Firsthand accounts of war take readers into battle

By NORMAN N. BROWN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
In "Forever a Soldier," Tom Wiener has compiled the stories of 37 former members of the U.S. armed forces who describe their participation in battle in wars ranging from World War I to the ongoing war in Iraq.
Most were written by the participants, but some are the work of their friends or relatives. Each story was contributed to the Veterans History Project of the Library of Congress, which collects, archives and publishes the accounts of individuals who have served the U.S. during wartime. Wiener is the historian for the project.
Rather than discussing military operations from a broad, overall point of view, the stories in "Forever a Soldier" describe military and naval life as lived by the lower ranks of ordinary fighting men, and capture colorful and interesting views of all aspects of the service.
Of course, not everybody who served in the military has a dramatic and blood-tingling story to tell, and not all were exposed to combat situations or even came close to risking their lives. But those soldiers, too, can provide singular insights into their experiences.
Often, veterans avoid talking about their wartime experiences, dooming to oblivion their stories as well as their names. This is what the Veterans Project tries to prevent.
What's important
In the introduction to this book, Andrew Carroll says it is imperative that new generations of Americans learn about and remember those who have contributed their memories of life in the ranks.
Contributors include Augustus Prince, the first black enlisted man to serve as a radar technician in the Navy during World War II; Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a Navy pilot who spent more than five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam; Julia Grabner, an Army nurse during the Vietnam war; and Darlene Iskra, one of the first women to qualify as a diver in the U.S. Navy and who later commanded several ships.
"Forever a Soldier" is the second book of narratives from the project, following "Voices of War," published in 2004. The diversity of its stories is enthralling.
The project has received more than 40,000 contributions and encourages the filing of as many more as possible before those veterans are gone along with their stories.
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