BANGOR – Veterans swapped stories Thursday at the Cole Land Transportation Museum’s annual Veterans Day event, but the most telling stories may well be the ones they told pupils who participated in the museum’s Veteran’s Interview Program.

With the Bangor Band providing a musical backdrop, veterans, including many from World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars, looked on as the museum presented awards to the winners of the “What freedom means to me after interviewing a veteran” essay contest.

Stressing that veterans deserve the credit for the sacrifices they have made on behalf of the country, museum president Gary Cole said, “I think that’s what we’re trying to say – freedom’s not free.”

Yet some veterans at the gathering said what they did was neither heroic nor spectacular.

“I don’t consider myself a hero or anybody that was particularly important,” World War II veteran Nelson Gibbs of Monroe said. Gibbs, 81, served in the Army for a short time, but saw a lot.

“I got in on the last of the Battle of the Bulge,” he said.

Others were just as modest and said they enjoyed being with other veterans on the holiday.

“I like to join in because of the camaraderie,” Albert Gibson of Brewer said. “It’s something that you don’t forget.”

Gibson, 72, fought in the Korean War in 1952. He participated in the museum’s interview program in which up to three pupils at a time talk to a veteran for about an hour.

The program is open to students in middle and high school, Cole said, and about 1,500 to 1,800 participate each year.

“We always ask at the end of the hour, ‘Will you remember this interview for the rest of your life?'” Cole said. “Almost all of the [students’] hands go up.”

The experience is one that Gibson said he isn’t likely to forget.

His grandson Ryan Gibson, an eighth-grader at Cunningham School in Presque Isle, recently interviewed his grandfather about his war experience as part of the museum’s program.

“None of my grandchildren in the past have asked much about my time in the service, and I guess I haven’t talked that much about it either,” Albert Gibson said. “It gave us a chance to talk back and forth about life’s experiences.”

After the interview, students are encouraged to write an essay about the experience and submit it to the museum’s annual contest. Albert Gibson’s grandson Ryan wrote an essay, but the Korean War veteran said he hasn’t received a copy to read yet.

The museum presented three awards to area middle school pupils Thursday. There were no high school entries.

The winners were:

. Megan Bethiame of Holbrook Middle School, who interviewed World War II veteran Fran Zelz, first place and a $500 savings bond.

. Amanda Gifford of Mount Jefferson Junior High, who interviewed World War II veteran Earl Aucoin, second place and a $250 savings bond.

. Morgan Chasse of Bangor Christian School, who interviewed World War II veteran Paul Wilbur, third place, $100 savings bond.

The pupils’ speeches were powerful. As they read their entries about the value and price of freedom and the veterans who fought bravely for our country, the room was silent.

“Freedom is not a right and truly is a privilege,” Bethiame read.

The pupils referred to the war in Iraq, a fight that veterans said reminds them of their time in the service.

“I’m sure that irregardless what the war is or what year it is … they have the same feelings that we did,” Gibson said. “When you first come back, you sort of put everything out of your mind that happened over there, but as you get older you tend to reminisce about it.”

Cole said he plans to continue the Veterans Day program and essay contest well into the future because of the powerful message it sends to everyone.

“Veterans are the ones who have supported us in the past, and we should be thanking them,” he said.