Nieman School10917 W. 67th St.Shawnee Mission, KS 66203913-993-4059

Never in the field of human conflict
was so much owed to so few by so many".

                                           ~Prime Minister Winston Churchill

The World War II Oral Histories Project took root during an intensive study of World War Two by 5th and 6th grade students. The more we learned about World War II the more we wondered what it would have been like to have been alive during that time.  

Our teachers, Mrs. Bosch and Mrs. Wimmer,  were able to locate more than sixty veterans who live in our county and several surrounding counties and 53 of them were able to participate in the project. We brainstormed to come up with possible interview questions and decided on a list that we sent to the veterans before the interviews.  During a two-week period in January the veterans streamed into our Center, some wearing their uniforms and some accompanied by their wives.  Each student was given the opportunity to spend up to two hours with their veteran(s) and hear stories about their experiences relating to World War II.  So that the student could concentrate on what the veteran said, an adult secretary was present to take notes and tape the stories.  Volunteers then wrote and edited them for publication.  Our paraprofessional Mrs. Simpson used our classroom's digital camera to fill 60 diskettes with digital images of the veterans and their memorabilia that they brought to share with us.

The objective of our study was to learn about this period of history and then bring what we learned into an interview with someone who lived through it.  So that the veterans' stories could be preserved and recorded in a respectful manner, we needed the help of adult secretaries and writers.

We weren't finshed there!  Each student wrote a reflection essay and answered the question "How has my world view changed since my study of WWII?"   We also chose a WWII-related topic and constructed an "Information Search".  Hopefully students from around the country will learn more about WWII from using our searches!

On April 29, 2001 we had a reception to honor these veterans.  There the students read some of the veterans' stories and shared their reflection essays. In addition, the veterans and students were presented with a book of all of the oral histories, and this website was unveiled.  What a joyous day!!  You can see photos of the reception here.

The Guardians of Freedom stories have been published in a book.  If you would like a copy let us know.  There is a $5.00 charge to cover shipping, handling and printing.

  Thanks to Doc's Patriotic Graphics
for use of his great graphics! 

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