Local Scouts to help Catalog Veteran's War Stories

A new initiative to enlist Long Island eagle scouts, boy scouts and girl scouts in recording Veterans' stories was recently announced. The program will train the scouts to conduct interviews with local combat Veterans. The interviews the scouts conduct will be prepared for inclusion in the Library of Congress as part of the Veterans History Project, allowing future generations to hear directly from Veterans and better understand the nation's history.

The initiative was announced yesterday by Congressman Steve Israel at a ceremony held at Sparrow Park in Sayville. He was joined by many elected officials, local veterans and members of the local scouting organizations.

Sparrow Park is symbolic, as former Town of Islip Councilman Christopher Bodkin explained, because it was constructed to remember local veterans. The column was constructed to commemorate the WWI veterans and the plaque is for the WWII veterans of Sayville. Members of the Sayville Village Improvement Society and the Garden Club, many who knew members of WWII, work to beautiful the area each year.

"The best way to honor our veterans is to remember their sacrifices," Israel said. "Too many young Americans don't realize how high the price was for their freedom. That's why I've organized this Library of Congress Veterans Oral History program on Long Island, and I'm grateful that our local boy and girl scouts will be participating."

Presiding Officer Bill Lindsay shared personal memories of his father-in-law Major (ret.) Lloyd Kraus, who passed away two years ago and was a World War II hero, a Silver Star and Purple Heart recipient who fought all the way across Europe and was one of the first American soldiers to reach the Russian army.

"This program will ensure that we don't lose the wisdom and knowledge of history that only our heroic veterans can provide," said Lindsay, who played an audiotape of his father-in-law telling his war stories. "Perhaps just as important, this will be an invaluable learning experience for the young Scouts who will record these stories. This project will make certain that our history remains a living history available to all our citizens."

Local scouts are invited to participate in the project by interviewing War Veterans. A training session will be held on Aug. 25 and those interested in participating should call Israel's office at 951-2210.

Following their training, scouts will be paired with local Veterans to interview them about their experiences. The Library of Congress will preserve the interviews as part of the Veterans History Project.

The Library of Congress Veterans History Project collects, preserves, and makes accessible to the public the personal accounts of American war Veterans.  The project collects first-hand accounts of U.S. Veterans from World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, the project also invites U.S. citizen civilians who were actively involved in supporting war efforts to share their valuable stories.