Preserving the history

Antipodean Andy · Nov 17, 2008

Local man trying to preserve World War II history : NewsHerald.com

PANAMA CITY — It is the inevitable conclusion of a generation, even the "Greatest" one, that the generation must end. But Scott Ramsey is working to ensure the voices of that generation, and its veterans in particular, are recorded for the future.

Ramsey, a local courier, is using his own time and equipment to travel to reunions and conventions to meet and speak with the veterans of World War II. Inspired by his travels to the World War II memorial, Ramsey has set out to memorialize the stories of the United States' rapidly dwindling number of World War II veterans.

During the course of his now 4-year-old mission, Ramsey has interviewed U.S. veterans, Britons and Canadians, and even has crossed now-forgotten political boundaries to speak with Germany's remaining veterans.

"No matter where they were and what they did," Ramsey said. "All of them."

The final shots of World War II fell silent more than 60 years ago, and time has transformed the World War II generation into what what dubbed by journalist Tom Brokaw as the "Greatest Generation." But Ramsey said the remaining veterans, despite some concerns about the history being lost, see themselves as ordinary Americans.

"A lot of them feel like the didn't do anything. They're very humble about what they did," he said.

But Ramsey said his work has instilled a passion for the history of the war, especially as told by the men and women who witnessed it.

"These guys were 19, 20, 21 years old. At 23, I was on Panama City Beach trying to pick up girls," he said. "You just can't help but be awed by what they did."

Each veteran's narrative has its own story line, but they often intersect in similar areas. Everyone he speaks with remembers where they were when the news broke about Pearl Harbor, he said, and everyone has a list of friendships forged long ago in a much different world that continue to this day. Ramsey said he often brings maps and other artifacts to interviews, and many people still can trace the paths they followed.

Even after 60 years, the stories are not complete, and Ramsey insists sitting down to listen and record often results in nuances, details and fresh stories that surprise even the veterans' families. For others, he said, even six decades of buffer have not dampened the raw emotions the war evokes.

"You can always tell it from a different perspective. ... There are always things you miss," he said.

Some of Ramsey's works have made it as high as the Library of Congress. Others have stayed in Bay County, but he said the final resting place of his records are a far distant second to ensuring the records exist at all.

"I think it needs to be passed down," he said.

Anyone is interested in speaking to Scott Ramsey can contact him at PO Box 1772, Panama City, FL, 32402; scott@theramseys.org or (850) 276 7324.
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