In early 1995, the students at a middle school in a Northeastern city
studied United States involvement in WW2. They initiated an e-mail
project to invite memoirs from older Americans who had experienced
that era in the Armed Forces and on the home front. The students
wanted to learn about WW2 directly from the people who had served in
the nation's wartime military and Merchant Marine, and from civilians
who had produced, serviced and transported weapons, equipment,
foodstuffs and other things for the war effort from where they were
made to where they were used. They wanted to hear from those who had
cared for the wounded and had helped in other ways.
Many older adults in the Internet community who read the students'
invitation contributed their recollections of the war years. Their stories,
in turn, brought questions from the students to which the elders
responded. The Q&As, at times, became lively exchanges of ideas. At
the conclusion, the students' teacher reported to the electronic community
that the project was a success: the students learned history from those
who had lived it. The storytellers, many long retired, fascinated their
audiences with facts and personal reminiscences which might not
otherwise have surfaced. Together with the students, the elders had
constructed a bridge from the 1940s to the 1990s and, in doing so, had
contributed to the historical records of an important era in American
history. Further, the process had strengthened lines and clarity of
communications and understanding across generations.