Internship in Public History: Veterans History Project UCF 2022

 Week 3:  Starting off Running This week on the Veteran's History Project we held our first meeting of the semester! It was great to see everyone and reconnect with the team. We had only been gone for a month, but it somehow felt so much longer than that. Even so, somehow there is still plenty of work to be done. Processing List I'm starting this week by working on my processing list for two veterans. Last semester we had multiple fantastic interviews with Veterans from all different walks of life. From Vietnam to the war on terror, we held multiple interviews focused on the stories of veterans and how their service made them who they are. With so many successful interviews, there is a lot of processing to be done. Each interview that is completed is required to have an AV Log discussing what took place in the interview and also an abstract as a summary of the interview. Since each interview is recorded, a closed captioning is required for transcripts. Each interviewer has bee...

 Week 2: The Calm Before the Storm This week on the Veterans History Project we decided on a date for our weekly meetings. Not much to report in terms of work or credit this week, but I'm sure in the coming weeks we'll have plenty to report on. Brainstorming This week I was brainstorming potential ideas from my involvement this semester. Compared to last semester, I will be taking a direct Hands-On approach in terms of planning and facilitating on campus and not just conducting and scheduling interviews. Hopefully this semester won't be as hectic and as crazy as last semester (read my blog about Veterans Day in the multiple hurricanes that  interrupted our plans to learn more about that). I believe ( I will correct myself if I am mistaken) That this, semester we will have direct involvement with the Olustee project once more. If you recall, I mentioned earlier that I had involvement with the 8th USCT  as a lead researcher  multiple semesters ago. If I had the opportu...

  Week One: Re-Introductions Hello! My name is Carson Maschmeier and I am a senior this year at the University Central Florida. I'm studying History with a minor in Anthropology and I will be continuing my time at UCF this fall in the Masters program under Public History. I dual enrolled in high school pushing me two years ahead in credits; After experiencing my first year in college I am now experiencing my last year of my bachelors! When I'm not studying or researching, I enjoy playing almost an instrument with strings and creating original compositions.  Public History and Veterans Affairs This semester I'll be continuing my time with the Veteran's History Project, diving deeper into more hands on work for interviews and scheduling. Last semester I served as the Lead Interviewer for the team and I'll be resuming my position there. Previously, I spent a semester working on the Olustee Project with Dr. Gannon as a head researcher for the 8th USCT and their regiment...

 Week 15: Final Days Last Interview This week on the Veterans History Project I wrapped up my final interview and met with a veteran who served in Iraqi Freedom. This interview was a part of our originally planned story day for Emergency Management Services that had been cancelled due to Hurricane Nicole. The veteran in question was well spoken and detailed in his interview, offering glimpses into his time in Kuwait where he was a Naval Base guard for multiple years in his service. From attacks on refineries to dealing with locals, no details were absent. Notably too, the interview was the shortest I've had at around 30 minutes. Overall, it was an excellent interview to finish the year on.  The End...? This season of my life has been an amazing experience for me both in academic standing and in person al standing. I cannot express how amazing these past weeks have grown and instilled so much in me as an interviewer and as a person. Oral History is truly a special subject that ...

 Week 13: Veteran's Day Commencement Ceremony The Ceremony This week on the Veteran's History Project our hard work and planning came to fruition. Despite the difficulty we found ourselves in last week, our team was able to successfully move and orchestrate the Veterans Day commencement ceremony this past Wednesday, November 16th.  Not only was it amazing to see our hard work honored by the event's success,  it was also amazing to see how deeply it was appreciated by the veterans that attended in our community. I had the honor of being present when UCF was designated a Purple Heart University;  we are now one of the five universities in the State of Florida to be recognized with this honor.  As the band played as the flag was raised,  it could be clearly communicated that each person that attended was filled with a sense of honor and pride as we remember those who sacrificed their lives for our country.  Meeting with a Purple Heart Veteran With the cer...

 Week 12: A Hurricane Brews This week in the Veterans History Project a multitude of events are forced to be cancelled. Ultimately, because of the misfortune that plagues the tropics this year, Hurricane Nicole made landfall this week, forcing the VHP team to reschedule the commencement ceremony originally taking place on the 9th of November to the 16th of November. With that, a story day was going to take place on November 11th, Veterans Day, with focus on members of the UCF Emergency Management. With campus being closed now until the 12th, Saturday, we are forced to move all meetings back a week.  Aside from the frustration that comes with rescheduled an event that was meticulously planned, I enjoyed the flag planting this past Sunday morning as students, ROTC, and other members through the Central Florida community gathers to place flags for every veteran enrolled at the University of Central Florida. One issue we ran into was the condition of the preservation of the f...

 Week 11: A Strange, Yet Exciting Interview This week on the Veteran's History Project I had the pleasure of interviewing a veteran with a story that is quite unlike any other I've seen. Unique is not descriptive enough, idiosyncratic is a better adjective. Our veteran was only in the service for about a year before her pregnancy led her to accept an honorable discharge, but it's her story leading up to her service that gives her time in our interview such importance.  Our veteran experienced a childhood unlike any other; From being adopted four different times with multiple name changes and a traumatic experience in the foster care system, our veteran certainly grew up quick. I found it most interesting that in comparison to others, our veteran joined for reasons regarding structure and discipline. Often times, veterans laugh when we ask them why they enlisted because most often, they didn't have a choice; Their name was called. Our veteran, however, noted that she joi...