Aggie Veterans Share Their Stories As Part Of A Military Voices Initiative

It all started when StoryCorps, a nonprofit group focused on preserving the stories of people of all backgrounds and beliefs, were invited to come to Texas A&M University as part of a project called the Military Voices Initiative, focused on recording the stories of primarily post-9/11 veterans.

StoryCorps’ Military Voices Initiative has recorded interviews with nearly 1,500 participants and officials with the project say it amplifies their important stories and lets the veterans know that the nation is listening. Once recorded, some of the interviews will be edited for national broadcast and aired on NPR’s Weekend Edition, beginning Nov. 10, and they will be provided to the Library of Congress for its historical records.

“The Military Voices Initiative will not only provide military families with a national platform to share their stories of service in their own voices, but will also enable civilians to understand more clearly the complex challenges of their bravery and sacrifice,” says Dave Isay, founder and president of StoryCorps. “As veterans return to civilian life from Afghanistan and Iraq, we believe that the simple act of listening tells them how much they matter, and by preserving that conversation for posterity, we assure them that they won’t be forgotten.”

That’s why StoryCorps has been working with the Veteran Resource and Support Center (VRSC) at Texas A&M to record Aggie veterans talking about their experiences. The vets sit down with other veterans or with their spouses and children and simply tell their stories.

Eventually the initiative evolved into the Telling Project, a joint effort between VRSC, The Association of Former Students and Texas A&M’s Academy for the Visual and Performing Arts. The project will take student veteran’s stories and turn them into a play, Telling Aggieland. Michael Greenwald in the Department of Performance Studies, who will direct the play, said in his 29 years of directing at Texas A&M, he has not taken on such an ambitious project.

“This will be the last play I direct at Texas A&M as I head into retirement, and I cannot imagine a better way to end my career,” he adds. Telling Aggieland will be performed on stage April 28-May 1, 2014.

“We started in February and March as a result of the partnership with StoryCorps, and the slots filled quickly with veterans willing to tell their stories,” says retired U.S. Marine Col. Jerry Smith, director of the Veteran Resource and Support Center. “This gives family members and the storytellers and opportunity to leave a legacy in their own words.”

Smith says some of the veterans weren’t sure what this was all about but came anyway to tell about their experiences.

“A lot of them haven’t told their story to anybody since they left the military, even to spouses and family members,” Smith adds. “I wouldn’t call it therapy, but it’s good to talk it out in some cases. Also, we’re at a point now where less than one percent of America has served in these conflicts. It’s not an all-time historic low, but with fewer and fewer Americans serving in the military it’s important to get these stories out and chronicle them.”

In one of the recordings, one veteran’s daughter asks her dad, “How did you feel about having to leave us and go off to fight?” The answer to that question is important and should be remembered.

Aggie Rejy Bacchus, a senior tourism management major who served in the Marine Corps, brought along his friend Karen Cambronero.

“It went really well,” Bacchus notes. “I was a little apprehensive of it at first, but when I got in there it was just me talking to a friend. It felt really good to do it.”

Damian and Dion Brugger, brothers who both served in the Marine Corps in various military campaigns from Bosnia to Iraq, came together to record their stories. “We interviewed each other,” Dion recalls. “My brother flew in from New Orleans, La., and we drove down from Arlington, Texas, where I live.”

Dion says the Military Voices Initiative is important, in no small part, because of his own family history. “Our father, Dwight L. Brugger, served in the Navy during the Vietnam era. Our uncle, Gary Brugger, also served in Marine Corps during Vietnam. Our grandfather, Benjamin G. Lang, served in WWII in the Army as an artilleryman and our great-grandfather, Johnny H. Brugger, served in the Marine Corps during WWI.”

“At Texas A&M, we’re trying to be a leader in the state and nation in terms of veteran support, and this is another opportunity to get the stories of Aggies out there and chronicled in the Library of Congress,” Smith says.

Smith, who told his own story, says it was important for him to “connect my humanity with those who went through this. They are able to connect with other Aggie veterans and with their families.”

Another important connection, Smith adds, is with the last living Aggie Medal of Honor recipient, Clarence Sasser, who will be honored Nov. 7 when a plaque with his name will be added to the other seven Aggies whose courage earned them this honor.

“Texas A&M has a large community like that,” said StoryCorps senior facilitator John White. “We want to make sure that the archive we create is representative of all Americans. It’s great to come to a community like this because it has such great diversity and such a large population of service members here.”

Texas A&M’s Veteran Resource & Support Center is exploring options of its own to catalog the experiences of Aggie veterans which will be rolled out in the coming months.

More information about StoryCorps and the veteran’s center at Texas A&M is available online.