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Preface
- Dartmouth College Press
- Chapter
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Preface ---------------------------------------------------------Ten years ago I took an oral history project about World War II to the local elementary school. A fifth- grade teacher, an enthusiastic history buff, integrated the project into the curriculum and worked very diligently with me to guide that project to fruition. That exercise involved fourth and fifth graders interviewing local World War II veterans, printing a book (Local American Heroes of World War II, Borderlands Press, 2004), and celebrating their accomplishments together on Veterans Day 2004. The veterans were invigorated by their weekly interactions with the youngsters and grateful because, as they said, “We thought we’d been forgotten .” The students learned about the war and developed an appreciation for their seniors, most older than their own grandparents. One even said, “I didn’t know old people could be so interesting.” Those children are now in college, and they have not forgotten. Only half of the veterans remain. The impact of this project on the student- writers and the veterans persists. As secretary for the Dartmouth Class of 1964 it is my privilege to submit a column about classmates to the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine every two months. Three years ago, while searching for a topic for a few columns, it occurred to me that the veterans in our class would be a good focus. The vets cooperated and filled a database of information, which became the basis for writing six columns, a whole year’s worth. However, only a few of our vets could be featured in the brief columns. One way to include all our veterans was to publish a book of their essays . Ours is not a class that shrinks from the challenge of writing. We have already published two volumes, edited by current class president Ron Schram: Sports: A Generation’s Common Bond (AuthorHouse, 2007) and Generational Bridges to the World’s Troubles (AuthorHouse, 2012). As we approach our fiftieth class reunion in June 2014, what better way to reflect on our experiences than by sharing the one experience that shaped not just our class, but our generation? xx : Preface Thus began a rather short eight months of collecting and editing veteran classmates’ essays. It could not have been done so quickly without the concerted efforts of my classmate coeditors: Jim Stewart, Dave deCalesta, Bob Woodruff, and Fred Gray. They never complained when I reminded them, sometimes with less grace than I should have, that work was backing up. They made serious suggestions to raise the level of their classmates’ work, and their recommendations were almost always accepted with appreciation. The writers were very cooperative and generally timely with their submissions. As a group, the editors selected the title and decided to arrange the book chronologically, approximately by the service years of the writer. We also thank classmate Bob Bartles for suggesting that we publish with the University Press of New England, who have raised the level of this book well beyond what we could have done on our own. Firsthand recollections are a valuable resource for historians. Writing about one’s involvement with or during a war can be cathartic for the author . Sharing the writer’s sentiments can be thought provoking and inspirational to the readers. Acknowledging the angst and tragedy of this war, the Vietnam War, the one our country would like to forget, is a necessary step on the road to breaking the narcotic sensation that war is always the correct answer. This collection of essays, written by my classmates from the Dartmouth Class of 1964, is an attempt to address all these goals. There are fifty- five essays by classmates and three extras: one by Sage Dunlap Chase, friend and correspondent of classmate Bruce Nickerson, who died in Vietnam; another by Robert Hager, ’60, an “on the ground” news correspondent, who reported from Vietnam for NBC News; and finally an essay by William Peters, ’15, who served in Iraq, which may become his generation’s Vietnam. Each of them adds a special perspective and context. As a studious, focused student, I graduated Dartmouth with fewer friendships than I should have. After working with these fifty- eight authors , I feel that I have more good friends than at any time in my life. There might have been more essays, which would have gladly been accepted , but some classmates could not, even now, write about their experiences of almost fifty years ago. Similarly, I value my connection with these men. [3.144.251.72] Project MUSE (2024-04-17 15...