Retired Air Force Gen. Jim Hart gets a sickening feeling when he speaks to middle and high schoolers about his experiences in World War II.
But it’s not reliving the stories that is hard for him – he’s happy to share stories of his time as a B-29 flight engineer over Japan. It’s that today’s young people know or care so little about the great struggle and the veterans who fought it.
“Some kids aren’t sure whether we fought with or against the Germans, and I see a lot of teachers who know just as little as they do,” Hart, 82, said Sunday during a ceremony at the Colorado State Veterans’ Nursing Home at Fitzsimons.
The ceremony launched the 7th Congressional District’s Oral History Project, in which students from Aurora Community College will chronicle veterans’ stories. With the help of Comcast, the students will also video-record stories that will be sent to the Library of Congress and to schools within the district. Participating students will receive college credit.
U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, whose office is helping coordinate the project, gave the keynote speech and urged the 200 or so in attendance to retain those stories.
“We’re not going to lose these experiences, and we’re not going to lose their thoughts,” Perlmutter said.
Students working on the project will gather stories after Thanksgiving and through Labor Day from about 50 veterans. While some veterans of the Korean and Vietnam wars will be selected, the focus will be to interview as many World War II veterans as possible, Perlmutter said.
The number of surviving World War II veterans is a rapidly depleting resource, with fewer than an estimated 35,000 still alive in Colorado, Perlmutter said.
Hart is expected to be among the first to be interviewed, and he’s got quite a few stories to tell. Brought up in a small western Pennsylvania mining town, he was the youngest of six brothers who served in combat. One brother lost a leg in the Battle of the Bulge, one was wounded in Italy and another was a Marine who fought at Iwo Jima.
“It’s fair to say it was tough on our mother,” Hart said.
The project is expected to focus on veterans living within the district, but Centennial resident Tadeusz “Ted” Jasiewicz’s story may be too interesting to pass up. The 83-year-old raised in Poland was forced into the service of the German army before he deserted and, after being incarcerated in an Allied POW camp, volunteered for Polish forces under the command of the British to liberate Belgium and Poland.
He still carries his papers that show his service for the Germans and the Allies.
“I would like to talk about what I experienced, but every veteran did something we all should know about,” Jasiewicz said. “It’s sad to me that there are veterans today who do not have a place to sleep or food to eat. We should listen to their stories.”
Manny Gonzales: 303-954-1537 or mgonzales@denverpost.com
