DCMA, Central Connecticut State University give voice to veterans

Courtesy Photo | Douglas W. Humerick, a Defense Contract Management Agency Aircraft Propulsion Operations employee and Air Force veteran, holds his “Travel Bear” that journeyed with him during his time in uniform. Humerick was interviewed Aug. 23 at the DCMA APO office in East Hartford, Conn., as part of Central Connecticut State University’s Veterans History Project. (Photo by Briana McGuckin, Central Connecticut State University)  

HARTFORD, CT, UNITED STATES

12.12.2011

Courtesy Story

Defense Contract Management Agency

Story by: Briana McGuckin
Central Connecticut State University

HARTFORD, Conn. - Veterans now working as civilians at the Defense Contract Management Agency in central Connecticut recently lent their voices to a nationwide history project.

Staff at Central Connecticut State University’s Veterans History Project office recognized this summer that DCMA Aircraft Propulsion Operations in nearby East Hartford had a high concentration of veterans. Project staff partnered with DCMA APO leadership to perform onsite interviews to capture DCMA veteran stories, adding to what CCSU professor of history Matthew Warshauer calls a “digital monument” created through similar projects around the country.

"The Veterans History Project at CCSU is thrilled with the discovery of such a concentration of military veterans at DCMA,” said Eileen Hurst, director of the project. “It is our honor to interview and archive the oral histories of these American heroes."

Both DCMA APO’s commander, Navy Capt. Elisa Raney, and deputy, Pete Leahy, were among the veterans interviewed. “It was an honor to be part of a project dedicated to capturing the stories of America's veterans and being allowed to reminisce on what it meant to serve,” said Leahy.

Over the past six years, the university has collected almost 400 interviews with veterans from World War II to Afghanistan. Seven of these interviews were with DCMA employees, collected through recorded interviews made during three visits to the DCMA APO office. Additional DCMA interviews are being planned.

“My admiration and appreciation for the veterans has grown, and their continued work here at the DCMA APO gives me a heightened sense of patriotism,” said Christina Porcelli, a DCMA management analyst at the CMO who is familiar with the program.

The CCSU program is a founding partner of the Library of Congress’s Veterans History Project, established by Congress in 2000 to collect oral histories of veterans and others who significantly supported war efforts. Histories and memorabilia are digitized and archived, and a wealth of information is publicly accessible online.

More information on the Veterans History Project can be found at CCSU’s site, www.ccsu.edu/vhp, or through the Library of Congress’s site at www.loc.gov/vets/.

• Date Taken: 12.12.2011
• Date Posted: 12.12.2011 09:05
• Story ID: 81228
• Location: HARTFORD, CT, US