Folklife
Center here at the Library
of Congress, and a
retired Army aviator.
I'm also the daughter,
sibling, and widow of veterans.
Milestone events are a
perfect time to reflect
on where you've been, and then
how you plan to move forward.
Thinking of the Veterans
History Project,
I marvel at how it has
grown into a collection
of over 111,000 voices
strong, built by hundreds
of organizations and
thousands of volunteer hours
from across the nation.
As a grassroots project,
we're extremely grateful
to have a network of veteran
organizations, universities,
secondary schools, scout
troops, family members,
other organizations,
and members of congress,
who recognize the
importance of collecting
and then preserving the
first-person veteran
and gold star family accounts
through the Veterans
History Project.
As an archive, we're
incredibly proud of the work
that our nation has
done to continue
to build this collection of oral
histories, unpublished memoirs,
original photographs, and other
treasured memories archived
through our National Library,
so that future generations
will be able to hear from them
and understand what they
saw, felt, and heard.
Their stories.
Today's panel will recognize
some of these organizations
that made sure that the
veteran's contributions were
not-- are not lost or
forgotten, but instead stored
to be cherished by
future generations.
It is my great pleasure
to introduce today's
moderator, Ashleigh Byrnes.
Ashleigh is a combat
Marine veteran who served
as a broadcast journalist
with the American Forces Network
Tokyo, and then established
and led the American
Forces Network Kandahar
to expand internal broadcast
coverage of combat operations
in the southern area
of Afghanistan.
Following her combat tour,
Ashleigh worked as a supervisor
and reporter for the
Pentagon News Bureau,
where she managed the
daily news production,
which covered Defense Department
news, policies, and operations.
In 2009, Ashleigh was
the military announcer
for the presidential
inaugural parade.
She currently serves
as the Disabled American
Veterans deputy national
communications director,
representing
over 1 million members strong.
Ashleigh manages and produces
a wide variety of written,
photographic, and multimedia
projects for the DAV's internal
and external communications
program.
A hearty welcome to
Ashleigh and all panelists,
thank you for joining us today
to help celebrate our 20th
anniversary in such style.
>> Ashleigh Barnes: Thank
you so much, Colonel Lloyd.
And thank you for your
service and for your leadership
over this amazing program.
It's my great pleasure
to be here today
with the Veterans
History Project,
and with our esteemed panel.
As you mentioned in
the introduction,
I serve as the deputy national
communications director for DAV.
And we are honored to play
a part I celebrating your
20th anniversary.
And I would be remiss
if I didn't mention
that we share this milestone
anniversary year with you,
2020 is also DAV's centennial
anniversary, marking 100 years
of service and supporting
and empowering veterans
to lead high quality lives
with respect and dignity.
We accomplish this by
ensuring that veterans
and their families can access
the full range of benefits
that are available to them
by fighting for the interest
of America's injured heroes,
and by educating the public
about the great sacrifices
and the needs of veterans
that are transitioning
back into civilian life.
So having participated
personally
in the Veterans History Project,
both as a veteran
chronically my own journey,
and on the other side as an
interviewer, I can attest
to the value that
this project brings
to everyone that's involved.
The interviewer, the
interviewee, and of course,
those who are then
able to listen to
and experience these
oral histories.
I am thrilled to learn more
from today's panelists,
who represent a cadre of
organizations across the country
who have all participated
in the project.
We're going to begin the
discussion today by asking each
of our panelists to offer just
a few brief introductory remarks
about who they are, about the
organization they're associated
with, and then to
tell us a little bit
about how they got involved with
the Veterans History Project.
So Anita, I would love to
kick off with you, please.
>> Anita Deason: I was on the
active guard reserve program,
started as an enlisted member.
And then became an officer.
I worked with giants.
All those years.
Just tremendous people.
And I have been fortunate
in my military retirement
and two years later
I signed up to--
or applied for the job
and became the military
and veteran liaison
for Senator Boozman.
And in this job, one of
the projects he wanted me
to work on, he asked
me to breathe new life
into the Library of Congress
Veterans History Project here
in Arkansas.
Because we had a low
participation rate at that time.
But it has been an
absolute blessing to be part
of the Veterans History
Project here in Arkansas.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes: Anita,
thank you for all you do,
continued for veterans,
and thank you
of course for your service.
Chaplain McCoy, I think
we'll head on over to you.
>> Chaplain Michael
McCoy Sr.: Okay.
I am excited to be
here and to be a part
of this particular
20th anniversary
of the Veteran History Project.
I am a veteran.
I was a part of the US Navy
and served as a chaplain
with both Marines and US Navy
deployed on barrier ships,
as well as one of
the few chaplains
that served also on submarines.
And I have quite an experience
in terms of serving submarine--
submariners and their families.
But and on ships.
One of the things,
so getting involved
with the Veteran History
Project, was to become a part
of an activity that I
thought was very needful
and very engaging.
I had heard so many stories
as a chaplain of many
of our veterans, who tell
their stories often to someone
like myself or their buddies,
but refuse to tell their
stories to their families.
And I was so impressed
when I heard
about the Veteran
History Project
that this was something I felt
that I should be a part of.
And when I was invited,
I decided to launch a program
called Chaplains, basically,
which was then, we referred
to it as 2013, with the ideal
that I was going to get
at least 213 chaplains
to tell their story because
one of the things I noticed is
that chaplains had
been in Vietnam,
had been various places,
and they were not telling
their stories either.
So, I launched two programs.
One was called Heal
the Healer program,
that was a part of the VA.
And we began to get
chaplains to go
through some counseling sessions
to deal with their own grief
and their own pain so
that they can help others.
So in the Veteran
History Project,
I began to enlist chaplains
to tell their stories.
I was the national president
of the Military Chaplains
Association.
Which has about 1700
members, which was chaplains.
Many was retired, but
it is still going on,
one of the only organizations,
actually,
that is a veteran's organization
that actually target chaplains.
And being a national president
of that particular group,
I launched a program
that we will begin
to interview our chaplains who
had been in combat and had been
with our troops, similar to
the things that I had done.
And with the tears and
the cries and the sheds,
and hearing them tell their
story, just let me know
that the Veteran History Project
is something we must keep going,
because this is something
that is not only bringing
about healing, but it also
gives our chaplains as well
as other veterans, and we not
just limit it to our chaplains,
but veterans to tell their
stories all across the nation
and with the Army, the Navy, the
Air Force, and now, and the DA,
they have all launched
in with various groups.
And also the national VA
Black Chaplains Association,
which is serve as the
executive director,
and we saw them to get involved.
And as I served as a national
director of VA Chaplains,
it was a great pleasure
to be able as director
to have a little clout to make
sure that the program go on.
So I'm retired now,
but I am still a part
of this particular program
and glad to be a part
of the 20th anniversary.
Thank you.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes: Wonderful.
Thank you, Chaplain McCoy,
we're glad to have you here.
Thank you for your service.
I know many of us in
the military had relied
on that spiritual
guidance of chaplain.
So it's a very important
voice to have
and I'm glad to have
yours today.
Sara, we'll move on over to you.
>> Sara Maniscalco
Robinson: Hello.
Thank you so much for having
me on this great panel.
I'm Sara Maniscalco Robinson.
And I joined the Iowa
National Guard in 1997
as a broadcast journalist,
so Ashleigh
and I have that in common.
And I am still serving in
the Iowa National Guard
as a first sergeant
of the mobile public
affairs detachment.
Probably about 10 years ago is
when the Iowa Gold Star
Military Museum asked me
to start recording
veteran histories.
They would keep them at
the museum, of course,
and I would make
videos, but I realized
that after we did
the interviews,
they didn't go anywhere.
And I thought that was a problem
because the general
public didn't have access.
So, through the Gold
Star Museum's help,
I founded my own 501(c)(3),
the Veteran's Perspective,
and now I travel the state of
Iowa and I interview veterans
and all of the veteran
interviews are packaged
into Library of Congress
Veteran History packets
from high school volunteers.
And then I come out to DC
and submit them to Library
of Congress once I have a
large enough stack going.
But so that's my story.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes:
Excellent, Sara.
Yes, I'm glad to
be in good company
with a fellow broadcaster.
Thank you for your service and
really for being so up front
in trying to push
this program forward.
That's incredible work
that you're doing.
Very much appreciated.
Let's see, Mac, let's
move onto you.
>> John M. "Mac" Tolar:
Yes, I am Mac Tolar.
And I am a 20 year
retired Marine officer.
I retired as a Lieutenant
colonel.
An infantry officer by trade,
but had a secondary
as a judge advocate.
I went to work for the House
of Representatives in 2012.
And found my way to the
Wounded Warrior Program in 2016.
Since then, I've
been the director
of both the Wounded
Warrior Program
and the recently created Gold
Star Family Fellowship program.
So we're running both
of those programs now.
We have 120 fellowships for
wounded warriors to work
for members of Congress
and 40 fellowships
for Gold Star family
fellows to work for Congress.
And the Veterans History
Project has been integral
to our orientation
program for all
of our new fellows
for several years.
It really is one of the most
important briefings they receive
when they come to
DC for orientation.
And I think it's been one of
the most beneficial programs
for them as they return
to their districts
and serve their constituents
in the member offices.
And again, on behalf of the
chief administrative officer,
Phil Kiko, we are very
excited to participate today
and thank you so much
for including us.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes:
[inaudible] Mac,
we are glad to have you here.
What a wonderful program
you're running there.
And I'm sure we're going to dig
more into that, I can't wait
to hear more about it.
We're going to wrap up the
introductions here with Mike.
>> Mike Farrar: Well
the following the people
that I've just heard from is
kind of a low point for me,
since I haven't served.
But I got involved with the
Veterans History Project
through the service
to the Armed Forces
with the American Red Cross.
My son had just been
deployed for the second time,
and I figured there's got to
be some way I can help out.
And so I became volunteer
and then about a year later,
there was a call with
Jason Steinhauer,
on one of our actual case calls,
and he talked about
this project.
And I thought, you
know, we do so much
for the active family members
and the active members,
this would be a great way to
give back to the veterans.
And so once I got the okay, we
created a training, we got a lot
of volunteers that
were interested,
and we're getting ready to
hit our 600th interview.
Which this next month will be
our 10th year participating
in this project.
So I'm really happy to be
here and really excited
to hear everyone else.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes:
Thank you so much, Mike.
Congratulations on your upcoming
milestones, that's wonderful.
Great panel we have here today
and I think we'll go ahead
and start digging in.
Sara, this one's going
to come your way first.
You come to this panel and
to this discussion, you know,
with your 501(c)(3)
non-profit status.
Can you talk to me about
the benefits or challenges
that you faced and what
advice you'd give to others?
>> Sara Maniscalco
Robinson: Sure, Ashleigh.
Well one of the first
benefits, I like to start
with something good,
one of the benefits
of being a 501(c)(3) non-profit
is you really have a lot
of community support in that.
If you're a charitable
foundation, you really see a lot
of people starting to
volunteer to be a part of it.
You are more likely
to get certain funding
because you are a tax
deductible donation.
But then some of the
downfalls sometimes is you're
up against all the other
501(c)(3)s when it comes
to grant money and
we're fighting
over pennies it seems
like some days.
Where I'll spend hours
upon hours upon hours
for a 250 dollar grant.
So some of the benefits are also
that I am eligible for grants.
So I try to count my blessings
when it comes to that.
And I love having the 501(C)(3)
non-profit after my name
because I feel like
that really means
that I'm doing good
in the community.
It kind of comes with
that badge of honor.
And I love having that.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes:
Yeah, absolutely.
You definitely are doing
great work in the community.
Another organization
that's doing great work
in the community, I think
we've all, you know,
certainly see these
in our communities,
of course the Red Cross.
Mike, you know, you're
in a similar position
with the Red Cross.
Do you have anything to
add to what Sara mentioned?
Or is there anything more
specific you'd like to talk
about with Red Cross chapters?
>> Mike Farrar: The
statement that Sara made
about it being tough
to get funding is I
think everyone's issues.
Luckily I have a core group of
volunteers that have no problem
in donating to this
project as far
as keeping us running
and things like that.
But other than that, it's
like once they drink the
Kool-Aid, they're in, you know.
Once they've experienced
an interview,
you have them forever.
And that's great.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes: Yeah,
yeah, definitely, Mike.
Thank you.
Mac, you know, you mentioned
you lead the Wounded Warrior
Congressional Program.
And the basis of that is
pairing veterans with members
of Congress to serve
as part of their staff.
And like you alluded to,
part of that training early
on involves not only learning
about their role in the office,
but also learning about
the Library of Congress,
and the Veterans History
Project, and then kind
of getting that hands-on
experience
of having the opportunity
to interview each other.
Have you noticed that there's
any shift in the fellows
after they've completed
this part of their training?
>> John M. "Mac" Tolar:
I think absolutely.
You know, most of our
fellows are unfamiliar
with Congress writ large when
they come to the program.
Many of them are fresh from
the military or have only been
out for a couple years.
And so they literally are not
familiar with VHP whatsoever.
And so, once we bring them in
and they have a chance not only
to be briefed by the VHP staff,
but also we actually
conduct interviews
of our fellows while
they're here.
So we'll usually break them
out into a couple of cohorts
and actually give them a chance
to interview one of their peers,
actually, in the
Library of Congress.
And I think between the
briefing from VHP coupled
with that experience, they
are well prepared to go out
and attack the VHP in their
districts as they're able to
and as dictated to or offered
to by their district directors
and chiefs and members.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes: Wonderful.
And kind of that topic
of outreach brings me
to my next question,
which I'm going
to pose to the entire group.
So if you'd like to respond
go ahead and, you know,
throw a hand up so I know
who we can have answer.
Have any of you found
that you're able
to use Veterans History
Project as a tool to connect
with constituents or
within your communities?
And if so, how?
>> John M. "Mac" Tolar: Well-- .
Okay.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes: Okay.
We'll start with Mac
and then maybe we'll go
with Mike and Anita.
>> John M. "Mac" Tolar: So this
is a huge issue for our fellows
in their districts
around the country.
The opportunity to parlay
a VHP event and to outreach
to constituents,
it's just limitless.
And I often tell them when
I'm talking to them about VHP,
you know, there are
five benefactors
of conducting a VHP event.
First and foremost,
a veteran is going
to get to tell their story.
And with our aging World War
II and now Korean members,
it's so important to
capture those stories
when we have an opportunity.
A second benefactor
of a VHP event is
that our fellows have an
opportunity to lead the event.
To take charge and kind
of take a leadership role
of facilitating the
collection of these stories.
Third, those that are tasked
to conduct the interviews have
a chance to meet these veterans,
hear their stories, and learn
something about military,
military history or a person
that they might not
have otherwise.
And our fellows engage
in services
of the Civil Air Patrol, of high
school girls' volleyball teams,
of local reserve units.
All those folks benefit when
they have an opportunity
to interview these
veterans around the country.
I like to say the
fourth benefactor
of these events is
the member them self.
This produce an opportunity
and a bridge for the member
to get closure to his veteran
constituencies and learn more
about them and their issues.
And then lastly, VHP
benefits through the exposure.
Because we typically encourage
not only VHP to talk about this,
but also we encourage our member
offices to bring in local media
to share this story locally
through their various venues.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes: Excellent.
Mike, what would you
like to tag on there?
>> Mike Farrar: You
know, getting, you know,
high school kids involved
in this is a great way
of putting the word out there.
I work with Congresswoman
Janice Hahn's office.
They have us come out
once a month and set up so
that they can advertise
and have veterans come in.
But using VHP, as Mac said,
a lot of people aren't
even familiar with it.
So it's like once you
tell them the benefits,
whether if it's, you know,
their family hearing
this for the first time,
which is the case quote a
few, you know, quite often,
or if it's just the fact of
the veteran getting a chance
to release anything
that is going on.
But yeah, working with
the congresswoman is just
very beneficial.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes: And Anita,
anything else you'd
like to add on there?
>> Anita Deason: We have
trained over 1200 Arkansans
in the Veterans History
Project across the state.
And that has opened
so many doors.
And it-- you know,
it's a bipartisan,
really a non-political program.
And once people understand that,
they're very much
more receptive.
And we have taught veteran's
service organizations,
various clubs.
Both of our VA medical
centers actually do interviews
within their volunteer services.
We worked with Wounded
Warrior Project folks,
American Red Cross, colleges,
high schools, non-profits.
It just-- this is just a gateway
to share about the project
and reach so many individuals,
network across the state,
and then touch so
many veterans' lives.
On the back side of it, we have
built a relationship so that
if a veteran or their
family do run into a problem
with a federal agency, and
Senator Boozman's office has
that relationship that
they turn back to for us
to do constituency service
work for them to assist them.
One example, we had a 90
plus plus year old veteran
that the senator
actually interviewed.
And during that interview,
we discovered
that he had never
enrolled into the VA.
And so we were able to
make that connection
and he started receiving
disability check and healthcare.
So those are just win-win-win
all across the board.
Just a lovely program.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes: Absolutely.
You touch on-- you all touch
on this really important point
of being able to utilize this
program to expand a network
and grow a network and really
do that outreach to a bunch
of different organizations
that provide different
resources to veterans.
So thank you all for that.
Chaplain McCoy, this next
one's coming for you.
>> Chaplain Michael
McCoy Sr.: Okay.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes: You
mentioned in your introduction
that you learned about the
Veterans History Project
when you were asked to
be an interview subject.
Can you-- can you share how
that experience really led you
to create the Military
Chaplains Project 2013,
which I understand you might
give me the background here,
but I understand it has to do
with a pretty special group
of World War II chaplains?
>> Chaplain Michael
McCoy Sr.: Yes.
One of the things
that had happened is
that I think most people
don't realize that chaplains,
especially the ones that
serve with the Marines,
as well as the Navy and Army,
they go with the troops.
They're not like outside or just
sitting in a chapel somewhere.
They are really out
there running
and they are getting shot
out and everything else just
as much as the troops are.
That the only difference is
they don't carry a weapon.
And they rely on their
cleric or their assistant
to be their body guard,
to look out for them.
There is many days when
they will have to be lifted.
And I think that is one
of the big outreaches
is letting folks know
that chaplains are large where
our military men and women are.
They are not outsiders.
And many have been,
of course, not many,
but I shouldn't say many when
it comes to our other troops,
killed as well as in
war as other things.
And have given their
life and sacrifice.
One of the awards you might see
in the back is the four
chaplains that we talk about.
I was invited to the Library of
Congress to be a part of a panel
to recognize the four chaplains.
Who all gave their life by
giving their life jackets
as a sacrifice so
others could live.
They did not have enough
life jackets they brought
on that particular USS
Dorchester that day
when the ship was sinking.
And they gave their life
jackets, said here, take mine.
And they went on down to see
and sacrifice their life.
Chaplains have been sacrificing
their lives for many years.
But what I wanted to say is
that the Military Chaplains
Association, what I did was
when I came as the--
as an interviewee,
and to be interviewed,
I was surprised at some
of the questions,
to be able to talk
about my story as a veteran.
Because I had never did
much of that myself.
After I did my interview, I
was so impressed that I went
and asked a chaplain, who
is Chaplain Barry Black,
who is the chaplain now
for the US Senate, to come
and I interviewed him.
And he was so impressed that
it moved from one to the other.
And one of the things that I
was impressed and even folks
within the Library of Congress,
our group, our photographers
and our media people, I looked
over as we were doing
the interview
and when Barry was talking about
how he had the urns of both
of the Kennedys, John and
his wife, in his hands
as he was walking up the
ship to bury them at sea,
I looked out at the other
few people that was with us
and saw the tears that was
coming out of their eyes.
Of how he was telling his story.
Well, when we tell the story, it
is something that never will be
in our own words, I like to say.
It's something that will never
be repeated exactly on paper.
And I think this is the help
that we give to our nation
but also to our families.
Our grandchildren, our
great-grandchildren.
And years to come, the heroes
tell a story of what we did
as not just as chaplains,
but as veterans,
period when we were
in the military.
And that's what I say is that
with the National Chaplain,
the Military Chaplains
Association,
which is a veteran
service organization,
that's why I was able to
launch that particular program.
And we have chaplains repeating
that now throughout the system.
And once they do one, as someone
said already, you get caught up
and you feel like you got to
do another one and another one.
And you end up getting caught
in not just-- and you grow.
And you begin to
heal and help others.
Others as well with
going through crisis
and getting them the
help that they need
from our veteran service
organizations, from the VA
and from others that can
help some of our hurting
and wounded veterans who do
not know how to often get
into the system to
get all of the things
that they are entitled to.
Veterans are not given
things, they have earned it,
because they have put their
life on the line for us.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes: Excellent.
Thank you, Chaplain McCoy.
You brought up some
excellent points.
Not only can the Veterans
History Project be a very
cathartic experience,
but you know,
in my experience I wish I'd
had the presence of mind
to ask my grandfather about his
military experience before he
passed away and I never
had that opportunity.
So I think it can be a real
gift to be able to share
that with not only
the general public,
but with your own family
members for years to come.
Anita, you know, I know that
as Senator Boozman's military
liaison, you must do
quite a bit of traveling
across the state of Arkansas.
And as you mentioned, some
of that traveling has been
to teach workshops on
interviewing veterans.
So I was wondering if you
can share with us what
that experience has
been like for you,
kind of dig into
that a little bit.
And why it's been helpful
to deploy volunteers
across the state to help you
establish these collections?
>> Anita Deason: Sure,
thank you, Ashleigh.
Yes, we scheduled the
first two workshops
with the Veterans
History Project.
And after that, we have not,
the office has not
scheduled another one.
We have been asked to
come out somewhere.
So all the other workshops
that have been conducted
was an invitation to come
to that hospital, that college,
that veterans service
organization, and so on.
Once the state started
hearing about this project.
And so that was,
that's phenomenal to me
that we didn't have
to push this,
Arkansans saw the
value in the project.
So, reaching, let's say, an 18
year old high school student,
or 16, 17, 18 year old
high school students
and connecting them
with a veteran
to interview is just
so powerful.
As an example, I taught a
class in a rural community
in Arkansas, taught
about 30 students.
And those students turned around
and interviewed 27 veterans.
And I will say those
students really didn't
understand veterans.
So after they interviewed the
veterans, I go back for an
after action review, and
one of the students stood up
and she said you know,
I knew we were supposed
to respect veterans, but
now I do respect veterans.
And that same class ended
up making a documentary
of their experience
interviewing veterans.
They interviewed themselves,
they took excerpts
from the interviews.
They then took that documentary
and had a very big community
program at a local museum.
From there, an article
was in the VFW magazine
about what this small
group students have done.
And now the Arkansas
PBS station is planning
to air their documentary.
So it just, it just grows.
Also, doing that
networking across the state,
we have found depositories,
kind of like what Sara
was talking about,
where interviews were done
and then they were put
in a file cabinet somewhere.
So we've had about three
different organizations
that have dusted off those
interviews that they did 15,
12 years ago, and
have put those now
into the Library of Congress.
So, it is such a pleasure, it--
the networking, the
opening of doors,
the sharing of the
Veterans History Project
across the state has
just been powerful.
It is healthy, it is so healthy.
You mentioned it being
cathartic, yes it is.
To the veteran.
And like I think
the chaplain said
that families have not
known most of these stories,
so it's cleansing for the
veteran and the family to get
to share these moments.
And I am just thrilled that I
get to be a small part of that.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes: Thank
you so much for sharing that.
And I love, you know,
hearing about harnessing
that youth volunteer
spirit in Arkansas.
That's wonderful.
Mike, to kind of tag onto
the volunteer question,
you also give a lot
of workshops and work
with a large group
of volunteers.
So can you talk a little
bit about what you look
for in a good volunteer?
>> Mike Farrar: Sure.
So, the first thing is I really
need somebody who can listen.
Because listening to the
veteran is as important
as doing the interview.
And what I mean by that is the
fact that so many times we're
in a situation where we
want to ask a question
and we don't give the veteran
enough time to answer it.
You know, we're thinking okay, I
ask you, you give me an answer.
When in reality, the
veteran could be trying
to think of an answer.
And so listening is one of
the biggest things I look for.
But another thing is the fact,
as Anita was saying, you know,
I've done several workshops
for the high schools.
And you're right when you say
that the veteran loves to sit
down and talk to
these young kids.
It's amazing to see, it's
amazing to be part of.
But having volunteers that
are willing to, you know,
like we always leave
it up to the veteran
as far as when they want to
be interviewed, what day,
what time, all that stuff.
So having volunteers that are
more than willing to say yeah,
I can do that Sunday
interview at 3 o'clock.
Is amazing.
And like I said, just like
once they drink the Kool-Aid,
they're in.
We've been doing
this for 10 years.
And I still have seven of
the original volunteers
that helped start all this.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes: Wow.
Thank you for sharing
that perspective, Mike.
Mac, here's a question for you.
What are some of the
more innovative ways
that your fellows have worked
to develop the Veterans History
Project in their district?
And are there things that you
would suggest to other groups?
>> John M. "Mac"
Tolar: Absolutely.
I think one of the best
programs that I've witnessed
in the last three years was
actually done by our follow
in Congressman Adam Smith's
office out in Washington state.
Not only did they schedule a
VHP event to collect the stories
of local veterans, but
they also invited VSOs
and employment agencies
and other entities
to participate also.
It was almost like
going to a small--
not a job fair, but you had
all these other organizations
that were there, too.
Who had this-- so they had a
captured audience of veterans
who might need their
services or benefits,
and so the veterans
were able to file climbs
with the member office, apply
for employment benefits,
or look for job opportunities.
They were able to
register with various VSOs
that might be of
interest to them.
So it was kind of like a
one-stop shop for veterans,
and all those who participated
and set up tables outside
of the VHP interview
area got the benefit,
because they got access to all
these new potential members.
To their organizations.
So we were very impressed
with what our fellow
Julian Perty [phonetic]
and Congressman Smith
did out there in Seattle.
It was a great event.
We often use that story when we
talk about VHP to our fellows
of how you could do this to get
the most bang for your buck.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes: That's
great, that's creative,
that's innovative,
that's exactly the kind
of spirit we need right now,
particularly in the situation
that we're in with the pandemic.
So, Anita and Sara, this
question is for both of you.
We'll start with
Sara and go to Anita.
You know, you both
work with a number
of different organizations
connecting veterans
to interview.
You know, we've mentioned
different, you know,
if it's places of
worship, if it's schools,
if it's veteran service
organizations, retirement homes.
Can you share a little
bit about that
and how the current pandemic has
changed that approach for you?
Sara?
>> Sara Maniscalco
Robinson: Sure.
Well, we'll start
with last year.
How I did business.
I got a grant through
Humanities Iowa doing
library presentations.
And I just loved doing them
because I got to travel
across the entire state of Iowa
and go to these little diamond
in the rough where these
veterans, they're not hiding,
but it's where they're hiding,
in these small little towns.
They're not necessarily in
the greater Des Moines area.
So what I would do is I would go
and do a library
presentation the night before,
spend the night, and then spend
the next day doing a Veteran
History Project interview day.
And the veterans would sign
up to be a part of this.
Then March hits and
everybody starts staying home
and I'm no longer
allowed to travel
to do this library
presentations.
So, me and a few of the local
librarians got together and came
up with this thing called
Virtual Library Presentations,
I just actually did
one this week.
And we're not following it up
with the veteran interviews.
One thing that I have decided to
do within my own organization,
is I have a location
here at my personal home
where if someone would
like to come visit me
and be interviewed that's under
the age of 50, our global world
on terror veterans who
are often overlooked
because when you think Veteran
History Project, people say oh,
so you must interview
World War II veterans.
But that's not true.
There are so many veterans who
are young and healthy still
that are still out being
a part of our community
and being willing to
leave the house safely.
So I've just kind of shifted
gears on the target veterans
of I would like to
interview more global war
on terror veterans this year.
And I wanted to caveat on
something that Anita said,
I had the most amazing thing
happen during the quarantine,
I was up at the museum.
The Iowa Gold Star
Military Museum,
looking for something
completely unrelated.
And I found an old box of tapes
that no one had ever processed.
So I'm able this year, I'll
be adding an additional 20 POW
World War II interviews
to the Library
of Congress quite on accident.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes: Right.
Anita, any follow-ups on that?
>> Anita Deason: I would like
to speak to an experience
with a retirement home, or it
was actually a nursing home,
and then I'll move forward.
But I had a family that wanted
their father interviewed.
So I go to the nursing home
to do that pre-interview,
and the veteran was non-verbal.
And so, it was a
very awkward moment,
like how do I work through this?
And so I asked the family to
go back and find pictures,
or old uniforms, or anything,
any memorabilia from his time
in the service, he was
a World War II veteran.
So they did, and I said okay,
I'll be back a week from today
and we'll try that interview.
So the family actually found
an old trunk in their attic,
and it was full of just
magical, wonderful memorabilia.
Tons of photographs.
And they sat down and
visited with their father.
So when I come back a week
later, it was miraculous.
This 90 year old veteran was--
previously he'd been in a
wheelchair, well he ended
up walking with a walker into
the room to be interviewed
and his memory was back.
He gave one of the
most animated,
entertaining, lovely interviews.
So that, you know, pictures
are just truly worth a
thousand words.
It really brought
that veteran back.
And that was a beautiful,
beautiful interview.
The pandemic has really
hampered our movement forward.
So what we've been
doing is using this time
to make sure we have
tightened up all those packets
to get them ready to send
to the Library of Congress.
And also keep communication open
about what we will do
moreso in the future.
We are working on several
different workshops
and interviews around
the state just as soon
as travel restrictions
are lifted.
I have not found a veteran
that's fully comfortable
yet with doing a
virtual interview,
but have one scheduled
later this month
that we're going
to give a try with.
But he's not real comfortable,
but we're going to
give it a try.
So Sara, if you have any
pointers, please share.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes: Well best of
luck to you with that interview.
Thank you both for some of
those really vivid examples.
Anita, that was a
wonderful story.
You know, thinking
about these stories
that may never have been told,
that may have been
lost to history.
And Sara, you mentioned even
just talking about populations
that may be overlooked.
And the importance of
incorporating those veterans
into the Veterans
History Project as well.
So this next question
will talk on that.
Chaplain McCoy, I've
heard that in addition
to your outreach
efforts with the project,
you're frequently sending
folks to the archival side
of the project to listen
and view collections
of veterans that you know.
Can you share why you feel
it's so important that groups
like chaplains and also
for potentially those
overlooked populations,
women or minority groups, to
share their stories as well?
>> Chaplain Michael
McCoy Sr.: Yes,
I think that sometimes
minorities
and women have been left out
or felt they were left
out of the process.
Many of the women veterans, it's
not [inaudible] not even think
that they were really
considered veterans.
I was in Saint Louis,
Missouri to one
of our conferences one day
on PTSD when we were kind
of developing that years ago.
And I remember a professor
who came and she said
that I was a veteran
and I was in Vietnam.
But when I went to the VA
they told me you couldn't be
a veteran.
And she was a nurse.
And she'd-- she was-- and
they told her you just was
in the [inaudible].
So you were not important.
And she said these words, and
I repeat them as a chaplain,
she said how in the
hell can you be
in the [inaudible]
when you in Vietnam?
She was being shot at, she was
one who was going out there,
see the men going to war
one day and coming back,
she having to take
them off the helicopter
or the emergency craft in
order to try to treat them,
even though they was well
when they left that morning.
And it shocked all of us men
veterans that were sitting
in that conference when
she said those words.
And even though that was
over probably 15 years ago,
but she expressed the fact
that we had overlooked
the women veterans.
The other is that African
Americans as well as Hispanics
and some other minority groups,
they came into the military
and that was a period of success
for them, many of them was
in Vietnam and they had
various jobs and various places
and of course, these
current wars as well.
I had two brothers
that served in Korea.
One was shot, one was a hero,
actually he probably should've
gotten the Medal of Honor.
Because his story, when I really
heard it, he had saved almost 60
or 70 people in his
particular group battalion.
But the fact is is that African
Americans are just now being
awarded awards that
they had never gotten.
So it is that type of
thing that have kept them.
So I started, helped found
the National VA Chaplains
Association with that in
mind, not just for wars,
but for the purpose of
letting this stories be told.
A church that I have just
finished being interim pastor
of here in Hampton,
Virginia have about, I guess,
have about somewhere around
200 plus veterans in it.
And these veterans
are men and women
who have often not
told their stories.
So I launch now, we have
what we call, and I'm glad
to hear somebody talk
about the worship part
of this whole group,
because that is where many
of our veterans are now at.
They're in our local
worship centers,
there are in our various places.
And this where we want to go.
Because we launched
something called a program
that is Welcome Them
Home, Help Them Heal.
And we're calling
that as something
that our various worship
groups, whether it's Jewish,
or Christian, or Muslim, that
they are able to get into
and do those interviews
for our veterans.
And veterans are, I think
once this pandemic is over,
that will be one place
we can kind of begin
to launch out even more.
Because they are coming
together in our worship centers
around the country right now.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes: Absolutely.
Thank you, Chaplain.
It is so important to make sure
that, you know, the military is
such a diverse population
that we're really making sure
that it's reflected
in the Veterans History
Project as well.
>> Chaplain Michael McCoy Sr.:
Let me say one other thing.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes: Sure.
>> Chaplain Michael
McCoy Sr.: That...
The Native Americans
is another group
that is very important
that we reach out to.
Because many of our
Native Americans,
they are telling their
stories, and they are telling it
in the Veteran History
Project as well.
And we have a few.
But that is one that they have
been a part of all of our wars
and they are right now a
part of our military story.
And the Veteran History Project
as we look toward
the future must link
in with our Native
American population as well.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes: Absolutely.
Another incredibly
important voice to bring
into that conversation,
you're right.
Anita and Sara, I'm going to
come back to you for a moment.
It's my understanding
that you also share some
of that curated content on
social media so can you walk us
through those collaborations
and how they enhance your work?
We'll go ahead and start with
backwards, we'll go Anita
and then Sara this time.
>> Anita Deason: Alright,
thank you, Ashleigh.
Yes, with Senator
Boozman's office,
what we do after an interview,
and with the permission
of the veteran, our
communications team
and I work together to take
excerpts from the interview,
and I also develop
a press release.
And we put that on Senator
Boozman's Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, YouTube, often many,
especially hometown
papers will post that
or publish that article.
And that has just
been a treasure.
Because some of the veterans
are quite shy at first
about not wanting
to do social media
or bring too much
attention to themselves.
But I've actually had
veterans who call back later
and say thank you for making
me go ahead and participate
in that, I actually reconnected
with somebody I knew 50
or even 70 years ago, or
from around the world,
that or relatives that
they hadn't communicated
with in years, because they saw
them on social media or they saw
that article in the newspaper.
A really sweet thing happened
to a very, very shy veteran.
His article was in the paper
that he had participated
in this project and that Senator
Boozman had highlighted him
in the Salute to
Veterans monthly edition.
And he went to church
the next Sunday
and the church staff had taken
a picture from the newspaper
and posted it up
in the sanctuary.
So when everybody
walked in, there he was.
And it was just a thrill to him.
Just warmed his heart.
Because many people in that
congregation didn't even realize
he was a veteran or
anything about his service.
So just a few nuggets
that happen
after the interview's over.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes: Those
are great, thank you, Anita.
Sara, follow-ups?
>> Sara Maniscalco
Robinson: Yes.
And I just love hearing
those stories, Anita.
Because I also have that
experience and I love hearing
that other people are able
to feel what I'm feeling.
So really social media for me is
where the rubber meets the road.
It's where I really can
bring those stories alive
and reach a larger audience.
So the way that people ingest
information these days is much
different than going
to a library
or watching an hour
long interview.
Many of the interviews that
I do I make them into a two
to three minute highlight
using actual historical photos
that they bring in and
then video that I also get
from national archives
to be able to use.
One of my favorite anecdotal
stories is similar to Anita's,
where I interviewed a
World War II veteran
and he told me his story
and I made it into a video.
But then I posted
it on social media.
He was one of the first that
I had put on social media.
And about a week
later, I was noticing
that my analytics
were through the roof.
He'd gotten tens of
thousands of views.
And I thought what's
going on here?
And I started reading
through the comments,
well he was a teacher in one of
our small towns here in Iowa.
And his students
were all talking
about what a great
teacher he was
and thanking him
for his service.
And he has since then passed
away, which is why we do this,
but his story will
live on forever.
And I have this amazing saying
that I often tell people
when they're on the fence
of whether or not they want
to do an interview or not.
And I say that there's
an old saying
that a person dies two times.
The first time is when their
soul leaves their body,
and the second time
is the last time
that their name is ever brought
up or their story is ever told.
So through doing this
project, we're able to continue
to tell these stories
and allow the veterans,
regardless of how long ago
they passed away, they're able
to continue to tell their
story through social media,
which once you get it posted,
it lives on the internet.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes: Absolutely,
thank you both for
those examples.
Very heartwarming and
very powerful examples.
Mike, I'm going to come to you
for this one, don't want you
to think I forgot about you.
Here's a simple question,
but it may be, you know,
a rather personal one.
Can you tell me how
being involved
in the project has affected
you and those around you?
>> Mike Farrar: Of course.
You know, being involved in
this project is probably one
of the highlights of my
life to be honest with you.
The ability to sit
back and listen
to someone tell their story
and then to be able to have
that to give back to the
family is without words.
But I've been asked
this question before
as to why I participate
in this project.
And I'd like to give you an
example of what happened.
I have a phone call one
day from a father asking
if we could interview his son.
And of course, I said
yeah, we'd love to.
And he says well, you
don't quite understand.
He's in the VA, he's
in the hospital.
And I said well that's,
no problem,
we've done interviews
in the VA before.
He goes yeah, but
here's the thing.
He was a sniper in Iraq.
In fact at the time, he had the
longest kill shot, you know,
that they had recorded.
And him and his father
got R&R, went to Austria
to go snowboarding,
and he broke his back.
Making him a quadriplegic.
So I told the father, that's
not a problem, we can come in
and still do the interview.
So I took one of my volunteers
that is also a nurse and we went
to the VA to interview Alex.
And he sat over in the
corner of the room.
Had his-- had a hoodie up.
You know, this kid
was 25 at the time.
And he was a little
nervous at first.
But he said he'd rather be
in his bed for the interview.
So we did that.
Went ahead and did the
interview, which was kind
of slow at first until
we started talking
about sniper school, and
then it got, you know,
he was more interested.
But anyway, the point I'm trying
to make is that me personally,
I will visit any of the veterans
that I interview at the VA
like once a week
until they're gone.
And I went over to visit Alex
and as I'm walking in the door,
his dad stops me, he says
hey, Mike, come here,
I want to tell you something.
Well, of course, I'm
thinking the worst.
And he goes I just want to let
you know that his mom and I
and him sat down and watched the
interview that you guys had made
and we really loved it.
And I said okay, I appreciate
that, I just want to go
in and say hi to Alex.
And he says no, no.
There's something else.
He goes I just want you to know
that from doing this interview,
as simple as it may seem,
has actually turned Alex's life
around where now
he actually wants
to help other quadriplegics
get better themselves.
So that in itself, knowing
that something as simple
as an interview could lead
to turning a young man
like that totally
around is all the--
everything I would ever want.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes: That's
absolutely incredible.
And completely understandable
when you say that's, you know,
something that is
probably one of the things
that impacts you
most in your life.
Wow. Sara, you know, you
mentioned earlier on that some
of your video projects
have actually landed
in the Iowa Gold Star Museum.
What does it feel like for you
to have some of those stories
so permanently displayed?
And what have you
heard as the results
through veterans whose
interviews are actually
highlighted in the museum?
>> Sara Maniscalco
Robinson: Ashleigh,
I hear stories almost weekly
of people getting a hold of me
that either saw a relative's
interview in the museum,
or just a child that really
connected with a veteran.
I think the first time
that I really understood
that I was actually doing
something pretty amazing would
have been Memorial Day a couple
years ago, I was volunteering
at the museum, which I
often do on Memorial Day.
And I came around the
corner and my exhibit
at the time was brand new.
It's three monitors and
there's about, I just chose
about 100 interviews that
I really like to highlight
to show the different diversity
and that kind of things
and different generations.
And there was a line of
young kids that couldn't wait
to go push those buttons.
And they put the
little headphones on,
of course this was
before quarantine.
But they put the headphones on,
and you know, there's a brother
and sister sitting there
sharing the headphones,
and watching through the videos.
And it's just something
that they're drawn to.
Sometimes I think we
oftentimes kind of think
that kids are you know, only
wanting to play video games
or something like that.
But they have a genuine
curiosity.
And it's the two generations
coming together that I find
to be the most amazing.
Where oftentimes the young
people are cast aside
because they're too young,
and the elderly are cast
aside back they're too old.
But if you bring those
two groups together,
something actually
quite magical happens.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes: Absolutely.
Yeah, that's very powerful.
I mean, clearly you're
all incredibly passionate
about this work and what you do
with the Veterans History
Project and with veterans.
So I'll pose another
quick group question.
So again, just throw a hand
up if you want to
take a shot at it.
What advice would you give to
an organization, to a group,
or even just an individual
who was interested
in getting involved with the
Veterans History Project?
Not all at once, now.
Sara? Go ahead.
>> Sara Maniscalco
Robinson: Well I would say
that it's much easier
than you might think.
Sometimes people are
a little intimidated
when it comes to
video production.
And I've seen videos
of all different
qualities, if you will.
But really, if someone's
nervous,
there's great things available
through the Veteran
History Project.
If they don't know
what questions to ask,
there's the packet
that you can download.
So if someone comes to me
and says hey, I'm thinking
about doing this, my
advice is to just do it.
You'll never regret
doing the interview,
you will regret not
doing an interview.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes: Right.
Yeah, and it is shockingly
easy, I think.
Mike, did you want to
add on something there?
>> Mike Farrar: Yeah, you know,
it's really interesting how many
of my new volunteers
are actually products
of being interviewed
for the project.
So it's really nice that--
to have a veteran that
will tell their story
and then all the
sudden, it's like hey,
I want to be part of this.
And then to be part of
this is so fulfilling
to them, it's amazing.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes:
Chaplain McCoy,
do you have something to add?
>> Chaplain Michael
McCoy Sr.: Yes.
I would say similar.
It's that once one
of our colleagues
or someone do an
interview or be interviewed,
they begin to see
the importance of it.
And they immediately begin
to think of their associates
who also, that they can meet
with, and also interview them.
It is something about
hearing someone's story
in their own words that--
that not only is good
for the interviewee,
but it's also good
for the interviewer.
It makes someone feel,
begin to understand
that what I have went through.
Let me just tell
you one example.
My-- we were doing
some interviews
and as we were talking in a
group one day, there was--
the troops that was
coming back from Da Nang,
was coming actually
the bodies I should say
that was being shipped
back to America,
a chaplain was standing
there, who was making sure
that they were identified
correctly there in Da Nang.
And then when it received
them here in America,
another chaplain was there.
It so happened that
the two chaplains,
one was telling his story,
and the other was
telling what he had felt
when he was shipping
bodies back,
and the other one was the one
that was receiving the bodies.
They never knew each
other, never even met.
But here they had
so much in common
that they had now become friends
and share stories now forever
until they leave this Earth.
But that story is now there
forever about the two chaplains
who never knew each other.
This happens so often.
And we-- storytelling is
probably one of the things
that will last-- that
will last forever.
And veterans and their families
heal by hearing the stories
of some of their loved ones and
stories of their colleagues.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes:
Yeah, I think that's one
of my favorite pieces about
the Veterans History Project,
it really humanizes
the individuals
who are in the military.
And it reminds you that
you have, in many ways,
shared that common experience.
Anita, did you have something
that you wanted to add?
I saw a hand go up.
>> Anita Deason: Yes, Ashleigh.
I was just going to talk
about the ripple effect.
And so I had a
teacher/facilitator
in one of my workshops.
And then she invited me to
the facilitator's conference.
So I had hundreds of teachers
and facilitators
that I could talk to.
And in turn, some of those were
so interested in the project,
then you get invited out
to their high schools.
So just the ripple
effect, if you can get
that one person interested,
it just gets passed along.
Just you get so much
more involvement
in the Veterans History Project.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes:
Thank you, Anita.
And yeah, I think again,
mention the ripple effect,
and this next question is,
again, one for the entire panel.
You know, we've talked about
the individual level, you know,
why people should get involved.
Why should an organization
get involved
with the Veterans
History Project?
Does anyone have any
thoughts on that?
Anita?
>> Anita Deason: For Senator
Boozman, Senator Boozman is
on the Senate Veterans
Affairs Committee.
So we already interface
with veterans
and their families quite
a bit, as well as the VA
and various other
federal agencies.
So, it is so helpful as
an organization to be able
to reach that community.
Normally they're coming with
us, to us, with a problem.
And we're working
on that problem.
But when we can also do a
project that's not political
in nature at all,
make them comfortable,
help them share their story,
help to make them reconnect
with their family,
their community,
that's just such a
tremendous thing.
And then if we
as an organization
can further help them
with other things,
then that's great.
But I think building that
first, that relationship
with the veteran community
through a project like this,
is incredibly important.
Senator Boozman's motto is
to use the office for good.
And I think this project
is such an example
of putting his motto
into action.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes: Yeah.
Absolutely, 100%.
Sara?
>> Sara Maniscalco Robinson: So,
one thing that I think is really
important and a good reason
for organizations to be part
of the Veteran History
Project is it's one thing
that I think every
American has in common.
Regardless of who you talk to,
if you use the term support our
troops, people are like yes,
I want to support our troops.
I want to do what I can.
It's also an opportunity
for organizations
to do something good
in their community.
Every community has veterans.
And every organization,
regardless of what they
have available to them,
can help in this
project in some way.
It's something that
they can give back
to if they're the boy scouts,
it's something they
can give back
to if they're the court
reporters of America.
And no matter what
your organization does
or what your mission is,
the thing that we all have
in common is that we want
to support our veterans
and support our troops.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes:
Right, absolutely.
Chaplain McCoy, did I see you
raise your hand on that one?
>> Chaplain Michael
McCoy Sr.: Yes.
I feel that this is a very
important part of our mission.
And that especially as our
veteran service organizations,
they have about, we have
about 25 strong veteran
service organizations.
And yet we have a lot
of auxiliaries as well
who have been who have
been in our country.
And it is something that would
be positive, they are the ones
that attract a lot
of our veterans.
We complain that many
of them older now,
we're not attracting the
younger veterans as much,
but we're still talking about
in the millions of members
that is a part of our
veteran service organizations
within this country.
And I think to make
that a project,
a part of their services that
they offer, would be very good.
Sure, they would need the help
from the Library of Congress
and many that will help provide
training, but when I think
about the Military
Chaplains Association,
the American Legion, when we
think about the Governments
of Foreign Affairs, and
we can go on and on.
We begin to think about these
organizations that have a lot
of missions, yes, but
that veterans come to them
on a daily basis and it's
more than just the games
or the bingo or whatever.
It is many things.
And so this would be a project
that I think they would catch
onto and they know the veteran,
the veteran feels good within,
[inaudible] employees, it's
just a matter of equipment
and logging in, then being
able for the veteran to come
and tell his or her story.
And I think is a good way
that we can launch the future
to see millions of veterans
within our project
telling their stories.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes:
Yeah, absolutely.
When we have worked with the
Library of Congress through DAV
to do this with our
veterans, they, you know,
our friends at the Library of
Congress are always very eager
to assist us in helping
with that.
But the response
was overwhelming.
We had a lot of our members
who really, really wanted to,
you know, sit down and
share their stories.
So you're right, you know, we
have a great pool of veterans
to start interviewing right
at the tip of our fingers.
So we're going to
start wrapping up.
I wanted to go ahead
and throw out that line
as good Veterans History Project
interviewers we all know,
is there anything else
you'd like to add?
Any closing thoughts
from anyone?
Anita?
>> Anita Deason:
Ashleigh, kind of following
up on a question you
asked earlier about follow
on benefits to that interview.
One thing that's been very
powerful is finding veterans
where they have lost
their awards or medals
or they've been stolen or
they never received them
and so on and so forth.
And when we hear about that,
we then go to work in trying
to get a replacement set of
medals, or trying to assist them
in getting-- receiving the
medal they were entitled
to but never received.
So, when those medals come in,
we then ask how they would
like to be presented.
Often they will ask to have
them presented at their church
or at their veterans
service organization.
Sometimes even at
the State Capitol.
Just wherever that veteran
wants them to be presented.
And that has been an absolute
beautiful follow on piece
to the interview when
those moments happen.
To be able to stand
up, share their story,
and now share those awards and
medals that they've received
in a formal ceremony
in some cases.
So that's just an added extra
thing that this project brings
to the forefront
for our veterans.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes:
That's wonderful.
I'm sure that's just
incredible meaningful for them.
Sara, you had some remarks?
>> Sara Maniscalco Robinson:
I think we would be remiss
if we didn't thank the
Library of Congress for today
and the Veteran History Project
for being a place for all
of us to come together.
We're from all over
the country right now.
And the Veteran History
Project is a clearing house,
if you will, and a museum
curator told me once
that when a person dies,
the library of their
life closes forever.
So if we don't capture
these stories now,
we may not get the
opportunity to.
So thank you guys so much
at Library of Congress
for giving us the opportunity
to share these stories.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes: Any other
thoughts from the group?
Mac?
>> John M. "Mac" Tolar: Yeah,
I just wanted to piggyback
on something that
Sara mentioned earlier
about delivering the stories
to the Library of Congress.
We've had numerous
fellows working
for our members deliver
those to Congress by hand.
And actually, what would
happen is the fellow
and the member would do a formal
presentation to either Karen
or Dr. Hayden with the
[inaudible] of interviews
that they had collected.
And kind of a-- self-serving is
not the right word, but in order
to promote this activity,
often the member would Facebook
Live the presentation itself.
And we just thought that was a
great benefit and a great thing
to do for-- in order to not
only share the story of VHP,
but also the fact that the
members out there are doing
that in their districts.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes: Absolutely.
Chaplain McCoy, you look like
you had something to add.
>> Chaplain Michael
McCoy Sr.: Yes.
I think it's-- I too like to
thank the Library of Congress
for taking this on as a
mission and a project.
Because this is one way that we
can continue to grow in terms
of many veterans that
I interviewed come back
and say hey, you know, I should
have shared this picture,
or I should have told
you about this award.
Is there any way
I can get that in?
I said sure.
You know. And so it's good to
know that there is somewhere
where their file could be
kept, where there is somewhere
where they feel well,
when I leave this Earth,
there is somewhere in the world
that has something about some
of the things I've done as
a person in the military.
I think as we leave the
Korean War veterans,
as they are now dying out and
so forth, it seems like a lot
of the secrecy is
kind of ending, also.
I think veterans are
kind of more willing
to tell their stories now
than say World War II
or even before that.
So we're getting a
more open veteran.
That is willing to
share about what--
and maybe it's social media,
maybe it's because they're
taking a lot of pictures,
but it is just a difference.
And so we need to look
at how we're going
to move ahead in these new days.
As we continue this project.
But I think we'll
find that the--
our new veterans that
is coming are more--
they're more open to
share some of the things
that they've done
and their stories.
So just a kind of way of looking
forward is how do we handle
that in the future as we look
at our new veterans coming
out of Afghanistan
and Iraq and so forth?
Because they are little more--
younger, yes, but
they will be old.
They keep living.
So, we want to make
sure that they'd be able
to tell their stories also.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes: Absolutely.
Anything else before
we close out?
Mike?
>> Mike Farrar: I think
you were in front of me,
if you want to go, go ahead.
Okay. Anyway, yeah,
you know, I agree 100%
with what the Chaplain
was saying.
You know, a lot of
times I'll get veterans
that are very short-winded
on answers.
And so you know, we'll have
their wife, their husband,
or one of their siblings come in
and I give them a
paper and a pen
and tell them while we're
doing the interview,
if you think of something,
because you most likely heard
these stories over and over,
write it down and hand it to
me and we'll get into that,
get it into the interview.
And then like the Chaplain was
saying, I can't think of more
than maybe 5% of all the
veterans that we've interviewed
that haven't come
back and said man,
I wish I would have
talked about--
usually they don't
even get out the door.
And they're like oh, you know,
I did forget something.
Is it okay?
And of course it's okay.
You know, this is
their story to tell.
And they deserve and
have earned that right
to say whatever they want.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes: Yeah.
Alright. One last shot.
Any final comments, Anita?
Here you go.
>> Anita Deason: So Ashleigh,
I have one more story to tell.
But I think it encapsulates
about just how powerful
the Library
of Congress Veterans
History Project really is
to our veterans.
I interviewed, he was my first
Vietnam veteran to interview.
So it was very-- I was
being very cautious.
The veteran has suffered
his entire life based
on his experience in Vietnam.
He was in the Marines,
he was 19 years old,
he was sent over Vietnam as
a replacement into a unit
that had just been decimated.
But before he got connected with
his unit, he was in Da Nang.
And his first assignment
was to take his vehicle
and meet the Huey coming
in with our veterans in--
Vietnam veterans, soldiers,
Marines, in body bags.
He was-- his job at 19 years old
was to offload that helicopter
onto his truck, then drive over
and take those bodies
to mortuary affairs.
And he did that for four months.
And he said you understand
that they really all weren't
in body bags, and they really
weren't all in one piece.
So that's how he started
out his tour in Vietnam.
And again, when he came
home, he had a bad reception.
There was no welcome home.
And he was not good to himself
or his family for many years.
So we do this interview
and he shares his story,
this is very powerful.
And at the end of it, I ask
him, I said are you okay?
And he stood up, kind
of hitched up his pants,
and twirled around,
wiped his nose.
And then he looked at me and he
said that's the healthiest thing
that I ever done for myself.
So I just want to
share his story.
Because I think it is
just a perfect example
of why the Veterans History
Project is so meaningful
and so powerful to our
veterans, their families.
>> Ashleigh Byrnes: Yeah.
I mean it's-- it can clearly
be an emotional experience
for veterans sharing
their stories.
And like I think, you know,
some of you have said,
sometimes it's the first
time they're sharing it,
sometimes it's the first
time their family members are
hearing it.
But it can be such a
therapeutic experience.
And it can open them up to
being willing to share it more
and kind of work through some
of those painful experiences.
So it's truly just
a wonderful project.
I think we can all get
behind that sentiment.
This has been an
amazing discussion.
All of you are doing incredible
work in your local communities.
On behalf of veterans,
I'm so glad to have been
a part of this today.
And thank you all so
much for taking part.
It's really been my privilege
to learn from each of you
in this discussion and I
look forward, hopefully,
when we're in normal
circumstances,
it would be wonderful to meet
you all in person at some point.
For those who are
wanting to learn more
about the Veterans
History Project,
I would highly encourage you
to check out their website
at www.LOC.gov/vets, or you
can email those fine folks
at VOHP@LOC.gov.
Thank you all from the bottom
of my heart for watching today.
We look forward to learning
who the veteran in
your life is soon.
Take care.