Showing posts with label tennessee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tennessee. Show all posts

Saturday, April 17, 2010

MOHMMH

For a few months now, I have been volunteering at the National Medal of Honor Museum of Military History (whew!). Once a week, I help out at the museum archives. For the last few weeks, I've been working on the task of culling excess material out of the museum's files. They keep a file for each Medal of Honor winner (or most of them...there are around 3500) with general information like photos, medal citations (the certificate or declaration from Congress stating the reason for the award), articles, correspondence, etc... Basically anything that's not an actual artifact that is stored elsewhere in the archives. Now, I have no idea who the person was that created these files, but I'm not sure what they were thinking. Apparently that there would be lots of demand for information on these people, because in each file there are multiple copies of EVERYTHING. 6-10 copies of photos, citations, multiple original clippings of articles, blah blah blah. Basically, just buckets of unnecessary stuff. So anyways, I'm combing through,pulling out the extras, getting rid of anything that doesn't belong there, and making sure everything's in the right order (because apparently that person didn't know the alphabet either).

Anyways, the point of this is to tell you just how interesting this has been for me. I am NOT in any way a military history buff. Or any kind of history buff. It's interesting, sure, but I'd rather read fiction than non, and I've seen more battlefields than I'll ever remember. I leave that to the men in my family. They're all in the Army (some on purpose, some by accident of fate), they're all ridiculously bright, and they all love history. Even my mom, with her graveyard and family history obsession, falls right in with them. So when I first started working at the archives, I felt a bit out of place. I'm just there to get some exposure to the field, everyone else that volunteers there is a veteran, over 50, and has lived through, not to mention studied, far more history than I. It's actually kind of fun because when there are more than 3 of them in a room they all reminisce about the crazy things they did as children (filling discarded hypodermics with gasoline and lighting it for an impromptu flame-thrower) and talk about how surprised they are they made it to adulthood. It's absolutely delightful.

So my lack of knowledge in this area is the reason I'm so excited to be going through each of these files. With each one, I get to see the faces of war heroes from eras past, read their spectacular stories, and learn a little bit more about that side of American history with each one. My favorite part are the items that personalize the stories: photos, letters, even just a signature.

It's also, honestly, quite heartbreaking. Many of the medals were awarded posthumously. In some of these cases, instead of a photo of the soldier in the file, there is a photo of his loved ones at the presentation ceremony. In these photos, the president awarding the medal is invariably ecstatic, clearly impressed by the example of these men, and appreciative of the opportunity to honor them in this small way (It's really cute actually, most of the ones from WWII, which also actually make up most of the medal winners, are president Truman, and he is just beaming. In the ones awarded while the soldier was alive, they usually show him hugging the soldier or holding him about an arm's length away while he talks to the soldier. I'll paste a pic below). In the posthumous awards though, the faces of the families, tell a different story. I have not seen one that is smiling. While I am sure they are grateful for the example of their lost son or husband or brother or father, their grief and pain at his loss is strongest for them, and it is so clear on their faces. These photos hurt the most. They show that, no matter how high the honor, there is nothing that can repay their sacrifice.

So every day that I go in there, my fingers get a little dirtier with newsprint. My knowledge bank grows a little bit more. My heart hurts a little bit more. But most of all, I gain more respect and understanding for the kind of man who would knowingly sacrifice himself to save his friends. That's what keeps me going back.





(the soldier in this photo is Desmond Doss, and I'm going to tell you his story because it's amazing. He's actually from my area! Anyways, he was the only conscientious objector to win the medal in WWII. He was Adventist and refused to carry a weapon or fight or work on his sabbath (Saturday). So he got a position as a medic with a unit stationed near Okinawa. One day, his unit got in a bit of trouble, and he was the only medic left. He agreed to come help as soon as he finished his scripture study (bless!), and arrived to find his unit on a high cliff with no escape but down the cliff. He waited, under fire, and used a rope to lower 75 (75!) other people to safety. Only when all were safe did he leave his post and seek safety himself. There are also a couple of other incidents where he rushed in to treat mortally wounded soldiers in incredibly dangerous situations, and continuing treatment even after he himself was wounded.)

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Tennessee it is!

So I just filled out my acceptance form for UT-K. And I'm getting excited. I have a feeling the program is going to be different than my ideas and expectations, but I'm open to change. Also, I originally wanted to do a more library-focused program, but the more I think about it, the more a digital library/database focused program seems completely practical. More opportunities in the real world, and I may have the opportunity to intern at Oak Ridge national lab (think Manhattan project and enriching Uranium). I'm not sure though; I may end up doing something that combines the two and gives me maximum choices. But I'm really getting excited. Mostly to be done and on the other side, but also to be in school again. Not that it's been that long since I got out...but yeah. And the campus is beautiful! In downtown Knoxville on the banks of the Tennessee river, lots of deep red brick classical gothic style buildings, a nice effort of matching new construction to the old (not like BYU...however much I love it, none of the buildings really...well, go). and I'll be attending a school that has 1) an awesome football team (which will be a big change...sorry cougars, you haven't really cut it since the mid-80s.), and 2) a spring break! Me...on spring-break? Crazy, right?

My biggest concern right now is whether they will classify me as a resident for tuition purposes. Because right now they haven't. Which could be expensive. I'm sending in my appeal tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

American Idol

I know this is ridiculous, because there's no way on earth that this would ever be an issue; nevertheless, I will say it. Everytime I watch American Idol, I'm so glad that I'm not a contestant for the simple reason that I could NEVER (EVER) keep a straight face while listening to Paula Abdul comment on my performance. I am so grateful. She is a nutcase and a half.



On a side note, I've been admitted to three grad schools now- Pratt, Catholic, and Tennessee. I'll probably end up going to TN even though I haven't heard back from two schools yet because I wont hear back until January and the more I think about it, the more I fancy the idea of going to TN, paying cheap tuition, living at home for free (however loserly and lonesome it might be, it's cheap), attending a school that's ranked higher than both Pratt and Catholic, and starting now instead of deferring for a year to earn money and finishing more quickly. There are so many things about it that recommend that plan to me over any other. I'm still not 100% percent sure that's what I want to do (the lure of Maryland is pretty strong, but it's still an unkown. An expensive one.) but I'll pray about it and let y'all know. That's right. I said it. Y'all. What can I say, I'm in Tennessee right now and it's getting to me.