Days before Veterans Day, a group of Wiscasset Middle High School students spent the morning interviewing 10 area veterans.

Kim Andersson, alternative education teacher, said the 90-minute autobiographical interviews were part of a “service learning” curriculum encouraging students to meet and engage with community members.

The Nov. 9 session was held at Wiscasset Community Center. Eight students took part, along with 10 veterans having served in all branches of the military.

“Almost everything we do at the high school is technology-based, but as you can see, this morning the students are using pen and paper to do the interviews,” Andersson told the WIscasset Newspaper.

Andersson said the interviews would later be compiled into brief bios and built into a website at the high school.

“My students were pretty nervous about doing the interviews before they started,” she added.

Students were paired up with veterans and asked each veteran the same list of questions. The vets shared information about their upbringing, along with their thoughts and experiences during their service to their country. They were also asked what life has been like for them since their military service ended.

Among the vets interviewed was Cliff Hendricks of Wiscasset, a former Naval chief petty officer who now serves as chairman of the Wiscasset Budget Committee.

Another was Bryan Buck of Wiscsset, a U.S. Coast Guard veteran who served in the Vietnam conflict in 1970-71 and was decorated for valor and combat action. Buck told his interviewer, Jesse Dion, he entered the service at age 17 and served aboard the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Cook Inlet. Buck’s deployment included training Vietnamese sailors, assisting with medical evacuations and providing U.S. Naval support.

Farrah Casey interviewed two well-known members of the American Legion, Steve Jarrett, commander of American Legion Area 3 (Lincoln, Sagadahoc and Knox counties) and Bradford-Sortwell-Wright Post 54 of Wiscasset Commander William Cossette Jr.

Jarrett was a longtime member of the Wiscasset Planning Board and Cossette, a member of the Wiscasset Fire Department.

Neil Page, a Navy veteran, shared his experiences of the first Persian Gulf War with student Jordan Grady. Page served aboard the USS Kauffman FFG-59, an Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided missile frigate built at Bath Iron Works. He is a past-member of the town’s budget committee.

David Chase told his interviewer, Nick Morgan, that his Army enlistment took him to Giessen, in Hesse, Germany. Chase said he met and married his wife Connie there. Chase works as part of the Wiscasset School Department’s facilities staff.  

Emily Pekish, who served as a Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class, shared her story, as well. Pekish is an educational technician III with the school department.  

Andersson said other students participating in the project were Glade Bloom, Aiden Aberegg, Scott Hanna and Mackenzie Allen.

Other veterans taking part were Ken Lambert, Danny Lackie and Ed Tyler.

Assisting Andersson Nov. 9 was WMHS staff member Joe Hovance, who thanked the vets for taking the time to share their stories with the students.