CHISHOLM — Three years ago, thousands gathered in Chisholm to see The Wall That Heals.
The United Way of Northeastern Minnesota's United for Veterans committee brought the traveling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to the area.
“I think it was not only informative. It was very therapeutic,” said committee member Steve Potts. He has taught history for over 40 years and is currently an instructor at Minnesota North College-Hibbing.
When the memorial visited, many veterans shared their stories for the first time. That sparked the creation of Operation: Service Story.
The oral history project is a partnership between United Way and the St. Louis County Historical Society. The aim is to gather stories of veterans and service members from the Iron Range and Koochiching and Lake of the Woods counties.
When the effort first launched last year, it was called Operation: Soldier Story. Soldier was changed to service to include all facets of service, including nurses and non-combat veterans.
Potts has an extensive background in oral history, including interviewing Holocaust survivors. He’s talked with three veterans for this project.
“I wish we had more vets who were willing to be interviewed,” he said. “But it’s difficult for a lot of people to talk about what went on there.”
His father served in World War II, and Potts could never get him to talk much about his service.
Chas Buus had a similar experience with his grandfather.
“I never knew about his experiences, where we went, or I didn’t know very much,” he said. “And now he’s passed.”
Buus is the United Way of Northeastern Minnesota’s board chair. He served in the Air Force from 1999 to 2003 and was deployed with the 101st Airborne Division for the invasion of Iraq.
He shared his story as part of Operation: Service Story so it could be passed down.
“I want my kids to be able to learn about my story one day when I’m not here to tell them. Or their kids, my grandkids,” he said.
Buus talked for two hours with one of the trained interviewers, who was also a veteran. They covered his whole “adventurous” experience in the service, including why he joined, training and exercises and his time wrestling with the All-Air Force Team before 9/11.
“That was a super cool experience and as close to becoming a professional athlete as I’ll ever be,” he recounted. “So, I got to relive some of those tournaments and walk through that.”
They also discussed parts of his deployment. Buus was a forward air controller. He participated in a combined search and rescue mission shortly after troops entered Iraq in 2003 and marched through parts of the country.
“We got into some details and some stuff we kept at a pretty high level,” Buus explained.
Veterans who participate in Operation: Service Story get to decide the parameters, Potts explained, including what they talk about, how long they talk, who they talk to and what is done with their story.
“They can make it only available to family. They can make it so it’s not available until they’ve passed away. They can donate it. They can record it, keep a copy for themselves,” he said. “ ... We’re very accommodating, and that’s kind of the best thing to do with oral history interviews. But it’s a chance for people to record things before those memories are lost.”
Though Potts was a few years too young to serve in Vietnam, he knows the value of veterans’ stories from a historian’s perspective. He sees history as a mosaic; it’s not complete without all the pieces, and everybody has a little piece of history.
“If you don't record it, it disappears,” he said. “ ... I studied [Vietnam] from a historian’s point of view, but to actually interview somebody who was there, you get a very different view of things. And I think if you want an entire history of anything, you need to get as many of the stories as you can.”
Potts also feels the urgency of recording veterans’ stories. The 50 years since Vietnam, he said, went by in a snap. Many of the veterans whose stories he heard early in his career have since died, and his Rolodex is a constant reminder.
“We’ve lost all the WWI vets. The WWII vets are diminishing rapidly,” he said. “And the Vietnam vets are not too far behind. Most of the younger vets are in their early 70s.”
Buus’ message to veterans who might be hesitant to share their story is that if you don’t, it ends with you.
“No one else can learn from it, can empathize from it, can hear about it,” he said.
“... People in the military and veterans, especially, you don’t want to speak up. You don’t want to stand out. You want to remain humble. But our men and women in the armed forces do some absolutely incredible things and have incredible experiences, and it’s worth sharing with other people. Let them know your story.”
Service members from the Iron Range and Koochiching and Lake of the Woods counties can sign up for Operation: Service Story on the United Way of Northeastern Minnesota’s website. The nonprofit also offers additional services for veterans, including a resource guide, a transitional home and an annual retreat for veterans and their families.
