“I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.” – Winston Churchill, 1940

The local Red Cross has been in the “blood” business for decades. Now, it is getting into the “toil, tears and sweat” business as well, according to one of its leaders.

J.P. DeMeritt, emergency services director of the Heart of Texas Chapter of the American Red Cross, said the local office is taking part in a national project to help collect the stories of all surviving veterans of any American military conflict.

Cold War or hot battlefront, the Library of Congress seeks to collect, preserve and make publicly available the personal accounts of American war veterans so future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war.

A helicopter hovers over a wounded GI on Nov. 23, 1967, on a tiny landing zone at Hill 875 during the Vietnam War.
Al Chang/Associated Press, file

Besides warriors, the stories of other troops — such as military nurses, battlefield medics and combat photographers, for example — also are being sought.

The Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center seeks volunteers to scour the country to gather these tales “straight from the horse’s mouth,” DeMerritt said.

He said his office can help that mission through the recent acquisition of equipment to assist volunteers record such tales.

“Recordings or writings have to be in the veterans’ own words,” DeMeritt said. “It can’t be you relating Uncle Sid’s war stories. It has to be him telling about his military experiences.”

Families that have already collected such information and laid it out in printed form can submit the works as long as the material is in the service person’s own words, he said.

Transcriptions of records are welcomed, but the recordings themselves are what researchers want access to most of all.

Aging groups

There’s a considerable amount of information to be gleaned through such recordings, DeMeritt said. But time is short, especially for the veterans of World War II and Korea, who are in their 80s and 90s now.

Vietnam veterans are in their 60s and 70s, as are the Cold War vetss of the 1950s and 1960s, he said. Even the Persian Gulf War veterans of 1991 are now in their 40s and 50s.

“The army is taking brand-new recruits up to age 42, so it’s an increasingly aging cadre of veterans we’re looking at,” DeMeritt said. “Part of what we do at the Red Cross is service to the Armed Forces, military families and military hospitals.”

The Department of Veterans Affairs’ two area facilities are in Temple and Waco.

“We’re seeking volunteers to go into these hospitals and listen to them (veterans). It can make a tremendous amount of difference,” DeMeritt said.

Volunteers can play a crucial role as a sympathetic ear, he said. For example, he has a brother who is a Vietnam War vet, yet he can’t get his brother to talk to him about those experiences. Veterans may open up more freely to a stranger than family, DeMeritt added.

“It’s a part of their processing these experiences. It’s therapeutic, to a certain extent,” he said. “And it will help us who were not there connect to some of what they witnessed or did.”

DeMeritt is a veteran of the Air Force, who served 12 of his 20 years in the disaster management field.

As a Cold War veteran, he witnessed Minutemen missiles rising from their silos for tests at an atoll in the Pacific.

He said he hopes to initiate training in October for the volunteers who want tips on interviewing veterans.

“It would be helpful if volunteers could do some initial research on the unit the vet served in, some of the places the vet traveled on duty,” DeMeritt said.

Anyone can send their material to the Library of Congress for inclusion with the project, he said.

“But we’re trying to facilitate the recruitment of volunteers and offer training on how to use the equipment and share some tips on how to conduct the research.”

DeMeritt said he is available to speak to veterans’ groups, civic clubs, ROTC units and other organizations that have members interested in this effort. College history majors and journalism students also are invited to apply.

“It’s a real opportunity to meet the folks who have ‘been there, done that’ and got the T-shirt to prove it,” DeMeritt said. “This is a great way to show your respect and solidarity with our veterans, who tend to become inconspicuous over time if we don’t take care to acknowledge their sacrifices for us.”

tjryan@wacotrib.com

757-5746

Submissions to Veteran History Project

Wounded servicemen cruise down the Potomac River on April 22, 1953, aboard the presidential Yacht Williamsburg. A Red Cross worker hands a cup of coffee to one of the men.
Henry Burroughs/Associated Press

Stories can be told through personal narratives (such as audio- and video-recorded interviews or self-written memoirs); correspondence (letters, postcards, V-mail and personal diaries); and visual materials (photos, drawings and scrapbooks).

The project collects first-hand accounts of U.S. veterans from the following wars:

*  World War I (1914-20);

*  World War II (1939-46);

*  Korean War (1950-55);

*  Vietnam War (1961-75);

*  Persian Gulf War (1990-95); and,

*  Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts (2001-present).

In addition, U.S. civilians who actively supported war efforts (such as war industry workers, USO workers, flight instructors, medical volunteers, etc.) are invited to share their stories.

Guidelines

Interviews need to be at least 30 minutes long, using the highest quality recording equipment available.

Approved formats include:

Video: Digital video, Hi-8/8mm, DVD (do NOT “copy-protect”), MPEG-2, Betacam

Audio: Cassette, CD

The VHP also collects:

*  Original narratives/memoirs and wartime diaries or journals of at least 20 pages;

*  Collections of letters (10 or more);

*  Official military documents; and,

*  Collections of original photos or artwork (10 or more).

Submit both electronic and original paper copies of documents.

Do not send

*  Microcassettes, MP3s, VHS or DAT;

*  Photocopies;

*  Three-dimensional objects or artwork, such as medals, canteens, uniforms, helmets, dog tags, flags, weapons, military equipment, sculpture;

*  Framed materials;

*  Published works (including books, newspapers, and magazines);

*  Interviews done on behalf of veterans or by proxy;

*  Group interviews, unit histories or written compilations of veterans’ stories; and,

*  Interviews or materials of veterans who performed military service for other countries.

For more details, visit LOC.gov and search “Veterans History Project”

RELATED SEARCHES

• Historic Waco Foundation to present 'Evenings of Southern Hospitality'