STRATFORD — It was a match made in heaven.
Nick Ruck and Aaron Koperwhats, two U.S. history teachers at Stratford High School, were looking for a special project for their sophomore students. Meanwhile, Diane Puterski, director of the Baldwin Center, was searching for a way to preserve the stories and experiences of some of the World War II veterans who frequent the senior center. Putting the two together resulted in "Keeping History Alive: An Interactive Oral History of World War II."
Puterski invited Ruck and Koperwhats to bring their students to the center for lunch.
"Sixty kids walked to the Baldwin Center," Ruck said. "Diane said it was like a church, it was so quiet at first."
But within minutes, the conversations grew animated and the room got louder.
"When we got back to the school, there was this possessiveness," Ruck said. "The kids were saying things like, I just love my veteran.' "
After the initial meeting, students researched where the veterans fought during the war, and developed a list of questions. Then, two veterans were interviewed each day on video and audio tape.
"We interviewed them about what positions they held and what it was like for them in the Depression," said Scott Kerrigan, 16. Many veterans brought along memorabilia, such as guns, medals and photographs.
"The kids were quite amazed how things were before the war," said Nick Angelicola, who served in the Army's 32nd Infantry Division. "They couldn't believe we didn't have refrigerators, televisions, lights in the house, or that we rationed gas, meat, sugar and silk."
Norma Schrader enlisted in 1946 and was part of the Women's Army Corps in China.
"From the very day of Pearl Harbor, I told my father I was going to join," she said. "I was only 16, so I had to wait until I turned 18." Wearing a T-shirt that read, "Women are Veterans and I'm One!" Schrader said the students were excited about the project and asked good questions.
At a Monday reception to honor the veterans and thank them for their participation, the students presented each of them — in addition to Angelicola and Schrader, there were Harold Capasso, Louis Catalano, Francis McNamara, James Fraser, Lawrence Napolitano, and Oliver Aurelia — with a tape of the recording and a copy of Tom Brokaw's book, "The Greatest Generation."
Olga Adaes, 16, said the project is important because it helps preserve the history of Stratford and its people. "I was surprised to hear about the horrible things you don't read about in books," she said. "You don't learn that in a history class."
Felicia Taylor, 18, also participated in the project. "I loved it," she said. "I learned things that nobody would really know."
