History From It's Source
USMA readies archive of soldiers’ combat experiences
Contact
James Bourne
212-262-7470
jimbournenyc@aol.com
Allan Ripp
212-262-7477
arippnyc@aol.com
extensive News release at:
http://www.westpointcoh.org/press/coh_press_release.pdf
The U.S. Military Academy at West Point has launched an ambitious oral history project to build an online archive of soldiers’ experiences at war.
The Center for Oral History promises to capture a variety of voices, from the oldest living veterans to troops returning from Afghanistan and Iraq, from grunts to former secretaries of the Defense and State departments.
Early projects will include a comprehensive history of the war in Iraq, as well as a profile of West Point’s Class of 1967, whose graduates deployed almost immediately to Vietnam.
“Eventually, when we get this archived with enough interviews, you’ll be able to immerse yourself in the entire story of Vietnam from the people who were there,” said the center ’s director, Todd Brewster, a longtime journalist who has worked for Time magazine and ABC News. “It’s not filtered. It’s history by the people who actually witnessed it.” The idea is to create an easily accessible video, audio and text record of military life for cadets, scholars and the general public, Brewster said.
The Web site, which will officially launch in late 2009, currently features a dramatic 12-minute trailer of what’s to come.
Advisory board members include Academy Awardwinning documentary filmmaker Ken Burns and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Rick Atkinson, among others.
The center is the result of a $1.5 million gift to the college. But Brewster said another $25 million must be raised to create a state-of-the-art, searchable site with a deep well of audio and video files.
For more information, visit the center ’s Web site at www.westpointcoh.org .
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
USMA readies archive of soldiers’ combat experiences
