Valor - Art and the Stories of War

ART COVER PRICE $5

AND THE STORIES OF WAR

JULY 2016

FOLK ART, FILM, HISTORIES

SPECIAL EDITION FOR SUBSCRIBERS OF DESERET NEWS AND THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE

above:

D e s e r t Sto r m 3 6” x 6 2” a c r y l i c o n c a n va s m i l i ta r y h i s t o r y , wa s h i n g t o n d . c .

original of

pa i n t i n g / c o l l e c t i o n o f u . s . a r m y c e n t e r

T h e M 1 A b ra m s Ma i n B a tt l e Ta n k : “ W h i s p e r i n g D e a t h” i s o n e o f t h e n i c k n a m e s g i ve n by U. S . t ro o p s . It s q u i e t , p owe r f u l j e t t u r b i n e e n g i n e a l l ows i t to a p p ro a c h to w i t h i n a m i l e o f i t s i n te n d e d t a rg e t w i t h o u t b e i n g h e a rd . . . by t h a t t i m e i t s 1 2 0 m m g u n co u l d h ave l o n g s i n ce t a ke n out the enemy tank. right:

Atta c k Up t h e Wa d i 4 0” x 4 0” a c r y l i c o n c a n va s m i l i ta r y h i s t o r y , wa s h i n g t o n d . c .

original of

pa i n t i n g / c o l l e c t i o n o f u . s . a r m y c e n t e r

At 0 0 3 0 h o u r s S a t u rd a y, Fe b. 2 3 , 19 9 1 , Lt . Co l . Te r r y W. B ra n h a m’s 2 /6 Cava l r y A H - 6 4 A A p a c h e He l i co p te r S q u a d ro n re ce i ve d t h e o rd e r to a tt a c k u p t h e Wa d i a l B a t i n . T h i s i n i t i a te d O p e ra t i o n D e s e r t Sto r m a n d f o o l e d t h e Ira q i a r m y i n to b e l i ev i n g t h e m i s i n f o r m a t i o n b ro a d c a s t , u n k n ow i n g l y,

by C N N News . . . t h a t o u r m a i n e ff o r t wo u l d b e u p t h e Wa d i s e p a ra t i n g Ku wa i t f ro m Ira q . i m a g e s c o u r t e s y o f f r a n k m . t h o m a s

WWW.UTAHVALOR.COM UTAH MEDIA GROUP / 4770 South 5600 West, West Valley City UT 84118 801-204-6300 / utahmediagroup.com PROJECT TEAM / Brent Low, Publisher / Jed Call, Marketing Director Michelle Bridges, Project Manager / Megan Donio, Project Coordinator Tyler Pratt and Chad Zavala, Creative Support / Advertising: 801-204-6300 VALOR: A Salute to Utah’s Veterans and Military is a publication of Utah Media Group and distributed in partnership with Deseret News and The Salt Lake Tribune. Copyright © j u ly 2016. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced in any format without consent of Utah Media Group.

Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information in this publication and assume no liability for errors, inaccuracies or omissions. on the cover:

I l l u s t ra t i o n by Mi ke S a n c h e s d e p i c t s a S p i t f i re M k I I , “ T h e B o ro u g h o f L a m b e t h ,” a n d p a ys t r i b u te to L o n d o n e r s w h o ra i s e d f u n d s f o r i t s co n s t r u c t i o n d u r i n g t h e B a tt l e o f B r i t a i n .

S p i t f i re s p i l o te d by co u ra g e o u s , yo u n g av i a to r s d e f e a te d ove r w h e l m i n g n u m b e r s o f t h e Na z i a e r i a l o n s l a u g h t , s ave d E n g l a n d , a n d s e t t h e s t a g e f o r t h e d e f e a t o f t h e A x i s p owe r s .

CONTENTS A R T A N D T H E S T O R I E S O F WA R / 2 EVOLUTION OF AN ICON / 8 THE BIGGER PICTURE / 16 THE REEL WORLD VS. THE REAL WORLD / 22 A THOUSAND WORDS / 25

“G O TO WA R , D O A RT.” m ot t o o f a m a r i n e c o m b at a r t i s t

A RT A N D THE STORIES O F WA R E V E RY P I E C E O F A R T W O R K A N D I T S S T O RY I S O P E N T O I N T E R P R E TAT I O N b y Ro b e r t We l s h a n d M i c h e l l e B r i d g e s f o r va l o r

A

r t, in gener al, is a medium of expression, a visual personific ation of the ideas that influence a par ticular er a. Ar t, too, is a universal language; e ver y painting, dr awing, sculpture or design tel ls a stor y. There are var ious f or ms of ar t—narr ative ar t tel ls an ongoing stor y while genre ar t c aptures slices of e ver yday lif e—eac h of whic h uses the inherent power of the visual image to engage the mind, pique the emotions, c apture cer tain perceived ideas about societ y, and preser ve them f or future gener ations.

Then there ’s combat ar t or militar y ar t, whic h encompasses near l y al l f or ms, f or nowhere is a stor y more conceptualiz ed than when attempting to talk about war. The images shared in this issue of VALOR are about people in war, and it expresses those values and vir tues f or whic h many consider are wor th the possibilit y of being maimed or kil led.

And thus, a testament to both the living and to those who gave their lives.

The V ietnam War spawned a vast sor tie of liter ar y and cinematic works, but the ar t, letters, and books by the combat soldiers who ser ved in that conflict—or any war f or that matter—give us a far more intimate look into what the y had to

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endure. Through the visual aspect of their works, the soldiers themsel ves express what the V ietnam exper ience was like in a way that is diff erent and more prof ound than any other way.

Their stor ies, from the mundane to the painful realit y of combat, tel l of a war that was unlike pre vious Amer ic an engagements. It was a people ’s war. The enemy was of ten indistinguishable from the loc al populace, winning or losing of ten f ocused on body counts r ather than terr itor y gained and held. And, “ bac k in the wor ld, ” the war bec ame a polar izing issue; but f or those who ser ved, V ietnam bec ame a defining moment in their lives.

Combat ar t is a conduit f or the memor ies and values of those who have ser ved in har m’s way. It passes them down from one gener ation to another, relating the deepest f eelings of those who were c al led upon to “do the hard thing. ” Al l in al l, combat ar t reduces lif e as it is exper ienced in war to its bare essentials and the vir tue most highl y valued—keeping faith with your comr ades. And, no, not al l of it is what we might c al l “good ” ar t. But that, howe ver, is in the e ye of the beholder and those who vie w it ... j u ly

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Lt . Co l . B r i l l ’s 6 , 0 0 0 - Ho u r F l i g h t o r i g i n a l p e n a n d i n k d r aw i n g / a r t i s t ’ s c o l l e c t i o n , p l a i n c i t y , u ta h

U t a h f i g h te r p i l o t Lt . Co l . Mi ke B r i l l i s t h e o n l y m a n to re a c h 6 , 0 0 0 f l y i n g h o u r s i n a n F- 1 6 . At t h e t i m e , B r i l l wa s f l y i n g w i t h t h e 3 3 2 n d E x p e n d i t i o n a r y O p e ra t i o n s W i n g , o f Tu s ke g e e A i r m a n f a m e , o u t o f B a l a d , Ira q . i m a g e c o u r t e s y o f r i c h a r d s aw y e r

R I C H A R D S AW Y E R

f a ce b o o k .co m / l e g a c y a v i a t i o n a r t 2

“ W H Y D R AW A I R P L A N E S ? W E L L , I ’ V E BEEN AROUND THEM FOR A LONG T I M E A N D T H E Y D O N ’ T TA L K B AC K .”

I have a bachelor’s degree in art from Weber State, but for the most part I’m selftaught. I’ve always tried to have a “field kit” with me that I could drag around the world.

My drawings were of a size that I could roll ‘em up and put ‘em in a tube. I would sit just about anywhere with a series of pens and work on my art—for a minute, an hour, however long.

R i c h a rd “ B u z ” S aw ye r r e t . lt . c o l a i r f o r c e reserves

19 7 2 - 2 0 0 6 service in vietnam, cold wa r , g u l f wa r , i r a q , a f g h a n i s ta n courtesy photo

I completed “Mako Maintenance” while in Iraq. I happened to be walking to work one night and saw this reservist working on the tail of a plane in a hanger that was all lit up. I thought it was kind of unique. So I used some photographs I was allowed to take and drew it up.

Most of my work tends to be portraits.

That’s what I like to do; a lot of pen-and-ink, but when home I do mostly pencil. A typical drawing can take as much as 120 hours.

My drawings are as factual as possible, but sometimes you need to take a bit of artistic license. I do lots of research, lots and lots.

I mean I might have a folder thick with paper copies, photographs, schematics and whatever else for detail. You never get the perfect photograph, because there tends to be unwanted stuff in the background.

In 1994, I became involved as a volunteer artist with the U.S. Air Force Art Program (afapo.hq.af.mil). The program isn’t about just the art of war, but things that are of historical value, some aspect of air force history.

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Ma ko Ma i n te n a n ce o r i g i n a l p e n a n d i n k d r aw i n g / u . s . a i r f o r c e a r t c o l l e c t i o n , wa s h i n g t o n , d . c .

T h e A i r Fo rce Re s e r ve d e p l oye d to B a l a d A F B , Ira q , to s u p p o r t O p e ra t i o n Ira q i Fre e d o m .

A i rc ra ft f ro m t h e Re s e r ve F i g h te r W i n g s i n F l o r i d a ( F M ) , Texa s ( T X ) a n d U t a h (O G) d e p l oye d f o r s eve ra l m o n t h s . T h i s a i rc ra ft i s f ro m t h e 4 8 2 n d F W/9 3 rd F i g h te r S q u a d ro n “ Ma ko s” o u t o f Ho m e s te a d A F B , F l o r i d a , a n d d e p i c t s ro u t i n e m a i n te n a n ce b e i n g d o n e o n t h e t a i l o f a n F- 1 6 C . i m a g e c o u r t e s y o f r i c h a r d s aw y e r va l o r : a s a l u t e t o u ta h ’ s v e t e r a n s a n d m i l i ta r y

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U ta h L i g h t A r t i l l e r y : S p a n i s h A m e r i ca n Wa r 1 8 98 , Mo u n ta i n Me n i n t h e Tro p i c s

M I L I TA RY A RT P RO G R A M S

o r i g i n a l o i l pa i n t i n g

artist keith rocco

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image

U.S. AIR FORCE ART PROGRAM afapo.hq.af.mil

c o u r t e s y o f f o r t d o u g l a s m i l i ta r y m u s e u m

This collection documents the story of the Air Force through the universal language of art. These paintings are both historical and educational and expose the military and the public roles and diverse capabilities of the U.S. Air Force.

In 1 8 98 Co n g re s s d e c l a re d wa r o n S p a i n a n d P re s . W i l l i a m Mc K i n l ey o rg a n i z e d U. S . f o rce s f o r t h e S p a n i s h A m e r i c a n Wa r. O f t h e te n s o f t h o u s a n d s o f re g u l a r, vo l u n te e r a n d n a t i o n a l g u a rd t ro o p s w h o s e r ve d , 3 4 3 U t a h G u a rd s m e n s aw s e r v i ce i n t h e P h i l i p p i n e Is l a n d s . T h e U t a h L i g h t A r t i l l e r y f i re d a n d re - d e p l oye d s eve ra l t i m e s p rov i d i n g c l o s e a n d a cc u ra te s u p p o r t f o r t h e i n f a n t r y a tt a c k s o n Ma n i l a . T h e u n i t co n t i n u e d i n f e d e ra l s e r v i ce a n d f o u g h t i n t h e P h i l i p p i n e In s u r re c t i o n u n t i l re t u r n i n g to U t a h i n Au g u s t 1 8 9 9. To d a y ’s 1 4 5 t h F i e l d A r t i l l e r y, U t a h A r m y Na t i o n a l G u a rd , c a r r i e s o n t h e h i s to r y a n d t ra d i t i o n s o f t h e U t a h L i g h t A r t i l l e r y.

U.S. ARMY CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY history.army.mil The Army Combat Art Program was created by the U.S. Army to create artwork for museums and other programs sponsored by the U.S. Army. The collection associated with this program is held by the U.S. Army Center of Military History.

U.S. MARINE CORPS NATIONAL MUSEUM usmcmuseum.com The museum is a lasting tribute to the U.S. Marines and preserves and exhibits the material history of the Marine Corps and provides the public with a readily accessible platform for the exploration of Marine Corps history. Sgt. Kristopher J. Battles is known as the last remaining USMC combat artist.

U.S. NAVAL HISTORY AND HERITAGE COMMAND history.navy.mil The Navy Art Collection collects, documents, preserves and exhibits art that is significant to the history of the Navy for both the public and service personnel.

This includes over 20,000 paintings, prints, drawings, and engravings consisting of naval ships, personnel, and actions from all eras of U.S. naval history.

U.S. COAST GUARD ART PROGRAM uscg.mil/art The Coast Guard Art Program (COGAP) uses fine art as an outreach tool for educating diverse audiences about the United States Coast Guard. Through displays at museums, libraries and patriotic events, Coast Guard art tells the story of the service’s missions, heroes and history to the public.

—by VALOR

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NATIONAL GUARD HERITAGE PAINTINGS nationalguard.mil This series of original oil paintings were commissioned by the National Guard Bureau to depict significant moments in the history of the Guard, and its ancestor units, to inspire its presentday soldiers and airmen.

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above: original

(u.s.

E s ca p e f ro m Ha p p y Va l l e y 1 1” x 1 5 ”

g r a p h i t e d r aw i n g

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collection of maj. fred edens

ret.) johnson city, tennessee

A r m y Ma j . Fre d Ed e n s wa s a m e m b e r o f t h e 7 5 t h Ra n g e r s i n V i e t n a m , 19 7 2 . He wa s a l s o a t h re e - to u r, t w i ce -wo u n d e d ve te ra n . He wa s p a r t o f a s m a l l , h i g h l yt ra i n e d , cove r t te a m re g u l a r l y i n s e r te d by h e l i co p te r i n to e n e m y h e l d l o c a t i o n s . left:

Ju n g l e C ro s s i n g : Ce n t ra l Hi g h l a n d s o f V i e t n a m

original

6 0” x 4 8”

a c r y l i c o n c a n va s pa i n t i n g

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artist’s collection,

h o l d e n , u ta h

C ro s s i n g a m o u n t a i n s t re a m i n V i e t n a m’s ce n t ra l h i g h l a n d s j u n g l e , t h i s s m a l l s e a rc h - a n d - d e s to r y f o rce s l ow l y c l i m b s u p t h e m o u n t a i n s i d e a n d i n to t h e d e n s e t a n g l e o f te a k a n d b a n ya n t re e s . T h e 1 s t Lt . i n f a n t r y p l a to o n l e a d e r d i re c t s h i s m e n a c ro s s t h e h i g h l y ex p o s e d sw i ft wa te r, w h i l e ke e p i n g a n eye o u t f o r a n y p o s s i b l e e n e m y a c t i v i t y. i m a g e s c o u r t e s y o f f r a n k m . t h o m a s

FRANK M. THOMAS

w i l d g o o s e c re e k s t u d i o .co m

“ T H E A RT I S T I S T H E R E TO I N T E R P R E T. I T ’ S A N I N T E R P R E T I V E T Y P E O F WO R K S E E N T H R O U G H H I S E Y E S A N D D O N E I N H I S S T Y L E .”

I was drafted while attending Brigham Young University but managed to get a slot with the Utah National Guard. When I finally graduated, I had earned an officer’s commission and decided to go on active duty with the Army Reserves.

Within a year, I was headed to Southeast Asia.

After a couple of months with the 9th Infantry in Vietnam, I was sent to Saigon and put behind a desk and that’s when I learned about the U.S. Army’s Combat Artists (history.army.mil) program. An art graduate from BYU was already in country as an artist, suggested I try for the program, I did and was accepted. Because I was the first officer to apply, they decided to put me in charge for the rest of my tour. I had two different teams over several months. My first team had fellow BYU art graduates, Rob Wilson and Burdell Moody, on it. Small world, huh? Our teams were involved in many things and were often asked by military and civilian groups to be

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a part of their activities. We were soldiers and artists. We carried rifles and sketchpads.

After ‘Nam, I returned to teaching high school English, art and history while completing temporary active duty assignments in artillery.

Even though I retired in 1988, I was eligible for an artist’s mission during the Desert Storm. We came late to the war.

We arrived after the first 100 hours and weren’t able to view the actual action. We relied on first-hand accounts: We interviewed soldiers while they were in the field. We listened to them and took notes on their stories. We drew on personal experience with equipment, how it looked and operated. We had to be part historian, part anthropologist and part journalist before we could be full-time artists. We created concepts in our mind. Sometimes that was even better than being right there …

Fra n k M . T h o m a s r e t . lt . c o l . a r m y r e s e r v e s , u ta h n at i o n a l g u a r d

19 6 2 - 19 9 2 service in vietnam, cold wa r , g u l f wa r courtesy photo

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tell

by Michelle Bridges a n d Ro b e r t We l s h

W I T H S S G T. JAC Q UA L I N E S KO U G A R D “ I T ’ S F U N TO S H A R E M E M O R I E S . S O L D I E R S LOV E TO T E L L T H E I R WA R S TO R I E S .”

f o r va l o r

Members of the U.S. Ar med Forces have a longstanding tr adition of c arr y ing a special coin denoting their unit identit y and espr it de cor ps. These custom coins— eac h produced f or a par ticular militar y unit and bear ing its own re vered sy mbols—c apture the essence of their affiliation and their extreme pr ide.

Known to gener ations of Amer ic an militar y personnel as “c hal lenge coins, ” the y are a vital par t of militar y lif e.

The popular it y of the c hal lenge coin has e vol ved be yond a sy mbol f or members of the militar y. Mike S tor y, sales representative f or S y mbol Ar ts based in S outh Ogden, explains that as militar y personnel tr ansition into the business wor ld, the y ’ve brought c hal lenge coins with them and many of the same values— ac knowledgment, recognition, respect, good wil l, teamwork—that c hal lenge coins represent.

D ur ing a visit to the Utah National G uard headquar ters in D r aper, S taff Sgt. Jacqualine S kougard shared stor ies about her personal coin col lection.

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St a ff S g t . Ja c a q u l i n e S ko u g a rd w i t h t h e U t a h Na t i o n a l G u a rd , 1 5 1 t h d i v i s i o n s h a re s h e r “co l l e c t i o n” o f c h a l l e n g e co i n s . u m g p h o t o / c h a d z ava l a VALOR: Can just anybody give out a challenge coin?

SKOUGARD: No. Basically, there’s two types of coins: rank coins that come with a senior position and group coins that come with who they represent, like a company or battalion. Coins are usually given by company commanders or high-ranking officers in appreciation or recognition. It’s a big morale booster for those who receive them. To me they’re like an art collection—subjective, personal and meaningful. I’m reminded that I’m appreciated, doing a good job and to just hang in there.

VALOR: Looking at your collection, there are different shapes and purposes. Here’s one shaped like a poker chip, a dog tag, this one’s a bottle opener ... Can you pick out your favorites? Try three ...

SKOUGARD: It’s hard, each one involves a story. Obviously, my battalion coin—those were my guys. We went through a lot together. A close second, is one given by the battalion commander of the 82nd Airborne. While on deployment in Afghanistan, we were attached to the medevac unit. Their aircraft didn’t have guns, ours did. Our job was to follow or chase the medevacs to wherever they had to pick up their patients and we would provide security. It meant a lot to me because you knew at the end of the day you were making a difference. And my third, I got it from my current boss before he was my boss. At a big conference a couple years ago, the person briefing asked for a volunteer to say the Soldier’s Creed, we waited and waited and no one would volunteer; I didn’t want him to look bad, so I jumped up and said it. Afterward, the sergeant major gave me this coin. Now, here I am working for him.

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CHALLENGE COINS f ro n t

bac k

Co m p a n y co i n f ro m A Co m p a n y, 2 - 2 1 1 t h Av i a t i o n B r i g a d e . f r o n t : Mu s t a n g (co m p a n y m a s co t /c a l l s i g n ) , a n d ve r t i c a l s i t u a t i o n i n d i c a to r i n t h e b a c kg ro u n d ( U H - 6 0 B l a c k h aw k f l i g h t i n s t r u m e n t ) . b a c k : Re d “A n i m a l ” s k u l l (co m p a n y m a s co t /c a l l s i g n ) . g i v e n f o r : P r i d e a n d m o t i va t i o n o n co m b a t d e p l oy m e n t to A f g h a n i s t a n . u m g p h o t o / c h a d z ava l a

f ro n t

bac k

Co m p a n y co i n f ro m C Co m p a n y, 3- 8 2 n d A i r b o r n e D i v i s i o n . f r o n t : Re d C ro s s ( m e d i c a l ) , w h i te P h o e n i x , A l l A m e r i c a n D u s to ff ( n i c k n a m e f o r m e d i c a l eva c u a t i o n u n i t ) . b a c k : A f g h a n i s t a n p rov i n ce s , h e l i co p te r/ s o l d i e r. g i v e n f o r : Mi s s i o n s u p p o r t p rov i d e d o n co m b a t d e p l oy m e n t to A f g h a n i s t a n . u m g p h o t o / c h a d z ava l a

f ro n t

bac k

Pe r s o n a l co i n f ro m St a te Co m m a n d S e rg e a n t Ma j o r. f r o n t : U t a h w i t h S e rg e a n t Ma j o r ra n k i n s i d e , Co m p e te n ce - C h a ra c te r - Co m m i t m e n t m o tto. b a c k : Awa rd e d f o r E xce l l e n ce , Mi n u te m a n = U t a h Na t i o n a l G u a rd l o g o. g i v e n f o r : Vo l u n t a r i l y re c i t i n g t h e S o l d i e r s C re e d a n d l i v i n g t h e Wa r r i o r s Et h o s a n d A r m y Va l u e s . u m g p h o t o / c h a d z ava l a

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A P P R EC I AT I N G A LO N G T R A D I T I O N Challenge coins are carried not only by soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines, but by police, firefighters and other first responders as well. These coins identify the bearer as a member of a particular unit or profession with a well-defined and usually well-known history and mission.

And, wherever these men and women gather, they challenge each other by “coining”—the group’s unique coin is slammed on the bar as a challenge for all to display their own coins; he or she who cannot reciprocate must pay a penalty.

One of the earliest known examples of a form of challenge coin took place in Ancient Rome. Chroniclers tell of soldiers being monetarily rewarded for valor in battle. If he fought well that day, he would receive his typical day’s pay, but also a special coin with the standard of the Legion in which he served.

The 17th Infantry Coin of Korea is perhaps the oldest real challenge coin in existence. These coins were made during the Korean War and given to unit members from 1950 to 1953 to commemorate their tour together. One side of the coin has a picture of a buffalo with the date 1812— the year the unit was formed. The other side has the 17th Infantry patch with the dates 1950-1953 and the word Korea.

A few of these challenge coins are in circulation; most are in private collections.

At the beginning of the Vietnam War, soldiers who served on the front lines used bullets and other munitions instead of challenge coins. They carried them in their pockets and used them to prove they were a part of the U.S. Armed Forces. Things do, however, tend to get competitive and soldiers began increasing the caliber of bullets until they were substituted with hand-grenades and other explosives. Since it was indeed hazardous to slam an explosive on a bar counter, challenge coins were eventually phased in to preserve the tradition but make it safe.

—by Robert Welsh

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EVOLUTION OF AN ICON H O W A M E R I C A’ S FAV O R I T E WA R T I M E S Y M B O L S H AV E B U I LT A L I F E O F T H E I R O W N b y L o r i J. L e e f o r va l o r

Y

ou’ve heard of Yankee Dood le, Unc le S am and Rosie the Riveter. From the Re volutionar y War to WWI I, these Amer ic an icons have a histor y of e volution as interesting and r ic h as the countr y who adopted them, and looking at this progression tel ls us a great deal about the times, seasons and politic al tenor in whic h the y were bor n and taken up by the Amer ic an public.

Evolution. It ’s not just a theor y by Char les Dar win, it ’s also a ke y to tr ac king what ’s impor tant to a culture. People, al l people, regard less of culture or loc ation, keep and pass along, inf or mal l y, the things that have meaning to them. The y make adaptations to the item that reflects their values, their lif e st y les, and their needs.

For example, if a recipe is wel l lo ved by a famil y it may be kept f or gener ations, with Aunt Maude adding a dash of cinnamon to enhance the flavor, and then passing it down to her favor ite niece who likes extr a butter. O r, a belo ved famil y stor y may be told and retold with diff erent aspects being emphasiz ed according to the audience. W hat about a politic al faux pas that the public finds shoc king, that are then made into memes, jokes and c ar toons.

If the public did not c are about the blunder, it would simpl y fade away with no one pay ing any attention to it. Yet, bec ause the public responds with anger, shoc k, moc ker y or suppor t, we come to understand the impor tance of suc h an e vent.

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Amer ic an militar y propaganda and icons also have suc h a histor y. Of ten becoming so familiar, the y take on a lif e of their own.

YA N K E E D O O D L E Re volutionar y Amer ic a was a time when public singing was a regular e vent, and while it was done f or enter tainment and worship, of ten it was not innocent. S ongs were sung to make statements, to pass along gossip, to cr iticiz e neighbors. England ’s King George I I I was of ten the br unt of suc h songs as the people vented their fr ustr ations and politic al vie ws. W hile the colonists sang songs about the dr unken t y r anny of King George, the Br itish responded in like.

One of their favor ite songs was of a Yankee simpleton, bac kward and unrefined. The word “dood le ” indic ated their distaste f or what the y considered the bac kwoods, f oolish nature of those the y f ought. At the time, the Mac aroni-st y le wig was in extreme fashion. The Br itish f ops that wore it were considered dandies bec ause the y wore silks and of ten had a f eather in their hat. The verse about Yankee Dood le stic king a f eather in his c ap and c al ling it Mac aroni suggests that the colonists were f ool enough to think that something as simple as a f eather in their c ap would make them st y lish.

The Br itish liked this song so muc h their troops sang it as the y marc hed into the first battle of the Re volutionar y War. j u ly

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FOLK ART

Un c l e S a m’s “ I Wa n t Yo u f o r t h e U. S . A r m y ” p o s te r.

Un c l e S a m d i d n’ t g e t a s t a n d a rd a p p e a ra n ce u n t i l t h e we l l - k n ow n “ re c r u i t m e n t ” p o s te r c re a te d by J. M . F l a g g ( 19 17 ) . It wa s t h i s i m a g e t h a t s e t t h e a p p e a ra n ce a s t h e e l d e r l y m a n w i t h w h i te h a i r a n d a g o a te e we a r i n g a w h i te to p h a t w i t h w h i te s t a r s o n a b l u e b a n d , a b l u e t a i l co a t a n d re d a n d w h i te s t r i p e d t ro u s e r s . f d m m c o l l e c t i o n

Ro s i e t h e R i ve te r “ We Ca n D o It ! ” p o s te r.

P ro d u ce d by We s t i n g h o u s e d u r i n g Wo r l d Wa r I I ( 19 4 2 ) f o r t h e Wa r P ro d u c t i o n Co o rd i n a t i n g Co m m i tte e , a s p a r t o f t h e n a t i o n a l c a m p a i g n i n t h e U. S . to e n l i s t wo m e n i n t h e wo r k f o rce . Ro s i e t h e R i ve te r — t h e s t ro n g , co m p e te n t wo m a n d re s s e d i n ove ra l l s a n d b a n d a n n a —wa s i n t ro d u ce d a s a s y m b o l o f p a t r i o t i c wo m a n h o o d . f d m m c o l l e c t i o n

In a sur pr ise tur n about, the colonists liked the song so muc h the y took it and w rote additional verses to air their own points of vie w. By the end of the war in 1781, the people had c hanged the song from its intended insult into a matter of pr ide.

The song was unofficial l y considered the republic ’s national anthem of the time.

his finger pointing directl y at you, recr uiting f or the U.S. Ar my. You’ve seen him in ad c ampaigns f or e ver y thing from insur ance to c ar sales. Unc le S am is an easil y recogniz able figure—a par t of patr iotic celebr ations, politic al c ar toons and eff or ts to engage suppor t f or the militar y. W hile Unc le S am is easil y used as shor thand to represent the Amer ic an go ver nment, he was not a creation of the go ver nment, r ather he was a creation of Amer ic ans going about their business dur ing the War of 1812.

In 1875, Arc hibald McNeal W il lard, painted “ The S pir it of ’76, ” also known as “ Yankee Dood le, ” f ound in the United S tates Depar tment of S tate.

To this day, more that 230 years later, c hildren stil l know the words to “ Yankee Dood le Dandy. ” The patr iotic spir it of Amer ic ans is strong in its songs, ar t and voc abular y.

UNCLE SAM You know that tal l, lanky man with the cur ling white hair and beard? You’ve seen him on posters, j u ly

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A business man, named S amuel W ilson, also known as Unc le S am W ilson, had a contr act to suppl y barrels of beef to the Ar my. The go ver nment stamped the barrels with “ U.S. ” to indic ate the y were go ver nment proper t y, but those around town thought it stood f or Unc le S am ( W ilson). Bef ore long the t wo bec ame interc hangeable: the U.S. go ver nment and Unc le S am. va l o r : a s a l u t e t o u ta h ’ s v e t e r a n s a n d m i l i ta r y

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In the ear l y 1870s, Thomas Nast, a c ar toonist, solidified the figure of Unc le S am on a national le vel in his c ar toons. O ther c ar toonists used the likeness of Unc le S am as wel l, and bef ore long the people had made the tal l, str iped-pant man into an Amer ic an icon. To date, the 1917 recr uiting poster is the most popular image of Unc le S am. An Amer ic an icon created by the people and popular ar tists of the United S tates.

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RO S I E T H E R I V E T E R Two posters, one by a P ittsburgh ar tist, J. Howard Mil ler, and one by Nor man Roc kwel l, played a par t in the manipulation and empower ment of women dur ing Wor ld War I I. Nor man Roc kwel l ’s image of Rosie the Riveter received mass distr ibution on the co ver of the S at ur day Evening Post in 1943, while the “ We Can Do It!” poster was created f or the Westinghouse Company ’s War Production Coordinating Committee as a way to boost mor ale. W hile Roc kwel l ’s picture was the tr ue Rosie the Riveter, copy r ight protection did not al low the same distr ibution as the “ We Can Do It!” image received.

D ur ing WWI I, women were desper atel y needed in the workf orce and the go ver nment under took c ampaigns to engage the women outside their homes to take up the slac k in the workf orce from the men who were away fighting. These women c ame to be known as the “ Rosies. ” A popular song about Rosie the Riveter by the Four Vagabonds, the c ampaigns, and the co ver of the S at ur day Evening Post were just par ts of the propaganda dealing with women and the workf orce in war time Amer ic a. W hat was once war time propaganda has been adapted and e vol ved, by the people and commercialism, to stand as a sy mbol of women’s empower ment. Posters, lunc h pails, t-shir ts, documentar ies, magnets and a plethor a of other popular items are stil l f ound in moder n Amer ic a.

These belo ved images, through a process of f olklor ic e volution, contr ibute to Amer ic a’s war time histor y and tel l us more in-depth stor ies, be yond the battles, of the lives and needs of the Amer ic an public dur ing the wars that f or med its histor y. In these Amer ic an icons, we preser ve our national stor ies, e ven our cultur al e volution, as we have f ought f or our pref erred way of lif e.

Va s e f ro m 1 0 5 m m artillery shell.

Lori Lee has a masters degree in folklore from Utah State University. Her book publications include Wild Weekends in Utah and The Best Hikes Near Salt Lake City. She lives in Bountiful, Utah, with her son and her Yorky named Rockstar.

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b y B e a u B u rg e s s a n d S u R i c h a rd s f o r t d o u g l a s m i l i ta r y m u s e u m f o r va l o r

W H AT I S T R E N C H A RT ?

A N Y D EC O R AT I V E I T E M M A D E BY S O L D I E R S W H E R E T H E M A N U FAC T U R E I S D I R E C T LY L I N K E D TO A R M E D C O N F L I C T O R I T S C O N S E Q U E N C E S .

Trench art is commonly made of found materials, often the remnants of war discarded from battlefields such as shell casings, cast-off weapons, even downed aircraft pieces and machinery parts. In addition, issued items were used in such creations as blank canvases for expression.

The term “trench art”, literally and metaphorically, derives from being in the trenches of war. These objects were often created to pass the time and allowed a constructive outlet to the everyday struggles of battle. As human beings, we inherently seek ways to reveal ourselves, often through creative means. No matter what we create, or why, or how, whether to provoke an emotion, or leave a mark to simply say, “I was here,” trench art is one of these forms often encapsulating the experience of war.

Battlefield refuse is often morphed through various means into decorative and functional items, frequently kept and brought or sent home as souvenirs. Commonly encountered items may include vases, platters, ashtrays, salt and pepper shakers, letter openers and knives, jewelry and representational models. Inscribed words and imagery were used to decorate generic, government-issued equipment in order to individualize one’s self from the day-to-day, olive-drab world.

As times change and technology advances, the way we fight war and the implements used and remnants thereof transform how the objects within this particular form of art appear. However, trench art, deeply rooted in tradition and inherent human nature, remains a constant.

A s h t ra y f ro m a r t i l l e r y s h e l l c a s i n g w i t h f o re i g n co i n s .

K n i f e f ro m 2 0 m m M K 3 p ro j e c t i l e a n d re s h a p e d mess knife blade.

All images from the Fort Douglas Military Museum collection.

A i r p l a n e m o d e l f ro m s h e l l s a n d p ro j e c t i l e s .

Pe p p e r s h a ke r f ro m G e r m a n Zt Z S/3 0 time fuse.

G ove r n m e n t i s s u e d m o d e l 19 1 0 a l u m i n u m c a n te e n w i t h s c r i b e d e a g l e m o t i f.

P l a te w i t h ro s e m o t i f f ro m l a rg e s h e l l c a s i n g .

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W H AT A R E P RO PAG A N DA P O S T E R S ?

C O U N T L E S S WA RT I M E P O S T E R S W E R E M A RV E L S O F G R A P H I C D E S I G N , C R E AT E D W I T H O N E A I M I N M I N D : TO G E T T H E V I E W E R TO S TO P, R E A D —A N D AC T.

19 17 .

19 17 .

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f l a g g /l o c

s t e r n /u s b o n d s /f d m m

Propaganda is publicity intended to spread ideas or information that will persuade or convince people. Posters are large sheets of paper announcing or advertising something, often for display in public spaces. Frequently, considered works of art, posters implement many of the elements, devices and techniques utilized in the world of fine art and design to communicate and deliver their “loaded” messages and objectives. Artists of the highest caliber such as Norman Rockwell joined the war effort as they put their talents to use.

The images displayed here are merely a sampling of the seemingly endless U.S. wartime posters of the 20th century, from World War I through the Vietnam War. These posters are commonly referred to as propaganda posters. Just like “Uncle Sam,” all have one aim in mind—getting the attention of “YOU!”, the viewer, and engaging everyone in the war effort. Although they all have this focus in common, there are many calls to action, for in times of war everything counts: from enlisted to civilian, battlefront to home front. Wartime efforts include everything, as the subject matter of the posters range from patriotism to recruitment, to national security and identifying the enemy, to rationing and recycling, to social and health issues, not just men and bullets win wars.

19 4 2 .

g o f f /s e ag r a m d i s t i l l e rs co r p . /n a r a

19 17 .

h e n d e e /u s f d a /f d m m

Over time, the way we receive our information, “propaganda,” changes and with technological advances in a fast-paced visual culture, the poster platform has been replaced by other forms of visual media such as social media memes with seemingly iconic and soon forgotten imagery accompanied by block-lettered text to convey the message. Now, a century from the earliest image shown here, a final glance across the page will result in this conclusion—although times change and the conflicts are different, the battles fought then are still going on now and the themes presented are still relevant to today.

19 17 .

b r e y /l o c

19 17 .

l e y e n d e c k e r /f d m m

19 17 .

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r e d c r o s s /f d m m

19 1 8 .

fa l l s / f d m m

19 1 8 .

yo u n g /u s b o n d s /f d m m

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Posters taken from the following collections, unless otherwise referenced: Fort Douglas Military Museum (FDMM), Library of Congress (LOC), National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

19 1 8 .

m o o dy /u s a r m y /o c l c

19 4 0 .

p u rv i s /u k g o v /i w m

19 4 0 .

19 4 0 .

k l i n g /o c l c

m i l i ta r y / n at ’ l l i b r a r y

of medicine

19 4 2 .

Emergency

svcs/

19 4 2 .

g e n e r a l m oto r s /l o c

aus gov

19 4 2 .

us office of emergency

19 4 3 .

u s o f f i c e o f wa r / n a d a

s ava g e / u s a r m y / f d m m

us office of emergency

19 4 4 .

v o n s c h m i dt /u s o f f i c e

19 4 2 .

fa lt e r / wa r

m g m t /n a r a

p r o d u c t i o n /n a d a

19 4 3 .

19 4 3 .

p u r s e l l /u s o f f i c e o f

e m e r g e n c y m g m t /n a r a

m g m t /n a r a

19 4 4 .

19 4 2 .

19 4 4 .

y e a g l e y /l o c

us office of emergency

wa r p r o d u c t i o n / n a d a

19 4 3 .

us office of emergency

m g m t /n a r a

m g m t /n a r a

19 6 0 s .

19 4 2 .

u s s p e c f o r c e s /f d m m

19 67 .

w e i s s e r / ta r o t

o f p r i c e a d m i n /n a d a

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tell

by Michelle Bridges f o r va l o r

WITH MODELER MIKE SANCHES “ I LOV E M Y H O B BY. I A LWAYS B U I L D T H I N G S T H AT H AV E A P E R S O N A L A P P E A L TO M E .”

L argel y a militar y tr adition, nose ar t is a decor ative painting or design on the fuselage of an aircr af t—sor t of an air plane gr affiti. S ome histor ians think nose ar t is f ounded in elabor ate figure heads of 18th centur y sailing ships or e ven dr agon ships of V iking seafarers.

W hile Wor ld War I nose ar t was usual l y extr avagant or embel lished squadron insignia, nose ar t c ame of age dur ing Wor ld War I I. Begun f or pr actic al reasons of identify ing fr iend l y units, nose ar t e vol ved to express the individualit y of pilots and their cre ws, separ ating them from thousands of other aircr af t lined up on the tar mac.

Designs of ten e voked memor ies of home, lo ved ones, alma mater or as a kind of psyc hologic al protection against death. The ar tistic work of George Pett y and Alber to Vargas’s pin-up gir ls or Disne y ’s c har acters were of ten reproduced, or adapted, and painted by prof essional civilian ar tists, talented amateurs or e ven pilots and ground cre ws.

D ue to c hanges in militar y policies and c hanging attitudes toward the representation of women, the amount of nose ar t dec lined af ter the Korean War. But the cr af t under went a re vival dur ing the G ulf War with many cre ws merging ar t work into c amouflage patter ns as long as it met str ict regulations.

Ma s te r m o d e l e r Mi ke S a n c h e s ( s p i ke p ro d @ g m a i l .co m ) h a s t a ke n h i s p a s s i o n f o r av i a t i o n a r t to m a n y l eve l s : m a k i n g m o d e l s , p a i n t i n g p o r t ra i t s , a n d m i x i n g m u l t i m e d i a p o s te r s . u m g p h o t o / c h a d z ava l a VALOR: Although your education is in fine art and your artwork reflects different mediums, how did you get started in modeling?

MODELER MIKE SANCHES: Growing up in the ‘60s and ‘70s, I spent time looking at the covers of model boxes, it was what was on the box that sold you the model.

Images were dynamic and scenes were exciting—you wanted what was inside.

Once you’ve been bitten, you’ve been bit.

VALOR: Your models and portraits are so detailed—right down to the number of rivets. How far do you take your research?

SANCHES: I go as far as I can. I put hundreds of hours into a build. It’s not just building a model and painting it. It’s a painstaking operation to put the pieces together, find a project’s history, the story behind the story. You find yourself checking and cross-checking constantly for a plane’s provenance. I have a basement full of books and magazines. I use the Internet and rely a lot on special interest groups. I apply the same processes used in modeling to painting portraits.

I try to make my work not look computer generated. For example, just consider textures, they are paramount … even so much as putting imperfections in the skin of the aircraft so it doesn’t look solid, but looks organic. You have to pretend there’s an environment for the aircraft to be in … it’s not just a white background, it’s a reflective surface even though it’s a dull metallic surface. It’s reflecting the color of the sky. Even though the sky’s not visible, it’s there. Or, the color of the earth reflecting in the bottom of the plane … or what gives it dimension, gives it depth, brings it to life … it’s all in the details.

VALOR: I just have to ask, why do all aircraft models and portraits face left?

SANCHES: Simple, the left side is reserved for the pilot.

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AIRCRAFT NOSE ART l e f t : S p i t f i re M k I . T h e S u p e r m a r i n e S p i t f i re i s a n i co n i c a i rc ra ft d e s i g n . S l e e k , g ra ce f u l l i n e s m a ke i t o n e o f S a n c h e s’s f avo r i te s f o r b o t h m o d e l i n g a n d i l l u s t ra t i o n . u m g p h o t o / c h a d z ava l a b e l o w : F- 1 4 A To m c a t . L e g e n d h a s i t t h a t a co m m a n d e r ’s w i f e co m m e n te d t h a t t h e s q u a d ro n l o g o o f t h e V F- 1 4 3 G r i ff i n l o o ke d m o re l i ke a “ p u k i n’ d o g ” a n d t h e n a m e s t u c k . T h e m a r k i n g s o f t h e F- 1 4 A m o d e l we re c re a te d f ro m s c ra tc h s i n ce n o d e c a l s we re ava i l a b l e . u m g p h o t o / c h a d z ava l a

right:

P - 5 1 D Mu s t a n g . “O l d C row ” wa s t h e p e r s o n a l m o u n t o f W W I I t r i p l e - a ce C l a re n ce E . “ B u d ” A n d e r s o n . He f u r t h e r p e r s o n a l i z e d h i s p l a n e by a d d i n g w h i te wa l l s to h i s t i re s u s i n g b a r n p a i n t a n d s a ys t h a t w h e n t h e n a m e , t a ke n f ro m h i s f avo r i te w h i s key, o ff e n d e d n o n d r i n ke r s h e wo u l d s a y h e n a m e d i t a fte r t h e “s m a r te s t b i rd i n t h e a i r.” u m g p h o t o / c h a d z ava l a

It ’s a l l i n t h e d e t a i l s : Pilots frequently renamed and repainted their fighter and bomber aircraft. Robert S. Voyles’ “Old Witch” had already seen considerable combat as both “Man O’ War” and “Floozy Suzy.” This pin-up-inspired nose art illustration is a work-in-progress based on the historic photograph ( at l e f t ) from World War II.

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THE BIGGER PICTURE C A P T U R I N G A G L I M P S E O F C O M B AT O N T H E S I LV E R S C R E E N

by Joshua Ligari f o r va l o r

O

ne of Hol l ywood ’s most endur ing genres— war films—have been around near l y as long as there have been mo ving pictures. S ome have aimed to c apture the realit y of the battlefield.

O thers have tr ied to get inside the minds of our br avest. And some have used war as an al legor y to tel l a broader stor y of the human exper ience. Civilians are of ten eager to hear these tales of battle, while veter ans tend to approac h them more c autiousl y.

Ar t being subjective, the appreciation of any motion picture depends on the audience, but in the c ase of war films, there is suc h a huge divide bet ween the lived exper ience of a soldier and that of a gener al audience member that it ’s not sur pr ising when the responses from these t wo groups var ies widel y. For this reason, the relationship bet ween soldier and cinema has of ten been a tenuous one.

T RU E O R FA L S E Even in the ear liest day s of cinema there was a division bet ween the realit y of conflict and the imagination of an ar tist. The first legends of war on film date bac k as far as 1897, when Frenc h filmmaker Georges Méliès and Br itish war correspondent Freder ic V il liers both attempted to present filmic e vidence of the Greco-Turkish War. W hile V il liers repor ted l y ventured into the field by bic yc le with his cinematogr apher and retur ned with little to show f or his eff or ts, Méliès opted to fake his f ootage from his home in Par is and c ame away with scenes 16

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that mesmer iz ed audiences of the time, belie ving the f ootage to be real.

It is understandable the huge degree of difficult y in shooting something uncontrol led—that is happening in real time—versus shooting something staged. Add the danger of a fire fight and it is near l y impossible to c apture the essence of war and the c har acter of the soldiers without employ ing ar tistic license. Onl y ver y recentl y with documentar ies suc h as the Af ghanistan-set Rest r epo (2010) and A r ma dillo (2010) has moder n tec hnolog y made it possible f or embedded filmmakers to c apture both front-line combat and soldiers’ stor ies. Being that the ver y first instances of war on film were documentar y and propaganda, it ’s interesting to look bac k now and realiz e that e ven the y inc luded re-enactments of combat scenes, r ather than the real thing.

Though many countr ies were making propaganda films ear l y on, the vast major it y made dur ing the second Wor ld War were actual l y produced by the United S tates. It ’s no sur pr ise, then, that t wo of the greatest examples of Amer ic an propaganda e ver created c ame from established Hol l ywood directors who were also enlisted men. John Ford was best known at the time f or his film Osc ar-winning Stagecoa ch (1939) and Fr ank Capr a f or his Osc arwinning Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) bef ore the y created Midway (1942) and the se ven-film ser ies W hy We F ight (1942-1945), respectivel y. j u ly

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Ro s s i (Co r b i n A l l re d ) , E m i l l e ( V i rg i n i e Fo u r t i n a A n d e r s o n ) , Jo n e s ( D ave Ni b l ey) a n d C u r t i s ( Ja s e n Wa d e) i n S a i n t s a n d S o l d i e r s : A i r b o r n e C re e d . g o f i l m p h o t o © 2 0 1 2

Despite the eff ectiveness of these propaganda films in their eff or t to inspire action from both militar y and civilians and despite the incredible war time visuals off ered by filmmakers like Ford and Capr a, soar ing cinematic stor ies these were not.

But bec ause Hol l ywood was ke y to the production of propaganda films commissioned by the U.S. go ver nment, the y saw ear l y on that there was a real hunger f or these t y pes of films amongst audiences and so mainstream productions with war themes were also r amped up dur ing this time.

T RU LY M OV I N G P I C T U R E S S tudio war films were already becoming popular dur ing Wor ld War I I, but the late ’50s and ear l y ’60s saw the first boom in big budget war films like The Br idge on the Rive r Kwai (1957), The Longest Day (1962), and The G r eat Esc ape (1963). W hat was depicted on screen var ied greatl y from film to film dur ing this per iod. W hile some films were an attempt to c apture the realit y of the battlefield, others were quite fanciful in tone and c arr ied on in the tr adition of the Wester n in presenting a moder n Amer ic an my tholog y.

Compare the Wor ld War I I films The G uns of the Na var one (1961) and W he r e Eagles Dar e (1968). In W he r e Eagles Dar e, Clint East wood leads a mission in whic h Al lied soldiers disguised as Nazis must j u ly

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rescue a U.S. gener al from a Bavar ian c astle. F ilm cr itic John J. P uccio say s, “ it pro vides ful l-on thr il ls, exagger ated thr il ls, to be sure, but making f or an exciting r ide, nonetheless. ” W he r e Eagles Dar e is a completel y made-up, imaginative tale, but it is modeled af ter a tr ue stor y, told in the ear lier The G uns of the Na var one, whic h is based on actual e vents dur ing the Dodec anese Campaign of Wor ld War I I. Na var one, whic h sees Gregorg y Pec k leading a mission to destroy giant Ger man guns and rescue Al lied troops, is the muc h more elegant film of the t wo. F ilm cr itic John J. P uccio gets it r ight when he points to the film’s “epic gr andeur with unabashed heroism. ” Though so similar in content, the ar tistic approac h to these films could not be more diff erent.

Jumping ahead three dec ades, the late ’90s and ear l y 2000s was another stimulating time in cinema as filmmakers combined both the heroism and skepticism of ear lier war films and coupled the tension bet ween those t wo philosophies with some of the most realistic depictions of violence e ver seen on screen.

Rid le y S cott ’s S omalia-set Bla ck Ha wk Do wn (2001) is a strong example of a narr ative film that attempts documentar y-le vel realism as it depicts real e vents in gr itt y detail. Hand-held c amer a and hear tstopping action propel us into the stor y inside an va l o r : a s a l u t e t o u ta h ’ s v e t e r a n s a n d m i l i ta r y

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ur ban environment where long-shor ts of explosions give way to real human intimac y.

S te ven S peilberg ’s Wor ld War I I epic S a ving P r ivate Ryan (1998) is pr actic al l y a sur ve y of al l war films that has come bef ore it as it flows from one of the most gr aphic depictions of battlefield violence on the beac hes of Nor mandy Beac h to humanizing por tr aits of ordinar y people in hel lish circumstances, we lear n about who these soldiers real l y are, to a Hol l ywood ending where men are made heroes. As film cr itic Dave Bec ker puts it, “ Intense f eelings are at play in S a ving P r ivate Ryan, and S pielberg guides us through them in a ver y meticulous manner, star ting us off with bar bar it y and pandemonium on a gr and sc ale, then slowl y narrowing the stor y down to the eff ect war has on the individual. ” War films got darker again af ter S ept. 11, 2001, with a strong f ocus on realism. Mo vies like The Hur t Locke r (2008), Lone Sur vivor (2013), Fur y (2014), and A me r ic an Snipe r (2014) were far gr ittier than the sweeping epics of the dec ade pre vious and again adopted a documentar y-like photogr aphic st y le in order to put audiences in the midst of the tension and par anoia that per vades these films.

Comedy in war time is probabl y the r arest tool employed by filmmakers, but it is a tool that ’s been used from ver y ear l y on. W hether due to the heavy doses of satire of ten f ound in these films or bec ause the comedy off ered some muc h-needed break and c atharsis from the subject matter, these comedic war films, from The Gene ral (1926) to The Dir t y 18

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Dozen (1967) to Good Mor ning V ietnam (1987), have been popular and profitable. Rober to Benigni e ven won the Osc ar f or Best P icture f or his film Lif e is Beautiful (1997) about a father ’s attempt to use fantasy and humor to insulate his son from the horrors of lif e inside a Nazi inter ment c amp.

Comedy has been employed eff ectivel y as commentar y on the faults of our f oes, but it has also been used by Amer ic an filmmakers to cr itique the U.S. ’s own actions in war time, as in the Korean War-set M*A*S*H (1970) and the G ulf War-set Thr ee Kings (1999). Neither film dispar ages the troops, but instead employ s dark comedy to highlight the absurdit y of the circumstances the troops find themsel ves in. As film cr itic Roger Eber t pointed out in his re vie w of M*A*S*H, “ Most comedies want us to laugh at things that aren’t real l y funny ; in this one we laugh precisel y bec ause the y ’re not funny.

We laugh, that we may not cr y. ”

W H Y W E WATC H For current gener ations, war films have become a my tholog y that has tur ned our parents and gr andparents into heroes. A film gives us the abilit y to imagine the familiar faces of our lo ved ones confronting the unspeakable with nobilit y and honor and tr y ing to get a sense f or the things that the y have gone through that we may ne ver gr asp.

S ur vival, strong values and a wil l to live are the cor nerstone of the Amer ic an war film. S il ver screen legends from John Way ne to S te ve McQ ueen j u ly

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embodied our Wor ld War I I heroes in epic war films that span the length of the conflict from S ands of Iw o Jima (1949) to The G r eat Esc ape (1967). Nic knamed “ The Greatest Gener ation” who f ought in “ The L ast Good War, ” Wor ld War I I veter ans have been deser ved l y honored f or their ser vice in real lif e and in the mo vies.

were stor ies of troubled soldiers. Difficult themes, complex c har acters and stor ies, jaw-dropping visuals: these are examples of top-notc h cinema that deal with the horrors of war in a ver y intense way and are considered some of the greatest films e ver made, but the y also sometimes fail to honor the integr it y and valor of many of our troops.

But where one gener ation was held up as the greatest, the next was largel y shamed or f orgotten.

V ietnam vets were of ten treated ver y diff erentl y when compared to the gener ation of soldiers bef ore them. That same dy namic c arr ied o ver to their treatment on film and coincided with a per iod where big Hol l ywood studios were tur ning o ver the reigns to young upstar t filmmakers fresh out of film sc hool like Mar tin S corsese, George L uc as, Br ian DePalma and Fr ancis Ford Coppola, among others.

The tele vision ser ies Tour of D ut y (1987-1990) being an ear l y exception, it wasn’t until Amer ic ans had been remo ved from V ietnam f or a dec ade or t wo that we were able to get o ver the pain and shame of that confusing time enough to tel l the stor ies of the troops, without por tr ay ing them as either monsters or victims.

Coppola was something of an elder statesman to this cre w of outsiders. His A poc alypse No w (1979) was a major indictment of the U.S. c ampaigns of his youth and marked a c hange in the way war stor ies would be told on film f or dec ades to come. As film cr itic Dave Bec ker descr ibes it, A poc alypse No w is “an exposé of the ver y nature of war fare, and how a steady diet of violence c an lead e ven the br avest, most intel ligent among us to fal l victim to our personal demons. ” This led to a muc h diff erent V ietnam war film that was distinct from those made af ter Wor ld War I I. F ilms like The Dee r Hunte r (1978), Platoon (1986), Full Metal Ja cket (1987) and Casualties of War (1989) j u ly

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In the c ase of We We r e Soldie rs (2002), it took a V ietnam veter an tel ling his own stor y in order to get it r ight. Fr ustr ated by the depictions of the war he ’d seen on the screen, retired Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore teamed with a jour nalist to w r ite the book We We r e Soldie rs Once … A nd Young. Ten years later it was made into a film. Though the mo vie, whic h depicts The Battle of L a D r ang, gets a number of the histor ic al beats w rong, it is may be the first V ietnam-set film simpl y about regular soldiers who did the br avest thing of al l by showing up and doing their jobs.

Jo shua L i gai ri i s an award -wi nni ng d o cument ary di re c to r an d p ro d ucer at Icarus Art s & Entert ai nment . Yo u can hear h i m d i s c u s s ci nema regul arl y, i n p o d cast f o rm, at Movi eSt reamCas t.co m an d Ho rro rMovi ePo d cast .co m and o ccasi o nal l y at TheS c i F i Po d c as t. co m and Movi ePo d cast Week l y.co m

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W I T H P RO D U C E R A DA M A B E L “ I WA N T E D TO T E L L S TO R I E S T H AT I F E LT I C O U L D B E PA S S I O N AT E A B O U T.”

by Josh Ligari f o r va l o r

I first met Producer Adam Abel while I was working as an ar t depar tment inter n on his first f eature film, independent Wor ld War I I dr ama S aints and Soldie rs (2003). It was a wonder ful exper ience tr ansf or ming the Utah f oothil ls into Nazi-occupied r ur al Belgium. The film’s budget was smal l compared to its ambition and it would require a dedic ated and c apable cre w to pul l it off. Abel was at the head of production.

I hadn’t worked on many films at that stage of my c areer, but I sensed r ight away that Abel was good in the trenc hes.

His Go F ilms business par tner, director Ryan Little, was good too. Together the y led our outfit as we labored to make what we hoped would be a qualit y mo vie.

The film went on to win awards at se ver al film f estivals and was nominated f or t wo prestigious Independent S pir it Awards. It was so successful that S aints and Soldie rs would spawn t wo sequels, S aints and Soldie rs: A irbor ne Cr eed (2012) and S aints and Soldie rs: The Void (2014).

I recentl y had a c hance to sit down with Adam Abel and get his take on his war films and the impact that the y have had.

P ro d u ce r Ad a m A b e l t a l k s a b o u t m a k i n g m ov i e s i n U t a h s p e c i f i c a l l y t h e S a i n t s a n d S o l d i e r s t r i l i o g y a n d L o n g Jo u r n e y Ho m e . a a r o n t h o m p s o n p h o t o VALOR: Let me start by taking you back to the question you’ve been asked a million times: “What first made you interested in telling a war story?”

PRODUCER ADAM ABEL: I think it’s the relatability of the stories. Not because I’ve fought in war, but because of the practical application in my own life of the perseverance and determination required to accomplish something great, against insurmountable odds. Those are interesting stories and there’s something relatable about that from an audience perspective. For me personally, from a producer’s perspective, I wanted to tell stories that I felt I could be passionate about.

VALOR: I see that you’ve just produced The Journey Home (2016), a new documentary focused around Vietnam vets. I was going to ask you about that, because it seems like prior to this your primary interest has been World War II. ABEL: Well, obviously we’ve done three films that have been World War II specific. Aside from our personal interest in the stories, Ryan and I both having grandfathers who served in World War II, it’s something that, from an international perspective, people are unified in. Grandparents and great-grandparents are telling these stories and people are still interested in them. And the opportunity to celebrate the efforts of individual veterans and their remarkable examples of sacrifice and perseverance is something that’s very interesting to me.

Also, there’s a practicality of independent film production in that the European theater of World War II is one that we could replicate where we’re at. When it comes to replicating the jungles of Vietnam, that’s a little harder to do in Utah [laughs], so there become practical reasons as to why our primary focus has been World War II.

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WAR MOVIES But we’ve always been asked, “When are you going to explore a different war?” Until we were approached with this documentary, we really hadn’t considered it. The wars since World War II have become progressively more polarizing in terms of how people feel about them. That was very evident in this Vietnam documentary. Sadly, there wasn’t a delineation between war and warriors and so these soldiers went and did what their country asked of them and then came home and were treated terribly. But, there have been these really great stories that we’ve vetted for the doc. These are fantastic stories and there are a handful that come to mind that make me think, “Man, that could be a really compelling story.”

One of the most unique experiences we had was showing the film to active military. We were invited to participate in the Hawaii International Film Festival and they arranged a screening at Pearl Harbor, at the Sharkey Theater. Pearl Harbor being a Navy base, these guys all came in their whites to watch the film. And so Ryan and I are toward the back of the theater when the film finishes and this group of 400 guys stand up and there comes this standing ovation. They’re clapping and they turn around and it was a little uncomfortable, honestly, [laughs] because our efforts and focus was to honor them, and yet they’re standing in ovation. It was something I’ll never forget.

VALOR: There was a time when you discussed doing a World War II film set in the Pacific theater.

In March of this year, we had the first official screening of The Journey Home, the Vietnam documentary, and those who were in attendance were veterans themselves, many of them Vietnam veterans. It’s always slightly uncomfortable screening a movie with an audience because you’re hoping that what resonated with you resonates with them. Particularly with the Vietnam veteran, to have the opportunity to let them know that in spite of how they might have been treated then, things are different now. And hopefully our generation is able to make up for the unfortunate circumstances of previous generations.

ABEL: Yeah, after our first film, having spent so much time in the snow, the idea of spending some time in the sand was very interesting to us [laughs].

We’d love to be able to tell Pacificthemed stories and think that there are opportunities for that, even at an independent level.

VALOR: As I’ve been talking to veterans for this article, I’ve found there’s been some reluctance from some of them to watch war-based films. What has been your experience showing your films to veterans or active-duty soldiers?

ABEL: If you’ll recall, when we made the first Saints and Soldiers, it was on the heels of Saving Private Ryan and in the midst of the Band of Brothers series, so there was a resurgence of these kinds of films. But our motivation was to create a film that was authentic in its story while also allowing for a veteran, who was now a grandfather or a great-grandfather, to take their children and grandchildren and share that experience with them—to allow for a generational connection. It allowed them to see a film that alludes to the intensity, that likely was their circumstance, without that being the focus. The focus was the individuals and their experience.

It’s been interesting, specifically with Saints and Soldiers to be in a theater experience and do Q&As around the world and have veterans come up and talk to you about their experiences, some of them feeling like this was a fair representation. It’s unique.

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VALOR: Did you get the sense from the veterans who were in the documentary that they were glad they’d shared their stories?

ABEL: Yeah. I believe that there is a cathartic experience that someone has when they’re able to retell their stories. There’s a power in storytelling, specifically when it comes to veterans telling their stories. For some of them, it may have taken 50 to 60 years to come to a place mentally and emotionally to want to go to that spot and share, but there’s value that comes from it and I’ve witnessed it. Case in point, Garret Batty, who directed The Journey Home, interviewed his dad, a Vietnam vet, for the film. And his dad, sitting in a chair across from his son while the cameras are rolling, is sharing these experiences that even Garrett hadn’t heard. It was eye opening. It gave more perspective. It solidified this father/son relationship. His father was sharing things; that had been deeply personal and meaningful to him at a difficult time in his life, with his son, 50 years removed from that.

Whether it be the World War II veterans that we interviewed for various stories that were combined for Saints and Soldiers or most recently with the Vietnam veteran documentary, their stories are of significant value to not only them and their process, but also to us that are hearing them.

Jo shua L i gai ri i s an award -wi nn i n g d o cument ary d i recto r and p rod u ce r at Icarus Art s & Entert ai nment . Yo u c an h e ar hi m d i scuss ci nema regul arl y, i n p o d c as t f o rm, at Movi eSt reamCast .co m and Ho rro rMovi ePo d cast .co m an d o ccasi o nal l y at TheSci Fi Po d ca s t.co m an d Movi ePo d cast Week l y.co m

U TA H H O N O R S VIETNAM VETERANS The State of Utah Department of Veterans and Military Affairs is honored to hold, in conjunction with our many partners, events throughout the state to pay tribute to all Vietnam veterans.

We want to give thanks for sacrifices made and values of all those who served during the Vietnam War time period.

In recognition the documentary film Long Journey Home and the Utah 50th Anniversary Commemoration Book, A Time to Honor is available to the state’s 47,000 Vietnam veterans. For information on all locations of events and times please visit veterans.utah.gov For all Vietnam veterans that live in or around the Salt Lake area, please come in and pick up a copy of the book and documentary at: Department of Veteran and Military Affairs, 550 Foothill Drive, Suite 105, Salt Lake City, UT 84113 If you are unable to come into the Salt Lake area for the book and documentary, please attend an event for distribution of the book. Please understand if an event is not scheduled in your area, we are continuing to plan future events and locations for pick up as they are established.

—by Utah Department of Veteran and Military Affairs

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THE REEL WORLD VS. THE REAL WORLD W E D O N ’ T J U S T WAT C H A WA R M O V I E , WE EXPERIENCE IT b y A l ex N i b l e y f o r va l o r

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he c losest most Amer ic ans wil l e ver get to a battlefield is what the y see in the mo vies.

On one hand, that ’s a good thing. The f e wer people who have to go off to war, the better. On the other hand, war continues to be a par t of our national lif e, and since wars continue to have an impact on us, it ’s impor tant f or e ver yone to have some knowledge about the exper iences of those who bear the burdens and make the sacr ifices to fight.

One thing that makes motion pictures diff erent from other media is the phy sic al intensit y with whic h we exper ience them. We don’t just watc h a mo vie, we exper ience it. W hile books c an put us inside the minds of c har acters, mo vies c an put us in deser ts or jungles, in fast c ars, squalid pr isons and sweat y fatigues. That ’s why audience members dur ing a fight scene t witc h in their seats as the y fight the bad guy. That ’s the intensit y of mo vies’ vic ar ious exper ience.

The exper ience c an be power ful, and the images and ideas audiences get about war from mo vies r ange from accur ate to fantastic al to r idiculous, and the impact the mo vies have on people who vic ar iousl y exper ience war c an be prof ound, either f or good or il l.

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Bec ause the phy sic al intensit y of film is so strong, it c an make mo viegoers f eel like the y ’ve actual l y been to war. That c an be beneficial if it br ings ne w le vels of understanding to people who’ve ne ver been in a war z one. You c an lear n more about the Civil War on that phy sic al, gut le vel from watc hing Gone with the W ind (1939) than from most histor y c lasses.

The image of Atlanta in flames stay s with us long af ter we ’ve f orgotten most of what our teac hers tr ied to cr am into our br ains.

A mo vie that had a power ful impact on me personal l y was S a ving P r ivate Ryan (1998). I cow rote my father ’s memoirs of “ Wor ld War I I, S ergeant Nible y P hD: Memor ies of an Unlikel y S creaming Eagle ” (S hadow Mountain Press, 2006). I read do z ens of histor y books and firsthand accounts of battles, inc luding my father ’s diar ies and letters. I spent t wo weeks in the National Arc hives looking at film and photogr aphs from the war. I inter vie wed my father about his exper ience going ashore by landing cr af t on D-Day, kne w lots of facts about that battle, and e ven visited the landing site at Utah Beac h with my father. But none of that c ame c lose to the intensit y of the first 20 minutes of S a ving P r ivate Ryan. Watc hing the mo vie I was stunned, not just by the gr aphic depiction of the landing, but by how little j u ly

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I had lear ned from al l my books and conversations about the exper ience of a beac h landing under fire.

It gave me a whole ne w understanding of my father and his exper ience.

But stil l, watc hing S a ving P r ivate Ryan doesn’t make me an author it y on the war exper ience. And that ’s one of the dangers of war mo vies: the y c an make us think we know more than we actual l y do and c an give a false sense of understanding.

In the inter vie ws I conducted with my father and other war veter ans, as wel l as the many accounts I read in memoirs, a phr ase I heard repeated l y about the combat exper ience was, “ It wasn’t like in the mo vies… ” There were other mo vie-related phr ases I heard. “ He thought he was a real R ambo… ” “ He went busting in like John Way ne… ” Usual l y these were setups f or something comic al or horr ific that happened when someone tr ied to act like a mo vie hero in a real war situation. Those phr ases were ne ver used as a f or m of pr aise or respect. People with Hol l ywood ideas of war were considered uninf or med and dangerous.

The power of mo vies c an also be used to manipulate audiences, and again, sometimes this is good and sometimes it ’s not. For moder n audiences, j u ly

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Casablanc a is a c lassic lo ve stor y set in Wor ld War I I, but in 1942 when it was released, it was a power ful recr uitment tool. The theme of sacr ificing personal dreams f or the common good was meant to get young men into unif or m, and it worked.

Af ter the negative public image of the militar y that pre vailed f ol lowing the V ietnam War, Top G un (1986) was instr umental in re versing that image with its positive, almost joy ful depiction of aer ial combat. These mo vies and others like them have shown war fare as attr active and exciting, and encour age vie wers to suppor t wars and get invol ved themsel ves. This has led a lot of people to enlist with unrealistic ideas, and when those romantic images are shattered by realit y, the disil lusionment c an contr ibute to the difficulties and mental health issues so pre valent among veter ans. There ’s al way s a danger that inflated heroic images of combat place an unfair burden on militar y personnel to live up to an ideal that doesn’t exist in realit y. Veter ans should ne ver f eel like the y have failed bec ause their war exper ience wasn’t like R ambo. As real as it may seem in the theater, we have to remember the mo vie blood is fake, the actor had a stunt double, al l the action stopped f or dinner. va l o r : a s a l u t e t o u ta h ’ s v e t e r a n s a n d m i l i ta r y

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Of course, not al l war mo vies are prowar. Paths of Glor y (1957), Platoon (1986) and other antiwar mo vies don’t make good recr uitment ads, but the y c an give impor tant perspective on the meaning of war fare. These mo vies of ten deal with costl y def eats and stupid mistakes that c aused massive death and destr uction.

I watc hed A Br idge Too Far (1977) with my father—who exper ienced the battle firsthand—and I remember his bitter comments about wasting the lives of suc h excel lent fighting f orces on one gener al ’s egotistic al whim.

There are also mo vies that take a neutr al stance and tr y to w restle with the mor al complexit y of war as something ne ver desir able, but sometimes necessar y.

Br idge on the Rive r Kwai (1957) is an example, with a by-the-book officer so deter mined to f ol low the r ules that he ends up working f or the enemy. More recentl y, Eye in the Sky (2015) is an unflinc hing examination of the mor al complexit y of moder n drone war fare.

Clint East wood, in his long c areer, has managed to embody al l the var ious points of vie w on war in film. In Dir t y Har r y, East wood bec ame known f or his line, “ Make my day!” W hat it means is, “ I enjoy kil ling people, so give me the pleasure of an excuse to put a .44 magnum round into your head. ” To Dave Grossman, an ar my psyc hologist and author of “On Kil ling: The Psyc hologic al Cost of L ear ning to Kil l in War and S ociet y, ” this lo ve of kil ling could make Dir t y Harr y a c andidate f or a diagnosis of sociopath.

L ater, East wood directed and starred in Unf orgiven, whic h seems almost to be an act of repentance f or the Dir t y Harr y c har acter, as kil ling is shown as not onl y repugnant, but something nor mal people c an’t do without extreme psyc hologic al damage. These were not war films, but show diff erent points of vie w from East wood on the broader subject of violence. He showed similar flexibilit y when he directed t wo war films in tandem, F lags of O ur Fathe rs, about the Amer ic an Mar ines who r aised the flag on I wo J ima, and Lette rs f r om Iw o Jima, (both released in 2006) whic h por tr ay s the same battle from the Japanese point of vie w.

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The Longest Day, the 1962 c lassic about the Nor mandy Invasion, used three directors, Englishman Ken Annakin f or Br itish scenes, Hungar ian-Amer ic an Andre w Mor ton f or Amer ic an scenes, and Austr ian Ber nhard W ic ki f or Ger man scenes. This was par tl y bec ause of the gigantic scope of the filming, but it also kept the mo vie from slipping into simplistic good-guy s v s. bad-guy s stereot y pes and the c har acters on both sides come off as real, three-dimensional human beings r ather than heroes and vil lains.

W ith the tremendous power films have, per haps the most positive use of war mo vies is in the healing the y c an br ing to those who f ought and who continue to process their war exper iences. The c lassic Best Years of O ur Lives, (1946) made in the wake of Wor ld War I I, examines the depression and str uggles of retur ning vets and co-starred Harold R ussel l, a veter an and double amputee with t wo hook prosthetics who won t wo Osc ars, one f or his acting and another f or his inspir ational role in advoc ating f or veter ans.

Mo vies c an use their influence to persuade, manipulate, inf or m and heal.

W hic h of these functions the mo vies per f or m most eff ectivel y is mostl y up to us, the audience. Bec ause an impor tant element in the way any mo vie works on an audience is the understanding and the state of mind that the audience br ings into the theater. S o, here ’s my suggestion f or watc hing war mo vies: if you’ve ne ver been to war yourself, tr y watc hing it with a veter an. If you’re a vet yourself, watc h with those of us who don’t have that exper ience and make sure you give a little “real wor ld ” context to the makebelie ve battles on the screen. Bec ause, to par aphr ase the old say ing, “ war is too ser ious to be lef t to Hol l ywood. ” Alex Nibley is a writer, actor, producer, director, screenwriter and teacher. He teaches digital cinema at Utah Valley University and is aff iliated with Deep Lake Media and Talent Management Group. Nibley studies story editing at FAMU International Prague and earned a bachelor’s in mass communications from the University of Utah.

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A THOUSAND WORDS CAPTURING OUR VETERANS’ PERSONAL H I S T O R I E S I S O N E O F O U R N AT I O N ’ S G R E AT E S T T R E A S U R E S b y J ’ N e l Wr i g h t f o r va l o r

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ar ma gre w up knowing her Aunt L ouise had ser ved in the Navy dur ing Wor ld War I I. But as L ouise recentl y celebr ated her 92nd bir thday, Car ma realiz ed the fleeting availabilit y of her aunt ’s stor y. The fact Car ma knows so little about her aunt ’s time o verseas is sober ing, and the realit y that those exper iences could be lost at any moment is a tr agedy.

Car ma shares her exper ience with many people who have famil y members who have ser ved in the militar y. Like most ser vice members who retur ned from war, L ouise R ussel l c ame home and star ted the rest of her lif e, leaving her time and exper iences from o verseas sitting quietl y on a shelf. But with her advancing years, like many of her gener ation, the need to record these personal stor ies c arr ies with it a sense of urgenc y. The affluence of Amer ic a has brought about many gif ts, but per haps the greatest treasure is the personal histor ies of our veter ans.

in many c ases, the nation’s universities arc hives, special col lections and or al histor ies star t with a person’s wil lingness to create and share it.

W hile the Amer ic an Red Cross is best known f or its disaster relief eff or ts and blood donation, this volunteer organiz ation is also dedic ated to preser ving the lif e stor ies of U.S. war vet er ans.

By col labor ating with the Libr ar y of Congress’ Amer ic an Folklif e Center and the Veter ans Histor y Project, Red Cross volunteers help col lect, preser ve and pro vide accessibilit y to the personal accounts of Amer ic an war veter ans so that future gener ations may hear directl y from veter ans and better understand the realities of war.

“O r al histor y gives a voice to people who other wise would go unheard, ” said Jedediah Rogers of the Utah Division of S tate Histor y. “ It validates and gives signific ance to the lives of others. ”

“ It ’s not just about preser ving histor y f or the famil y, whic h is real l y impor tant bec ause we c an lear n a lot, but through those connections we find veter ans that need assistance in other areas, ” said S hawn L our a, S er vice to Ar med Forces lead volunteer f or centr al Utah’s Amer ic an Red Cross. “ These eff or ts and resources help them mo ve f or ward. ” Currentl y, L our a cooper ates with Utah Val le y Universit y to contr ibute stor ies to their growing arc hives.

The Libr ar y of Congress has c ataloged approximatel y 15.3 mil lion digital items online.

This inf or mation is an invaluable resource to those researc hing spec ific histor ic al e vents. But that inf or mation must or iginate from some where, and,

Rogers and L our a dedic ate muc h of their time to col lecting the lif e stor ies of our veter ans, and both men have valuable advice on how people c an record their lo ved one ’s histor y. Here are six way s this endeavor c an “ BE” a positive exper ie nce.

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ORAL HISTORY S U G G E S T E D Q U E S T I O N S TO A S K YO U R V E T E R A N SEGMENT 1: FOR THE RECORD State at the beginning of the interview: • • • •

• If • • •

Date and place of the interview Name of the person being interviewed Interviewee’s birth date Names of the people attending the interview (including the interviewer and camera operators) The organization you’re working with, if any interviewing a veteran: War and branch of service What his or her rank was Where he or she served

SEGMENT 2: JOGGING MEMORY • • • • • • • • •

Were you drafted or did you enlist?

Where were you living at the time?

Why did you join?

Why did you pick the service branch you joined?

Do you recall your first days in service?

What did it feel like?

Tell me about your boot camp/training experience(s).

Do you remember your instructors?

How did you get through it?

Re co rd i n g ve te ra n s’ p e r s o n a l h i s to r i e s i s a g i ft f o r f u t u re g e n e ra t i o n s .

istock photo

SEGMENT 3: EXPERIENCES • Which war(s) did you serve in (WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf )?

• Where exactly did you go?

• Do you remember arriving and what it was like?

• What was your job/assignment?

• Did you see combat?

• Were there many casualties in your unit?

• Tell me about a couple of your most memorable experiences.

• Were you a prisoner of war?

• Tell me about your experiences in captivity and when freed.

• Were you awarded any medals or citations?

• How did you get them?

• Higher ranks may be asked about battle planning. Those who sustained injuries may be asked about the circumstances.

SEGMENT 4: LIFE • Ask questions about life in the service and/or at the front or under fire.

• How did you stay in touch with your family?

• What was the food like?

• Did you have plenty of supplies?

• Did you feel pressure or stress?

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• Was there something special you did for “good luck”?

• How did people entertain themselves?

• Were there entertainers?

• What did you do when on leave?

• Where did you travel while in the service?

• Do you recall any particularly humorous or unusual event?

• What were some of the pranks that you or others would pull?

• Do you have photographs?

• Who are the people in the photographs?

• What did you think of officers or fellow soldiers?

• Did you keep a personal diary?

SEGMENT 5: AFTER SERVICE Appropriateness of questions will vary if the veteran had a military career.

• Do you recall the day your service ended?

• Where were you?

• What did you do in the days and weeks afterward?

• Did you work or go back to school?

• Was your education supported by the G.I. Bill?

va l o r : a s a l u t e t o u ta h ’ s v e t e r a n s a n d m i l i ta r y

• Did you make any close friendships while in the service?

• Did you continue any of those relationships?

• For how long?

• Did you join a veterans organization?

SEGMENT 6: LATER YEARS AND CLOSING • What did you go on to do as a career after the war?

• Did your military experience influence your thinking about war or about the military in general?

• If in a veterans organization, what kinds of activities does your post or association have?

• Do you attend reunions?

• How did your service and experiences affect your life?

• Is there anything you would like to add that we have not covered in this interview?

This list of questions was prepared by the Library of Congress. Questions for civilians are also available. For more information, please visit loc.gov/vets/ civquestions.html —courtesy of the Library of Congress

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B E F R I E N D LY If you are meeting with someone as a third par t y, it ’s helpful to meet with the inter vie wee bef ore conducting the recording session. L our a explained that people tend to talk more freel y when the y f eel comf or table in the environment and with the audience. W hen the subject knows you and understands your intentions, this wil l add value to the recording session.

B E P R E PA R E D It seems ob vious, yet many times an inter vie w wil l commence onl y to disco ver the computer is low on power or the electronic de vices have dead batter ies.

Bef ore you know it, you’ve lost the moment. Be prepared with ful l y-c harged de vices and have power bac kups readil y accessible. “Also, be prepared to eliminate the r isk of interr uptions, ” said L our a. He recommends a loc ation c lose to outlets f or de vices and a place that isn’t easil y obstr ucted by phone c al ls or walk-in tr affic that could spoil an inter vie w. “ W hene ver we go out to inter vie w, we al way s have the Libr ar y of Congress field kit, ” said L our a. “ By having them complete these f or ms, we c an get a gener al idea of what exper iences the y had and what stor y the y want to share. We want them to be prepared and ready to talk about their accounts. ” You c an download those f or ms by visiting loc.go v. “ We also don’t want to touc h on things that may tr igger a negative response, so we sit down with them bef orehand and e valuate what specific topics the y f eel most comf or table shar ing, ” said L our a.

B E M I N D F U L O F S U R RO U N D I N G S Most inter vie ws are conducted in the subject ’s home. W hile this environment is comf or table f or the subject, it of ten presents c hal lenges f or recordings.

The lighting c an be poor f or video recordings, and the nor mal noises of a house c an inter f ere with an audio recording. D ur ing the initial meetings, take note of lighting or loud appliances, refr iger ators, or air conditioning units, f or example. On the day of the recording, be prepared with additional lighting and have a loc ation in mind that eliminates any noises that wil l intr ude on the recording.

BE A GOOD LISTENER For many of these people, this may be the first time the y have shared this inf or mation in a long j u ly

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time, and it is likel y the y have ne ver shared in suc h a f or mal setting. “ This conversation isn’t about how muc h you know as an inter vie wer, ” said Rogers. “ Keep questions br ief and to the point. ” Remember : this is their stor y, not yours. Don’t lead the subject into say ing something that isn’t their intent.

“A good inter vie wer wil l recogniz e when the subject br ings up an unplanned but valuable topic.

The inter vie wer needs to be prepared to pursue it with per tinent questions. Be flexible, ” said Rogers. Also, don’t r ush them. Ever yone expresses their thoughts in a unique way. It may not be gr ammatic al l y correct or flow wel l, but it ’s their voice.

B E AWA R E O F R EQ U I R E M E N T S Having the oppor tunit y to share a lo ved one ’s stor y is exciting. Eac h person’ histor y contr ibutes to the need to keep the stor ies of this countr y alive and accessible. But there is a process f or creating media that is suitable f or c ataloging with the Libr ar y of Congress. For tunatel y, the LO C pro vides plent y of resources to ensure your content is ready f or submission. P lease visit loc.go v/vets/kit f or required f or ms and f or matting par ameters. Ty pic al l y, three copies of the inter vie w are produced: one goes to the Libr ar y of Congress, one f or the famil y and one stay s at the loc al Red Cross facilit y.

B E A VO L U N T E E R By investing one af ter noon f or tr aining, people c an help gather these pr iceless stor ies of our war heroes. Two to three people t y pic al l y help conduct the inter vie wing sessions. This exper ience is ideal f or volunteers, Eagle S cout projects, or students looking f or inter nships.

“At the Amer ic an Red Cross, we are not just recording a veter an’s histor y, we are also an outlet that connects ser vices, ” said L our a. “ Having this resource helps them share their stor ies. The y did a lot f or us. We need to show our appreciation. It is an honor to be able to share their stor ies. ” For more on Amer ic an Red Cross volunteer oppor tunities, visit r edcr oss.org/loc al/utah/voluntee r.

J’Nel Wright is a writer and editor. Her work has appeared in both regional and national publications addressing family and human interests, business and health, interpersonal behavior and military service. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Utah.

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tell

by Michelle Bridges

W I T H C U R ATO R C H U C K M O O D “ W H E N K I D S LO O K AT M E A N D A S K H OW O L D I A M , I ’ V E D O N E M Y J O B .”

f o r va l o r

Camp F loyd is Utah’s onl y state park with a militar y f ocus.

It is here that the U.S. Ar my, Mor mon pioneers, stagecoac h tr avelers and the Pony Express merge in the smal l town of Fair field about 45 minutes south of the S alt L ake Val le y.

The Ar my arr ived in 1858 and constr ucted Camp F loyd to suppress a supposed Mor mon rebel lion. The Ar my remained here f or three and a half years bef ore being rec al led f or the Civil War.

Walking into the Camp F loyd Commissar y and Museum, I had to stand stil l f or a moment and let my e yes adjust not just f or the inter ior lighting but to take it al l the things around me: book-lined shel ves, display s ful l of ar tifacts and lots and lots of intr iguing exhibits fil ling the wal ls and tables. “ Did you know that at one time near l y one-third of the entire U.S. Ar my was stationed here at Camp F loyd?”

Tur ning around, I f ound my self face-to-face with a white mustac he and a kind smile. W ith this histor ic tidbit, Museum Cur ator Chuc k Mood c aught my attention and began to tel l me the rest of the stor y of Johnston’s Ar my and the Utah War. And, I ’m al way s in the mood f or a good stor y.

Mu s e u m C u ra to r C h u c k Mo o d co n d u c t s d r i l l exe rc i s e s w i t h a t a yo u t h h i s to r y c a m p a t Ca m p F l oyd i n Fa i r f i e l d . p h o t o c o u r t e s y o f u ta h s tat e pa r k s VALOR: How did you find your way out here to Camp Floyd?

CURATOR CHUCK MOOD: Active duty for the Air Force brought me to Utah and Hill Field, where I retired in 2012. Originally, I’m from Florida and it was my hobby of Civil War re-enactments that brought me out here to Camp Floyd.

During Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends, members of the Utah Living History Association as costumed interpreters, myself included, bring to “life” camp activities of the 5th U.S. Infantry as experienced in 1858-1861. We do firing demonstrations with muzzle-loaders, perform drill maneuvers and help visitors play period games and experience camp chores. We also schedule youth adventure camps and history camps throughout the year.

VALOR: For visitors that just drop in, what will they discover?

MOOD: Camp Floyd has a museum, the Stagecoach Inn, a one-room school house, the soldier cemetery and a park for picnicking. Each one offers unique exhibits, displays, artifacts and plenty of stories. You might come out here and think what a little Podunk place this is, but you’d been surprised at the depth of the history that converges on this one place.

VALOR: Out of all the exhibits and displays does one stands out?

Surprisingly, a display of Civil War-era officers often catches visitors’ attention.

Pictures of 59 future generals—framed in red for Confederate and blue for Union— were at one time stationed here. Those officers responsible for the opening actions at Gettysburg, from both the north and south armies, were all Camp Floyd alumni.

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LIVING HISTORY U TA H M U S E U M S W I T H M I L I TA RY A N D AV I AT I O N F O C U S CAMP FLOYD AND STAGECOACH INN STATE PARK 18035 W. 1540 North, Fairfield UT 84013, 801-768-8932, stateparks.utah.gov/parks/camp-floyd In 1858, U.S. Army, Mormon pioneers, stagecoach travelers and the Pony Express crossed paths at Camp Floyd.

Three years later the camp disbanded at the start of the Civil War. Today, the park shares the history of the Utah War and re-enacts activities from the past.

FT. DOUGLAS MILITARY MUSEUM 32 Potter Street, Salt Lake City UT 84113 801-581-1251, fortdouglas.org Located on the University of Utah campus, a small section of the original fort survives and is dedicated with collecting, preserving and interpreting the rich military heritage of Utah.

HILL AIR FORCE BASE MUSEUM Exit 338, I-15, Roy UT 84056, 801-777-6818, aerospaceutah.org Collection of more than 90 aircraft from around the world on display. Exhibits focus on specific eras in the history of flight. Also on display are a variety of munitions, equipment, auxiliary vehicles and other historical items.

TERRITORIAL STATEHOUSE PARK MUSEUM 50 W. Capitol Avenue, Fillmore UT 84631 435-743-5316, stateparks.utah.gov/parks/territorial-statehouse Explore Utah’s Territorial period when the state’s first “capital” was established in a central location before being re-located to Salt Lake City. Brigham Young named the capital for the 13th U.S. President Milliard Fillmore, in thanks for naming Young as the territorial governor.

Te r r i to r i a l St a te h o u s e Pa r k Mu s e u m . p h o t o c o u r t e s y o f u ta h s tat e pa r k s

TOPAZ MUSEUM AND INTERNMENT CAMP 55 W. Main, Delta UT 84624, 435-864-2514, topazmuseum.org Museum and camp site (10000 W. 4500 North) tells the stories of Japanese Americans interned during World War II. More than 8,000 internees were held for three and half years in the Utah desert.

HISTORIC WENDOVER AIRFIELD 345 S. Airport Apron, Wendover UT 84083, 801-665-2308, wendoverairbase.com/museum Preserving World War II Army Air Force history by stimulating a living connection between the visitor and the past through hands-on exhibits and active preservation endeavors.

Tr y t h e s e m u s e u m s to d i s cove r y o u r co m m u n i t y ’s h i s to r i c a n d m i l i ta r y co n n e c t i o n s t h ro u g h t h e p e o p l e , ex h i b i t s a n d a r t i f a c t s a t l o ca l m u s e u m s : CRANDALL HISTORICAL PRINTING MUSEUM 275 E. Center Street, Provo UT 84606, 801-377-7777, crandallprintingmuseum.com COMMEMORATIVE AIR FORCE MUSEUM 1980 Airport Road, Heber City UT 84032, cafutahwing.org HERITAGE MUSEUM OF LAYTON 403 N. Wastach Drive, Layton UT 84041, 801-336-3930, laytoncity.org/public/museum MURRAY CITY MUSEUM 5025 S. State, Ste 100, Murray UT 84107, 801-264-2589, murrary.utah.gov OREM HERITAGE MUSEUM 745 S. State, Orem UT 84058, 801-225-2787, scera.org/orem-heritage-museum UINTAH COUNTY HERITAGE MUSEUM 155 E. Main Street, Vernal, UT 84078, 435-789-7399, unitahmuseum.org WESTERN SKY AVIATION WARBIRD MUSEUM 4016 S. Airport Parkway, St. George UT 84790, 435-669-0655, westernskywarbirds.org —courtesy of Utah Division of Arts & Museums, heritage.utah.gov/utah-division-of-arts-museums

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