Students Key to ‘War Stories’ Project

World War II veteran Milton Plagens of San Angelo shared his memories with ASU student Mindy Holder of San Antonio for Angelo State's ‘War Stories' project.

A history major from San Antonio who plans to be a teacher, Holder is one of the first student workers on the project. She has been conducting interviews with veterans, scanning photographs and documents, and transcribing interviews, letters and journals to be included in a digital archive.

“My immediate family is not involved in the military, but living in San Antonio, it seems like everyone else is,” she said. “One thing that struck me from the interviews was the hatred that people had toward the Vietnam veterans when they returned because I can’t imagine treating someone like that, especially when they fought for our country.”

Dr. Kanisorn Wongsrichanalai The “War Stories” project is funded by a three-year National Endowment for the Humanities grant (NEH No. AC-226771-15) awarded in December 2014 to Dr. Christine Lamberson and Dr. Kanisorn Wongsrichanalai of ASU’s history faculty.

The goal of “War Stories” is to collect and preserve the stories and experiences of armed forces personnel and their families with a West Texas connection from World War I to the present. The digital archive will serve as a research resource for future generations and a memorial to those Americans who helped shape the course of the 20th and early 21st centuries.

The first step was to reach out to veterans and their families and invite them to participate. Submit your story online or view the growing archive on the War Stories website.

“I interviewed a World War II veteran, transcribed a journal from someone who served in Iraq, sat in on an interview with a gentleman who is a Vietnam War veteran and talked with people from the Cold War era,” Holder said. “One gentleman was in Berlin when the Wall was knocked down.”

“I think it will help me in the long run to make history more personal for my students,” she added. “I can tell them about how I talked to this person and what they had to say about this conflict.”

Dr. Christine Lamberson The project is tackling a huge geographic area. Lamberson and Wongsrichanalai already have traveled to Alpine, Pecos and Marfa and visited retirement communities in San Angelo. They are planning trips to Waco, Eagle Pass and Del Rio.

“We have learned that cooperating with local historical societies and universities is very beneficial,” Wongsrichanalai said. “We ask them to help us contact and recruit veterans, family members and the community. We’ve been very pleased with the support. There’s a great deal of interest in preserving the past.”

Lamberson finds there is no shortage of veterans, especially in West Texas.

“I interviewed a World War II veteran, transcribed a journal from someone who served in Iraq, sat in on an interview with a gentleman who is a Vietnam War veteran and talked with people from the Cold War era.”

Mindy Holder, ASU student worker on the “War Stories” project

“We have a lot of people who are super excited to participate,” she said, “but a lot of people who are excited we are doing this don’t feel their personal story has value. We find this especially the case with family members, who we contend served alongside those in the armed forces. This is not a project that is simply about shooting on the battlefield. It’s the whole gamut.”

The professors are also expanding the role of students in building the archive, tapping those in ASU history classes.

“The students identified a lot of veterans who work for ASU,” Wongsrichanalai said. “That was good, to draw them in.”

For sophomore history/political science major Justice Barkman of Cleburne, military service is part of his family’s tradition. Working on the “War Stories” project makes that family history even more relevant.

ASU student Justice Barkman of Cleburne found working on the ‘War Stories' project strengthened his appreciation for his family's history of military service.

“Most of what I’ve done so far is transcriptions of interviews,” he said. “It takes a long time. Every hour of audio takes roughly 10 hours to transcribe. My first one was with an Iraq veteran who was in the Marines. The third I did was a World War II veteran, a pilot for a bomber.”

“It gives you a different view of history,” he added, “not just what is in textbooks. One of these guys said he didn’t like talking about what he did in the military to civilians because they wouldn’t understand. But they have these fantastic stories. The stories are absolutely invaluable and it’s amazing to hear them.”

For more information on the “War Stories” project, call the Department of History at 325-942-2324 or email warstories@angelo.edu. 

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Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily reflect those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.