CARBONDALE - Although World War II was fought on foreign soil, it left deep imprints in Southern Illinois.

WSIU Public Broadcasting is hoping to capture the stories of those who were embroiled in the conflict, whether through combat or spending days tending to a victory garden hoping to share that bounty with a returning soldier.

WSIU outreach coordinators are asking the community, including civic and service organizations, to help collect the stories of area veterans who served in World War II.

The project is being conducted in conjunction with "The War," a Ken Burns documentary set to air in September. WSIU InFocus will feature four vignettes from Southern Illinoisans affected by World War II in its own documentary.

Vickie Devenport and Beth Spezia, outreach coordinators in charge of the project, say the war stories are a national PBS project that coincides with the Veterans History Project ongoing at the U.S. Library of Congress.

The local component to the project will be essential to lending perspective to a story that's been told a thousand times over.

"This topic has been covered," Devenport said. "It's been covered very well and very thoroughly, but the significance here is that one of the statements Ken Burns makes in the documentary is 'In extraordinary times, there are no ordinary lives.'

"That sort of sums up the realization that this war was conducted nowhere near the United States' borders, but it affected people throughout the nation very significantly."

Knowing what people endured both in battle and on the home front throughout the war is a crucial aspect to cultivating a broad sociological understanding.

"The stories of individuals are very critical to understanding us as Americans," Devenport said. "Emphasis is not on the politics of war or military campaigns of the war in terms of that kind of perspective. It's the people that participated at all levels from ration stamps to victory gardens to women working in many factories where they were employed."

The outreach coordinators are going to be hosting workshops to help organizations learn how to preserve the history of veterans. Means of preservation can include video, audio and manuscripts.

Spezia and Devenport will also be available to talk to civic groups about the project and public participation.

The project will provide more than a piece of history for the community, Spezia said. It will provide context for families to have a greater understanding of one another.

"It's a way for families and friends to connect with each other and to get some intergenerational dialogue going," Spezia said. "We really hope grandparents and great-grandparents who experienced the years during World War II can pass along some of those ideas and the way that life was lived at that time to their grandchildren and great-grandchildren and open up dialogue in an area that remains largely unexplored."

WSIU is also collecting war letters and posting them on its Web site.

Statistics show that World War II veterans are dying at a rate of more than 1,000 per day.

"The realization of the stories that people have to share shows us how essential it is to get those stories while we still have that opportunity," Devenport said. "There's a real urgency here with that generation."

ashley.wiehle@thesouthern.com

529-5454 ext. 5807

Learn more about WSIU's initiative to preserve veterans' history and read actual World War II letters at www.wsiu.org.

To participate in the veterans history project, contact Beth Spezia at 453-5595 or Vickie Devenport at 453-2808.