older veterans are plentiful. And so Raabe decided to start with the oldest veterans first, capturing their memories in their own words before they are lost to time. Chapman learned interviewing skills from Raabe. He learned how to ask questions, how to be a good listener and how to make someone comfortable on camera. While the students and Scouts stick to a script of sorts from the Library of Congress, they are also encouraged to let veterans talk well beyond those main points. Chapman also learned how to use audio and video equipment. Raabe bought the equipment with his own money and had to learn that part as well. Together, they’ve mastered lighting and audio levels for quality recordings. “I graduate in 2017 and plan on majoring in software engineering, so I really enjoyed a lot of the technical aspects of it,” Chapman said. He’s also enjoyed hearing first-hand accounts from veterans he might never meet otherwise. One of the 15 interviews he conducted was with a prisoner of war. He finished his involvement with the project late last year and earned his Eagle Scout rank in December. Champan also interviewed Kisner, who served for 11 years. While Kisner said he returned from war whole, he knows soldiers who did not. That’s why he thinks it’s so important to show today’s generations what war can be like for the less fortunate. ESTATES LOCAL • JULY/AUGUST 2017 9 through audio and video. Boy Scouts and high school volunteers throughout Collier County are taking part in the project, which aims to then share those accounts of war and service online with anyone interested in glimpsing a piece of the past. A Palmetto Ridge High senior, Garrett Chapman earned his Eagle Scout rank by interviewing the veterans and preserving the past for them as part of Raabe’s project. “I like to branch out, I like to learn new things,” the 18-year-old said. “This was something completely new and completely different.” While the Veterans History Project started nationally in 2000, it only began locally about a year ago. Interviews with veterans are conducted in each state by volunteers who send audio and video files to the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. where they are stored online and accessible to all. The effort began here in Collier County thanks to Dr. Austin Raabe, a retired chemistry professor who taught at Florida Gulf Coast University. “I had just stopped teaching at FGCU, so I needed to find something to do with my life and I don’t play golf,” he said with a laugh. He had the idea of starting his own website with recorded interviews but stumbled upon the Veterans History Project, which was already in full swing. Raabe is not a veteran, but his father served in World War II and he has always felt a deep admiration for veterans. “These veterans have such amazing stories and they’re just disappearing when the veteran passes away,” he said. “People should be reminded on a routine basis of the sacrifices veterans made for them.”And in a place like Naples where retirees flock from all parts of the country, Left: Eagle Scout Garrett Chapman meets with vet Jerry Van Hecke, USMC. Chapman participated in the project, interviewing Collier County veterans. Curtis and Allison Chapman, Garrett’s parents, are pictured at left. Photo Courtesy of Patti Monahan. Right: Students interview Captain Robert Kearns as part of the Veterans History Project. Photos Courtesy of Austin Raabe
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