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Voices of War Update

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I’m collecting oral histories from West Virginia war veterans. It’s not about “war stories” but about the human side of war, how it changed the men who fought and how they felt when they came home. So far, it has been a very powerful and meaningful experience for me.

I’ve collected 16 oral histories so far, which is a fancy way to say I have recorded interviews with 16 veterans talking about everything from their lives to their experiences to what they felt. I’ve seen more than one man shed a tear in the process.

I think one of the greatest things that will come out of this project is that families will learn something about the veterans. Yesterday, I interviewed a Bob Payne –my fiancee Beverly’s uncle. We were talking about the interview afterward and she learned for the first time that her uncle earned a Purple Heart serving in Korea.  Bob was actually wounded by friendly fire when an artillery shell failed to launch properly and landed directly on his own mortar emplacement. With the typical attitude of a Marine, he could only stand to be away from the front for a couple days before he returned to service. Beverly didn’t know anything about it. In spite of loving the Marine Corps and being proud to have served in Korea, Bob also talked about occasionally waking up from combat nightmares 60 years later.

Another veteran spoke about his time in the South Pacific during World War II and the Battle of Ormoc Bay (he was frustrated, by the way, that no one had ever heard of this particular fight). Herman Bartlett’s role during General Quarters was to help supply ammunition to a 40 mm gun. His gun crew ended up shooting down a Japanese Kamikaze plane that day. Herman said the plane got so close before it exploded, he could see the expression on the pilot’s face. The twist to this story, however, is that Herman’s regular duty station—four hours on and eight hours off, seven days a week—was as the helmsman. Three kamikazes attacked his ship. They got two of them, but the third crashed into the ship’s bridge killing all but one member of the bridge crew, including the Captain. If it had been his turn at the helm, Herman would have died that day.  

A third veteran this week served two tours in Iraq. Tom Bearfield’s second tour was in 2005 when the insurgency was heating up and road-side bombs, known as IEDs or improvised explosive devices, were a real problem. He was hauling fuel all around the country in tanker trucks. Tom is still haunted by a day when he was providing security for a convoy. From the gun mount of a Humvee, he watched a man pull his car off the side of the road so the convoy could pass. He said the man driving the car did everything right. Tom didn’t think anything more about the car…until it exploded. The car was filled with explosives and the blast seriously wounded the gunner of another Humvee. There was nothing Tom could have done to prevent it. In spite of that, there is still a measure of guilt that comes with the experience.

I’m calling this project Voices of War. Not because I want it to be about war stories, although I have to admit they are fascinating. I want it to reflect that, regardless of the war these men served in or how they served, their experiences are still very much the same. There is pride and excitement alongside guilt at leaving their friends behind and horror at the things they saw. This will neither be pro- or anti-war. It will allow the men who fought and came home a voice to tell their own stories.  

My goal is to interview about 50 men and women before I begin to put the documentary together. I can already see, though, that that part of the process is going to be extremely difficult. Editing and making choices of what to cut and what to keep will be challenging. The final product will be a printed piece with stories of service and photographs of the veterans. I’ll also produce a multimedia documentary made up of the veteran’s voices.
I am looking for more war veterans from West Virginia to interview. I want veterans of all wars, but I am especially looking for women and veterans of Afghanistan, along with all of the WWII veterans I can find.  Please send me an email if you are one, or know of one I can interview. If you want to donate to this project to cover the cost of materials and travel, you can do so through IndieGoGo.

A quick production note, the finished multimedia documentary will have moving images, not static pictures like you see above. I simply added them this way so Youtube would allow me to upload them.

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Getting “made up” for International Television

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Some of the earliest posts in this blog, and many posts since then, have talked about the situation of the lobster divers of Honduras and the work Dr. Elmer Mejia does in caring for those divers. I’m happy to say that the documentary project I created while working on my Certificate of Documentary Arts at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University has been used for background by the New York Times and NBC’s Rock Center with Brian Williams.

 

A couple weeks ago, a journalist from CCTV was in Honduras working with Dr. Mejia on her own story. Dr. Mejia recommended that she speak to me because I have been to Puerta Lempira (where the divers live) twice. After a number of phone calls and emails, we finally worked it out that I would head to Washington DC to be interviewed in their new studio for the show Americas Now. And that was how I ended up getting “made up” by a makeup artist before heading to the studio.

 

Never heard of CCTV before? It stands for China Central Television. At the beginning of February, they launched a new show called Americas Now from their still-under-construction studio in DC.

“CCTV America (as it contributes to global CCTV News) aims to inform, engage, and provide debate on a range of issues of relevance to American and global viewers with a particular interest in China and Asia. It aims to highlight coverage in underrepresented regions of the world with diversified perspectives and alternative views.

 

“On Sundays, CCTV America will feature a unique magazine program. “Americas Now” will focus on issues in Central and South America. Recognizing an absence of in-depth reporting from the region in the US media, “Americas Now” will provide long-form investigations across Latin America.” 

After getting thoroughly made up, I was interviewed in the studio by Americas Now anchor Elaine Reyes. We talked for about 25 minutes with two cameras going the entire time. It’ll be cut down to probably five minutes, but that is the nature of television. The story is scheduled to air on April 1. Should be interesting to see how it all comes together.
As you might have noticed, this is one of those stories that has gotten under my skin. I hope the continued attention will help find a way for the Moskito Indians to earn a living without sacrificing their bodies for lobster. It’s been interesting. Some of the reactions to these stories have been negative. People have said “It’s their fault. They know the risks.” Or variations on that. I don’t really believe they do. But when the only way you can feed your family is doing this job, you do it. I see no difference between this situation and people working and dying in sweatshops or in coal mines 100 years ago.

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The power of monuments

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Washington DC is full of monuments. (Yes. I know that is a fairly obvious statement. I get it.) I was there earlier this week and had to pick and choose which ones I spent my limited time appreciating. We hit all of the majors–Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, FDR and MLK.

 

Probably more moving, though, were the monuments to great events in history—wars. More importantly, those monuments are a tribute to the men and women who offered their lives as part of them—World War II, Korea, Vietnam. These were especially relevant as I have been interviewing veterans of each of these conflicts. 

Women in Vietnam Memorial
Where the World War II monument had an almost festive atmosphere (it might have had something to do with the fact that it was 80 degrees and sunny out and that monument is full of water and fountains), the Vietnam Memorial has a much quieter, much more contemplative atmosphere. Both are appropriate to the situation, but it’s interesting to feel the power of each of these monuments. My own feelings and reactions changed while I visited them…influenced by nothing more than stone, water and emotions tied to history.
A place that you might not think of as a “monument” is Arlington National Cemetery. If you’ve never been there, plan to go sometime. I’ve been a couple times and each time I can sense the power of the place. It is beautiful, immaculate and quiet—even with the ever-present gardeners tending to the grounds.
As Bev and I walked up the hill toward the Tomb of the Unknowns, we heard the distinctive crack of a 21-gun salute. And then the second. And finally, the third. Another soldier was being laid to rest. I have no idea if it was a modern solider who died in Afghanistan or one who served years ago and returned home to die peacefully in his sleep. It didn’t matter to the men of the 3rd Infantry Division’s Old Guard. They take their duties at Arlington extremely seriously.
We were fortunate to time our arrival (totally by happenstance) just before the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns followed by two wreath laying ceremonies. It was stirring to listen to a bugler from the Army Band play taps following the laying of the wreaths offered by visiting school children. I was relieved to see the Army sergeant in charge of the ceremony smile when he spoke to the children, because he seemed like he was a moving piece of granite up until that point.
On our way out, we saw a horse-drawn caisson pulling an open hearse with a flag-draped coffin. Another funeral was about to begin. A contingent of the Army Band was on hand to play. I noticed an interesting mix of emotions on the men and women of the band. They stood around waiting for things to begin, laughing and joking, but you could also see the seriousness of it. I watched one man help make sure another’s uniform was perfect, pulling and tugging it to make sure there were no wrinkles –and this was in the back. Everything had to be perfect for the honor they were about to bestow.
A different sort of monument, but one no-less powerful, was the monument to 9/11 at the Pentagon. It honors the men and women and children that died on the plane and in the building on that terrible day. It had a quiet, reflective air about it. We were there in the early evening, just after the sun had set. Lights illuminated each of the benches. Paul Ambrose died on Flight 77 when it crashed into the Pentagon. I didn’t know Paul, but I took several classes from his father at Marshall University. Paul was a Marshall University alumnus and had everything to live for. On that day he was flying to California to deliver a report on youth obesity prevention for his employer, the Office of the Surgeon General.
Each of these monuments served its own purpose and had its own feeling and spirit. And each must be seen in person to be appreciated. Monuments may only be cold stone, water and bronze. But they serve as triggers to something deeper inside of us. That is their ultimate purpose.

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Talking to Veterans

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I’m not a veteran. I never served in the military. Frankly, I was never interested in it.

 

That said, I’ve always been impressed by people who served. In just about every military person I’ve ever met, I’ve seen a strong sense of duty and honor. I’ve also seen a feeling of camaraderie and belonging that you don’t find elsewhere. 

A few months ago, I heard about the Veterans History Project (part of the Library of Congress).  It’s an initiative is to collect oral histories from American war veterans and archive them in the Library of Congress. After contacting the library, I found out that anyone can collect these interviews. You don’t have to be associated with a specific university. It’s simply an effort to record memories. Researchers will use them and families will be able to access them after the veteran has gone or the memories have faded.
With that in mind I began a new project to collect as many of these oral histories as I can. I interviewed three veterans this week; one each from WWII, Korea and Vietnam.  I plan to interview many more in the coming weeks and months. Copies of the interviews will go to the veterans, to the Library of Congress and to an archive here in West Virginia. I plan to edit the interviews together into a documentary/book project as well that will be called (at least for the moment) Voices of War.
Fred P. Morris, 93, Elkview
Spending just a few minutes in the presence of most of these men (I hope to interview women as well) reveals how poignant the memories can be. Fred Morris, a 93-year-old WWII veteran who served in North Africa and in Italy afterward, still remembers little things, people and places, from those days. His memories of other things in life are fading, but he remembered talking to a superior when things were tough and getting more food air-dropped in for him and his men while they were in Africa fighting against Rommel. He said things were “miserable” there.
Another of the veterans from this week, Robert Moore, recalled from his two tours in Vietnam one of the hardest parts of his job as a helicopter crew chief. He would have to fly R and R missions. Rescue and Recovery. He said the flight crews would all become good friends, partying and hanging out when they were off-duty. But then the call would come in and they would have to go pick up the bodies of friends who were shot down and either recover the helicopter or destroy it in place. This particular memory, more than 40 years old, still brought a sharp intake a breath and a pause as Bob recomposed himself.
I expect to learn a lot from this project. Quite probably, a lot of it will be things I’ll never put into words or be able to express. I have no doubts, though, it will be my honor and my little bit of service.
If you want to find out a bit more about the project, there is a page on my website. As the project develops, I will post excerpts from the interviews.
There are some costs associated with this project: to duplicate CDs, print forms and submit them to the archives. If you want to donate, there are two options online on the above webpage. Or contact me directly.

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La Moskitia

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(Day three of traveling with the NBC crew to tell the story of the Lobster Divers of Honduras.)

Tuesday morning, October 4, we got up at 3:30 am to go to the airport for the flight to Puerto Lempira. We had the flight to ourselves which made it nice considering how much gear we brought along. And that was with leaving part of it in the hotel.

The Miskito Indians live in a region of Honduras and Nicaragua called La Moskitia, also known as the Mosquito Coast. It spans the far eastern end of both countries and the Indians pretty much ignore those borders. To get there, though, you have to fly or take a boat. There are no roads that lead from La Ceiba out to La Moskitia.

Same airport, same plane, but this picture was taken on my
first trip to La Moskitia.

The plane is a small high wing puddle jumper…which was appropriate since it was the rainy season and we landed in the rain with mud puddles on the dirt air strip. The recurring theme of this trip was equipment. It took a while for the baggage handlers to get everything off the plane so the rest of the crew wandered around the “terminal” buildings for a few minutes. They were surprised that one of the first human beings they saw was a paralyzed diver in a wheel chair. He was sitting in the terminal making crafts for sale.

The Moskito Indians are the only Hondurans who dive for lobster. And their semi-isolation tends to keep them close together. This makes them easy to forget about until you land in Puerto Lempira. Then, injured and paralyzed divers are everywhere.

We went straight to the hotel and then got ready to go right back out. We took most of our gear with us. Later that afternoon, we were going to meet up with the boat that would take some of us out to see the divers in action.

Before we left the hotel, though, Natalie was able to interview the director of the lobster divers association. He was the first to say it, but not the last, that even though groups hold meetings and make promises, they have received nothing from those organizations, not even a pencil.

The director and assistant director of the diver’s association accompanied us on a small water taxi boat to Kaukira. That is one of the villages where many of the divers live. When we got there, we went to the home of Nelson, who would be our boat captain as well. We loaded into his truck with his wife driving and went off to visit divers at their homes.

 

At the first one, where I had been before, the people next door were drunk and began yelling at us to go home, saying that people come to La Moskitia and point their cameras but nothing ever gets done. He yelled most of the time we were there.

We visited a couple more homes, taking time to talk to the divers and listen to their life stories. Most of them were just trying to feed their families. They didn’t really understand the risks of diving, even though they all knew others who had been injured before them. Every family in Kaukira has a disabled diver in it.

As I said, we all piled into Nelson’s truck to visit the divers. I tend to identify more with the camera guys, so I jumped in the bed of the truck with them. I was seated on the tailgate, with my camera up to my face most of the time. When we hit one deep rut in the dirt road, the rusted-through cable that held up the tailgate broke, nearly sending me crashing into the mud. Fortunately, Dr. Mejia was sitting beside me talking and he grabbed my arm to steady me while the camera crew yelled for the driver to stop.

When it was finally time to go to the boat, we cut straight across the peninsula, rather than going back around to the roads. We drove through a swamp and then came out on the beach where we met a small boat that took us through the surf to get to the large boat.

As soon as we got on the boat we knew there was a problem. It was old and run down and there was no bathroom. Space was very tight and there were only 5 bunks. We had 10 people with a crew of 6.

 

Very quickly we decided that three of us would stay on board the boat to see the divers diving. The rest of the crew returned to Kaukira and Puerto Lempira and visited more divers in their homes. It really worked out for the best as we had almost no room for ourselves and by splitting the crew, we got a lot more done.
If you are interested in making a contribution to help support Dr. Mejia’s clinic, you can do so here.

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