ORONO – The Maine Folklife Center has begun to organize an extensive oral history project that will preserve the war stories of veterans from World War I, World War II and the Korean, Vietnam and Persian Gulf wars.

Pauleena MacDougall, associate director of the Maine Folklife Center, calls oral history an important means by which future generations may learn about the reality of war.

“No one knows the war better than the veterans who fought it,” she said.

The accounts of wars recorded in history books tend to focus on the names and dates of battles, she explained, and on the decisions of political leaders and the heroics of charismatic military commanders.

The Maine Folklife Center at the University of Maine is working with the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress to make sure the rest of the story is recorded.

Congress authorized legislation for the Veterans History Project and it was signed into law by former President Bill Clinton in 2000.

The legislation calls on the American Folklife Center to collect and preserve audio- and video-taped oral histories, as well as documentary materials such as letters, diaries, maps, photographs and home movies of America’s war veterans and the civilians who supported them.

The Maine Folklife Center is one of 100 local folk-life centers in 38 states participating in the project.

MacDougall received a letter from the American Folklife Center several months ago requesting the assistance of the Maine center.

The most urgent task, MacDougall said, is to locate veterans who are willing to contribute to the project. She said veterans will be welcome to serve on planning committees for the project and to participate in interviews.

“It’s important to reach people who would like to tell their stories, especially from World War II. I urge them to contact me,” she said.

MacDougall didn’t have to look any farther than the University of Maine English faculty to find one veteran who is eager to serve on the planning committee.

Bob Whelan, a Vietnam veteran who retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel after 20 years in the U.S. Army, is an enthusiastic supporter of the endeavor.

He has been active since the mid-1980s in Chapter 185 of the Vietnam Veterans of America, which serves the Greater Bangor area.

“Oral histories give the citizenry a better idea about what is really involved in a war,” Whelan said. “I’m going to work as hard as I can to get veterans in the community, especially World War II veterans, hooked up with the folk life group. These guys are older, and we want to get their words down while we still can.”

Whelan teaches an English course, the nature of story, where he introduces students to the art of storytelling and emphasizes the truths and lessons that can be conveyed through the genre.

Whelan said he often relates his Vietnam stories to his students.

MacDougall and Whelan added that the events of Sept. 11 make the project even more important.

“People are beginning to realize the tremendous price we have to pay for our freedom. In the past we may have taken that for granted,” MacDougall said. “Our understanding of how other wars were fought, preserved in oral histories, will help us as we go forward now.”

Whelan said he hoped the oral histories would help citizens consider the reasons for going to war.

“I’m not a pacifist, but I don’t believe in going to war for reasons that are not sufficient,” he said, noting that he thinks the U.S. policy in Vietnam was misguided.

MacDougall said she hoped that the project would help the local community understand and appreciate the contributions of veterans. To that end, the Maine Folklife Center will have a veterans tent at the National Folk Festival in Bangor next August.

The center also will consider sponsoring an exhibit on veterans’ contributions.

The Maine Folklife Center has already secured some material for its veterans archive. From 1998 to 2000, the center worked with Bates College and the University of Maine at Farmington to assist in collecting stories of Vietnam veterans. When those oral histories are transcribed, they will be stored at the center.

Whelan helped organize that project and also related a number of his Vietnam stories.

In addition, the Women and War Class and Oral History Project also have gathered a number of oral histories, which will be stored at the center. That project is conducted by Mazie Hough, associate director of the Women in the Curriculum and Women’s Studies programs; and Carol Toner, director of Maine Studies.

Students in the class must interview at least one Maine woman who is a veteran. This is the second year the course has been taught.

MacDougall said that the Maine Folklife Center’s partnership with the American Folklife Center provides it with an unprecedented opportunity to collect the veterans’ stories.

She said she also hoped that the Maine Folklife Center will be able to gain additional funding for the project.

“The partnership allows us to expand our project more,” she said. “It will allow us to honor veterans in a public way.”

Those willing to help with the project should contact Pauleena MacDougall at 581-1848.