Highlighting history

The history of veterans is being preserved and highlighted through the Veterans History Project of the Library of Congress. [ Shawn Miller/Library of Congress]

Home » Community

Posted October 25, 2023 | By Andy Fillmore, andy@ocalagazette.com

Sam Coventry is learning what it means to be a veteran in a way no book could ever tell. Sam, 17, a student at the College of Central Florida, is part of a local effort to record veteran’s stories for the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. The Veterans History Project (VHP) compiles video or written narratives with photographs, drawings and scrapbooks.

“This is a good opportunity to learn history,” Sam said.

The current local effort, which started in May, is an initiative of the Ocala Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), along with their associate organization, the Ocali Society/Children of the American Revolution (C.A.R.). Renee Coventry, Sam’s mother, regent of the Ocala DAR chapter, said 30 videos have been completed and that the combined groups plan to process “250 (videos) by 2026, America’s 250th anniversary.”

Prior local efforts for the project also have been conducted.

The VHP “collects, preserves, and makes available the personal stories of American war veterans and civilian workers who supported them” for researchers so “future generations may hear directly from veterans,” according to the Library of Congress website. “The VHP, which is a special project of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, is the largest oral history project in U.S. history. Since it was founded in 2000, it has collected over 65,000 items from thousands of veterans. Approximately 150 additional items are added every week.”

The website outlines the criteria for participation: “VHP is a grassroots effort and reliant on voluntary participation of people around the country interviewing the veterans in their lives and communities. All collections must follow the 30-20-10 rule, which means a collection must include at least one of the following: a 30 minute or longer interview, and/or 20 pages of written manuscript and/or 10 original photographs or letters.”

Veterans from all branches and ranks who served at any point since World War I are eligible to participate in the Veterans History Project.

Sam, president of the C.A.R. group, is pursuing studies toward a career in the medical field. He has conducted about 25 of the local half-hour video interviews to date, including mostly Vietnam War-era veterans and at least one Korean War vet. Additional interviewers locally include teenagers Hannah and Morgan Jablonski and Sam’s brother Ezekiel Coventry.

Sam said learning about veterans and American armed conflicts from books is distant and “mythological” but the in-person sessions with veterans make the service, sacrifice and brotherhood “real” and “inspires (people) to join.”

Renee Coventry said the veteran interviews are a “lesson for young people.” She said some veterans express concern about youth having respect for veterans and the American flag and that some veterans feel the country should institute mandatory service.

“Not one (interviewee) regretted their service,” she said.

She said a number of Vietnam War veterans “do not talk” about their experience because “they were treated so badly” when they came home.

Area veterans interviewed to date include Steve Gallant, an Ocala native, Vietnam War veteran, military policeman and volunteer at the Ocala-Marion County Veterans Memorial Park; Steve Petty, a veteran who served on helicopters; retired Army Col. Gorham Black; and Vietnam War veteran Tom Equels.

Black served from 1963 to 1990, including two tours in the Vietnam War. The first tour was as an advisor to a Vietnamese infantry battalion. During the second tour, he served as a senior advisor to a Vietnamese district chief, he stated in a text. Black said his father was at first thought to be killed in action but was actually a prisoner of war during the Korean War. In his video, Black detailed growing up on military bases and his life in military service. He feels youth should be instructed in flag etiquette.

Equels is a decorated combat veteran of the Vietnam War. He was profiled in the June 2020 issue of the “Gazette’s” sister publication, “Ocala Style” magazine (ocalastyle.com/sense-of-destiny). The article noted that Equels, a native of Beaver, Pennsylvania, joined the Army at age 17. He flew on Cobra helicopter missions and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for a lifesaving mission and the Purple Heart for shrapnel wounds. Equels, president and CEO of the AIM/Immuno Tech medical research group, also operates Equels Racing and Training Center in Marion County and raises award winning Paso Fino horses.

Renee Coventry said she wants to encourage other local veterans to participate in the Veterans History Project and urges them to call to make an appointment for an interview.

“We want to get the word out,” she said.

To participate in the local Veterans History Project, call (352) 547-5756.

Learn more about the local DAR chapter by visiting fssdar.com/Ocala

For information about the Library of Congress and the project, including some local collections previously posted, visit loc.gov/programs/veterans-history-project/about-this-program