Timberlane High School students and staff conducted oral histories of New Hampshire citizens who were involved in the Vietnam War to create this 54-minute long documentary. "All Gave Some: An Oral History of the Vietnam War."
Please join us as we show the film, followed by a Q&A period with two of the Vietnam Veterans featured in the film as well as producer Mitchell Menis and director/editor Scott Strainge.
*This documentary was shown on NH's PBS on Thursday, September 14, 2017, as a local companion to Ken Burns's new Vietnam series.*
Registration is required due to limited seating.
The history of the documentary:
In the fall of 2016, nine libraries and the Timberlane Regional School District kicked off a special project, Community Stories: Soldiers Home & Away funded in part by New Hampshire Humanities. Inspired by Vietnam veteran Tim O’Brien’s novel The Things They Carried, a fictionalized account of his experiences, memories and meditations on war, the project compacted into nine weeks community programs, exhibits, lectures, book discussions and film screenings that focused on veterans and the experiences of war.
The Things They Carried, is a novel Timberlane Regional School students read and discuss as part of the school curriculum, and so it was fitting when Timberlane Regional High School wanted to go one step further and bring the Vietnam era as portrayed in O’Brien’s novel to life through filmmaking.
Scott Strainge, Administrator of American Studies and Humanities at the Timberlane Regional High School headed up a team of students and staff at the school to document the oral history of the Vietnam War. During the 9 weeks of programming for Community Stories: Soldiers Home & Away invitations were posted throughout the community for those who wanted to tell their story. As a result, Individuals who experienced firsthand the war or who felt a strong connection to the Vietnam era, volunteered to give their time and most importantly share their personal experiences through pictures, artifacts and oral history.
Filming at the Kimball Library, in Atkinson, NH, individuals often accompanied by family sat down along with Scott and his team and stepped back in time to give a glimpse into a critical moment in history. These oral histories would ultimately shed light and build connections and perhaps facilitate wartime conversations. What started in the fall continued throughout the winter months as Timberlane students and staff worked collaborating and creating the storyboards that would connect the oral histories. Endless hours were spent in video and sound editing, adding photographs, etc. before the final touches were completed last spring.