Military & Veterans News

Cover Story: Modern Technology Weds Old'Time Storytelling at the Digital Clubhouse And Captures the Memories of Veterans

Digital Clubhouse Network

In 1996, a focus group sponsored by NASA came up with what was then a novel idea. Charged with thinking about how to narrow the "digital divide" between those with access to information technology and those for whom the advances in computer science were more science fiction than reality, the group hit upon the concept of a clubhouse: a place where the "haves" and the "have-nots," old and young and in between could come together to build community through "digital storytelling."

Their nugget of an idea, to meld state-of-the-art technology with the age-old techniques of storytelling about courage, about change, about civic engagement, was not something NASA - the National Aeronautics and Space Administration - chose to develop; its job, after all, is to put rockets into space. This was, however, a concept that Warren Hegg, who had been hired to run the focus group, thought had too much potential to wither on the vine without a chance to blossom.

Hegg, a San Francisco Bay area-based strategy consultant, was looking to change gears in what had been a successful career and, at the same time, "give something back." The idea of a digital storytelling project, in which "little hands would help big hands," intrigued him. Given a modest grant and a pat on the back by NASA, he set up the first clubhouse in a mall in Sunnyvale, California, in a space donated by American Mall Properties, one of the largest mall developers in the nation.

He then set out to translate concept into reality.

His initial thrust was to involve young people from disadvantaged communities as well as kids with disabilities and train them to use donated equipment - computers, recorders, scanners - to capture the memories of "folks of all ages, religions, races, and creeds; survivors of cancer and other illnesses; immigrants; seniors."

They would produce digital stories, 3-5 minute "mini-movies" usually focusing on a single important event in a person’s life and on the lessons and values of that experience. These stories would combine the storyteller’s own voice with images, music, and sound effects to grab the attention of an audience and help bring the person’s experience to life.

For many seniors, that event was the Second World War.

Memories of War

In 1998, the clubhouse launched its World War II Memories Project, which sought to capture stories, mostly of veterans, of their service in "The Good War."

"This initiative began before ’Saving Private Ryan’ came out and before Tom Brokaw’s book, The Greatest Generation, was published," said Ryan Hegg, Warren’s older son, who was drawn into the project. Ryan, a Yale graduate, had long been fascinated by military history. "I was 13 when I read To Hell and Back, Audie Murphy’s story. I picked it up because it had a cool cover. Once I started reading it, though, I couldn’t put it down." Then he read Erich Maria Remarque’s seminal novel of World War I, All Quiet on the Western Front. He was hooked, his interest focused less on strategy and history than on the uniquely personal stories of men and women in uniform. And his skill sets - a degree in history, a background in film studies, and a technological proficiency in the evolving world of information technology - dovetailed with the needs of his father’s enterprise.

The idea of capturing stories of veterans appealed to Ryan for another reason. His mother’s father fought on Iwo Jima. He was one of fewer than 1,000 Japanese soldiers out of 23,000 to be captured by U.S. Marines in the fierce fighting on that blood-soaked island.

"My grandfather was captured pretty late in the battle," Ryan said. "He was treated humanely by his captors, which told me a lot about the nature of the average American kids who fought to the finish in the war." And the idea of getting stories from these ’American kids’ held a special allure for Ryan Hegg.

After the Library of Congress commenced its Veterans Oral History Project, "We became a partner of the Library," Ryan said. "While their goal is to collect information for the historical record through longer personal interviews, we try to focus our interviews on a key event or a key theme. We want to reveal character: Who was this person before he put on a uniform? And what became of him after he took the uniform off? What was his personal ’longest day’? What can we learn from her?"

Stay East, Young Man

A student helps to Capturethe Memories of Veterans
A student helps to Capture <br />the Memories of Veterans

With his dad running the Clubhouse in California, Ryan, who stayed on the East Coast after graduating from college, gravitated to the outpost of the clubhouse in New York City. He quickly found young people to fill the role of digital producers, and other young people eager to learn technological and interviewing techniques. Ryan explained the technique he and his team teach their young charges: they learn how to conduct a pre-interview to get to know a subject; they then zero in on the watershed event or overriding theme of her life. What both efforts have in common, perhaps, is this: What lessons do you think our country can learn from your service?

The New York operation, Ryan noted, now has some 50 students, who train in three blocks of three hours each over a 36-week period, gradually increasing their responsibilities for conducting and then editing the interviews, gradually taking ownership of the project.

In addition to creating digital stories that record the courage, commitment, and sacrifice of "ordinary" Americans who served their country in its time of greatest need, the Clubhouse in New York is working to develop projects about healing and rebuilding the city in the wake of 9/11, along with other initiatives that promote peace, understanding, and the value of service.

’It Don’t Come Easy’

Of course, nothing worthwhile ever comes easy. "We had one session in California at which a group of veterans were sitting around a table. One of them said, ’This just doesn’t seem like a thing I can do.’ And one of our kids shot back: ’If you don’t tell your story, who else is going to? Hollywood?’ That veteran changed his mind. ’Let’s get to work,’" he said.

"Some folks tell us they just aren’t ready right now to talk about their wartime experiences," Ryan said, even though those experiences may be 50 years in the past. "Some shut the door on us. Others, though, want to revisit their service and are only too eager to share their memories."

All of this is particularly gratifying to Ryan, and to his father. "Bringing together veterans and kids from various backgrounds, putting them together in a give-and-take milieu, they find that they have a lot in common, and as the interview progresses, they find the hidden connections. And bridge what was once called the ’generation gap.’

"We had one 13-year-old student who interviewed a woman who served as a WAC during World War II. After the interview, the student told me, ’That lady was cool.’ When we showed that former WAC a rough cut of the edited interview, which integrated pictures she had given us of her husband, she looked dreamily at his pictures and said, ’Wasn’t he handsome?’ You can’t place a value on moments like these."

Or on this: "We were working in the hospice at the VA Medical Center in Palo Alto," Warren said. "One of our kids, a young girl named Jennifer, went to visit ’her’ veteran with his finished story. They sat the laptop on his bed and, surrounded by his family, showed the mini-movie based on his wartime experiences.

"When it was over, the veteran - he had landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day - thanked Jennifer and asked her, ’Now, is this something you had to do for school?’ ’No,’ she said. ’Well, do you get paid to do these movies?’ Again, no. ’Why do you do this, then?’

’Because,’ the girl replied, it’s important.’

"That veteran looked at her and whispered, ’Well, young lady, I guess you’re what we were fighting for.’

"He died four days later."

Before It’s Too Late

That Ryan’s younger brother, Dan, a Harvard grad who is now an Army Ranger, a lieutenant who has seen service in both Afghanistan and Iraq, adds a special poignancy to the work in which Ryan is engaged. And while he expects to interview his brother, and other young veterans of America’s most recent conflicts, there is a special urgency to preserve the memories of those who came before.

"The World War II vets are dying at an alarming rate. We’re losing some 1,600 every day. And when they go, their memories die with them." In California - the Digital Clubhouse is now based in Palo Alto - volunteers are working with veterans in the hospice at the VAMC, capturing their stories before they pass on. In New York, volunteers are working at the VAMC in Brooklyn.

"This summer," Ryan said, "we’re launching the project at eight additional sites in the VA system," the first phase of a nationwide rollout. "We want to train people in communities across the country to gather the memories of their own veterans. While we’re capturing the stories of all veterans," he added, "we want to get as many stories from World War II as possible and present them to the nation as part of the dedication of the World War II Memorial in Washington next year on Memorial Day."

Like any not-for-profit operation, the Digital Clubhouse is always in need of funding. Warren Hegg sought, and received, grants and/or in-kind contributions from a variety of corporations (Apple, AT+T, Pacific Bell, Time Warner Cable, Adobe systems), foundations (Mitsubishi Electric American Foundation), VSO’s (AMVETS, the Purple Heart Association, VVA Chapter 126 in New York City), friends and acquaintances (the Rudin Family has been "very generous," Ryan said). All have seen the value of the Clubhouse and of the stories its volunteers capture for posterity.

"These stories," as the Clubhouse Web site notes, "can educate, sustain, and inspire the rest of us in our own lives, and help build understanding, tolerance, and compassion amongst people of all ages and backgrounds."

Amen.

Blog Tags:

Cover Story

From Our Member Community

Lt. Amanda Lee of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels

Military & Veterans News

Cover Story: Women's History Month Wrapup

To honor Women’s History Month, we want to recognize the significant contributions women have made to the military over the last two centuries. Though women found ways to serve in both the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, it wasn’t until June 1948 that President Harry S. Truman signed the Women's Armed Service Integration Act, allowing women to receive regular permanent status in the armed forces. Today, women make up about 17% of the military and 9.4% of the veteran population.

Join Our Community.
 

Yes, Get Me Started

Do you and your family vacation without travel insurance?

Sign up for WeSalute+ today and you’ll be eligible for TravelProtection™.

Get WeSalute+

Did you know that your immediate family members are eligible for WeSalute+ savings?

With WeSalute+, you can add family members to your primary plan at 50% OFF every year.

Get WeSalute+