PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — When was the last time you saw veterans and eighth-graders talking about a book and their experiences? Not very often do you see this happen in the world of today. This is exactly what happened on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014. The discussion took place over a book called “Soldier’s Heart” at Presque Isle Middle School at 6 p.m.
The book talk was part of a yearlong project called Local and Legendary: Maine in the Civil War. The project is a partnership between Northern Maine Community College, Presque Isle Middle School, the Turner Memorial Library and the Presque Isle Historical Society. The project is made possible by a grant from the Maine Historical Society and Maine Humanities Council, with the support of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
“Soldier’s Heart” is about Charlie Goddard who enters the war as a 15 year old. He lied about his age so he could enlist in the military. He saw a lot during his time in the war. The title of the book comes from what people of the Civil War era called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Charlie (the main character in the book) had PTSD from all the stresses that he experienced in the Civil War. At the end of the book, Charlie states, “I was old from too much life, I still haven’t started daily shaving, but I was tired and broken.” Charlie is saying that he is too old from seeing too much in the war.
There were 29 people in attendance for the book talk. Seven of them were veterans and they all work in the SAD 1 school district. The discussion was supposed to last an hour, but from all the stories and questions people had for the veterans, it went 35 minutes over the scheduled time! This was the second of four book talks that Presque Isle has hosted.
We interviewed Mr. Sandy Curran from Presque Isle Middle School who is a veteran and attended the book talk. “It was very interesting because I liked hearing stories from the other veterans and comparing them to my own stories,” said Curran. We also interviewed Mel Junkins from Presque Isle Middle School and she said, “It was very good because all the kids and community were getting involved.” As a veteran, Mel Junkins thought that the book was more interesting to read because she knows how stressful it can be.
Everyone was sitting in a big circle listening to what all the veterans had to say. Even the kids were interested. Sometimes kids will just go to a school event and just go to get the extra credit or go because their parents make them. But, this group of kids was interested in the talk, and didn’t want to leave.
