The = News-Gazette.com: Preserving their pasts: Students recording WWII = reminiscences

Preserving their pasts: Students recording WWII reminiscences

By Jodi=20 Heckel

Thursday December 4, 2008

=20

Vanda Bidwell

Champaign Central High School students Jordan Johnson, left, and = Kaleb Walker=20 edit their part of a project documenting the stories of area World War = II=20 veterans. Students at Central and Centennial high schools and Franklin = Middle=20 School are taking part in the three-year statewide project to document = the=20 experiences of service members in the war.

CHAMPAIGN =E2=80=93 A handful of Champaign high school students are = hearing firsthand=20 about the experiences of soldiers and sailors in World War II.

They've heard how Dick Cogdal watched a ship full of ammunition = explode in=20 the South Pacific and felt the force of the blast even on shore. How he = dealt=20 with his loneliness while at war. How Dan Perrino and his fellow = musicians=20 turned a train car full of angry Japanese civilians into friends through = music.

The students are part of a three-year statewide project to tell the = stories=20 of veterans of World War II. Nine students from Central and Centennial = high=20 schools will videotape interviews with the veterans, as well as their = own=20 reflections on what they've heard, and then produce 30-minute = documentaries.

Two students from Franklin Middle School participated in the project = over the=20 summer.

The project is part of the Illinois World War II Veterans Classroom = Project,=20 which provided $250,000 for laptops, external hard drives, monitors, = cameras,=20 scanners, audio equipment and editing software for students statewide. = Illinois=20 Learning Technology Centers, which help schools use technology in the = classroom,=20 are providing training to students and overseeing the video project.

Vicki DeWitt, director of one of the state's Learning Technology = Centers,=20 said the veterans group wanted a classroom project so young people would = understand the sacrifices made by those who served in World War II.

"People say there's a lot of people interviewing World War II = veterans,"=20 DeWitt said. "I say, not kids. If you want to make connections with = kids, the=20 kids need to be doing the interviews."

The Champaign students interviewed three veterans this week. Cogdal = told the=20 students about missing his wife and how he'd sing their song =E2=80=93 = "The Day After=20 Forever" =E2=80=93 when he was lonely. Then he sang it for the = students.

"It was sad and touching," said Centennial junior Abby Wiegand. "He = was=20 tearing up, and we were all kind of sad about it.

"I really liked talking to him. I'm excited to do more interviews," = Wiegand=20 continued, adding that she plans to interview her grandmother about her = late=20 grandfather, a military doctor during the war.

Perrino told about traveling throughout Japan performing music while = U.S.=20 forces occupied the country. On one trip, the musicians were jammed into = a train=20 car with Japanese citizens, who were visibly angry at having to stand in = the=20 aisles, and also frightened.

A couple of musicians were trying to work out a chord structure for a = song=20 and began playing. Others noticed the Japanese reacted positively, so = they=20 joined in.

"We had a little jam session," Perrino said. "By the time we got to = Sapporo=20 (their destination), they were sending up apples and cookies and even = hugging us=20 and thanking us for the music. The power of music completely took an = angered=20 situation and turned it into a positive."

"I thought that was incredible," said Ashley Wilson, a junior at = Centennial=20 and one of the students who interviewed Perrino. "That was my favorite. = I made=20 him tell the story twice."

Suzanne Aldridge, an English and drama teacher at Centennial High = School, is=20 one of the teachers involved with the project, along with Centennial = choir=20 director Marian Wyatt and Central business teacher David Johnson.

"They are making connections they never had before, because the = history was=20 in a book," Aldridge said of the students. The interviews "were = one-on-one, and=20 they realized this older generation was young like them once and they = had hopes=20 and dreams, and the war got in the way."

Perrino said it's important for young people to have a relationship = with the=20 older generation.

"The fact that students have the opportunity to talk to the few = remaining=20 veterans ... (the history) becomes real when you can get it firsthand by = someone=20 who was there," he said.

Each team of three students will do 10 interviews this school year = before=20 producing their final piece. The videos will be posted on a Web site for = the=20 project, http://wwii.ltc.k12.il.us/, and the raw interview = footage will=20 be uploaded to the Library of Congress for its Veterans History Project. = The=20 veterans will also get a DVD copy of the videos.

Wilson said the experience of talking to veterans and seeing their=20 photographs is something she wouldn't have imagined she'd be able to = do.

"We learned so much from them," she said. "It really makes us excited = for the=20 rest. I can't wait."

Find this article at:=20
http://www.newsgazette.com/news/2008/12/04/preserving_their_pasts_stu= dents_recording_wwii_reminiscences=20

Preserving their pasts: Students recording WWII reminiscences

By Jodi=20 Heckel

Thursday December 4, 2008

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