Preserving Our Veteran's Stories

This Veterans Day, I wrote a blog post about my father and his military service. Since I am the family historian, along with that service comes many stories and photos. As usual I'm always trying to figure out how to tell those stories and what to do with all this family history.

I was going through the Yahoo news page on Veterans day and came across an article about Jane Bartow.  World War II Letters reveal parents untold love story. Jane found her parents letters from World War II and published them in a book.

But she also began a website called, World War II Daughters. On this site is space to tell these stories of our fathers and their experiences in World War II.  I was inspired. I contacted Jane and I've decided that several stories about my dad and his service are a better fit on her site, than here on Appalachian Heart Wood. I will be contributing a few of Dad's World War II stories to that website. I'll be posting on this blog when they are up with a link.  I encourage daughter's of World War II veterans with stories to contact Jane and consider telling their father's tales there.

Jane also told me about the Veteran's History Project through the Library of Congress. I worked as an assistant archivist and archivist beginning with the Holston Conference Archives during and after college and so all these letters, photos, etc. I have of family, I am always thinking about their preservation for the future. None of this hoarding of family mementos means a thing if they don't survive and the stories are handed down with them. Just one look on eBay will show you how some family members kept items for so long only to have another family member care nothing about them and discard them or get rid of them. Many times these items carry our history, not only of ourselves but of our nation.

So I have been in contact with the Library of Congress Veteran's History Project and this Thanksgiving I'm going to talk to my family of finding dad's mementos a permanent home where they can be shared, accessed by anyone and preserved. Better than a box in the closet.  I will scan all the copies digitally and share with the family. That way they can make copies of whatever they want. But to me this is a way that Dad's life will be honored and what he kept and did in World War II, Korea and Vietnam will be preserved.

If you have stories to share and mementos to preserve I encourage you to check out Jane's website and the Veteran's History Project at the Library of Congress. The project is collecting stories from Veterans of all wars including the most recent. Our Veterans and their stories deserve to be remembered.

World War II Daughters Stories

Veteran's History Project

In Honor of Veterans Day 2013

In Honor of Veterans Day

Old Warriors Never Die and neither do our memories of them. It's Veteran's Day 2013 and I would be remiss if I did not write something about my favorite veteran...my dad.

My dad, Don Bowling, was a warrior, and a soldier all his life. When he was a young man living in Appalachia, he worked on a farm, as a logger and as a lookout for a moonshiner. He joined the Army in Bluefield, WV in 1939.

The choice to him was simple. He didn't want to go under ground in the mines of the coalfields. He didn't want to work on the railroad like his father. He didn't want to continue farming like his grandfather and he certainly didn't want to end up in a Georgia Prison for making illegal liquor.  He wanted to see the world and in the military, see the world he did.

During WWII, for the duration of the war, he served with Patton's Third Army, the 5th Division, the 50th Field artillery unit.  He traveled from Iceland to the Russian front. After WWII he was discharged for a month or so and joined the Navy and served until 1970 making him a veteran of World War II, Korea and Vietnam. I asked him why he joined the Navy and not rejoin the Army. He said, "I lived in fox holes for 6 years. I wanted to ride in the rear with the beer for awhile."

He told us stories upon stories. Some not so good (and those he had to be pretty drunk to even talk about). Many stories of courageous acts that were amazing of things he did and things he witnessed. So many events he was very proud of and he always loved the military. He was very proud of his service to our country. On the day he died he would have returned to military service in a heart beat if he was ever asked.

I was thinking of him this Veterans Day. I remember the problems he had when he retired out of the service. He had problems getting medical care at the VA. He had problems to just getting his G.I. Loan papers processed. Then as now, it seems that politicians like to use the Veterans and military service people as a back drop for an election, but sort of forget the men and women who serve when they are in need.

So on this Veterans Day, let us not only thank our Veterans, Military personnel or our service responders for their service and wave a flag. Let us go beyond that by advocating for their needs to be taken care of.

If you hear of a bill in Congress that would benefit our Veterans and Military that you think is a good idea, such as a jobs, housing or training bill, write your Congress People and let them know that these men and women deserve our support.

If you know of an organization that is helping Veterans and military personnel or providing a service, pull out your wallet and send them a donation. 

One that I just learned about recently that is quite inspiring, is a foundation began by the actor +Gary Sinise called the  Gary Sinise Foundation.  He and the Lt. Dan Band are traveling in and out of the country performing shows and making a difference by raising funds and awareness for programs for our military personnel and veterans.  Whatever we do, let's do more to make sure that those who have served us really are not forgotten.

Later on I will do a few blog posts using a box of memorabilia of pictures and mementos of my dad's and relate some of the stories he told me about his military service. He participated in the Battle of the Bulge, (marching 125 miles in 3 days in sub zero weather to get to those guys) and his adventures as one of the oldest flight mechanics in the Navy when he retired. This blog could go on for a few years!!

Update: I will be posting his World War II stories and possibly photos on another blog World War II Daughters. His other stories and photos of his Navy service I will post from time to time here. I'm thinking Memorial Day, Veterans Day, Flag day etc. posts.

I welcome any comments or suggestions. Thanks for reading.