BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — High school students from across Bakersfield have completed a months-long project to preserve the stories of local veterans, creating a documentary that bridges the gap between generations.
Students participating in the Ford Dream Builders program launched "Team Vets" (Veterans Educating the Students), interviewing eight veterans from Kern County to capture their experiences and preserve their legacies.
"So we see this disconnect between our generation and the generations of past. So the goal by sharing this documentary is to share the lives and legacies of those who have gone before us and bravely fought for our country," one student said.
TJ Ellis, a senior at Bakersfield Christian High School, said the project taught him valuable life lessons.
"I would say the biggest thing it taught me was order and perseverance. The idea of discipline that you're set on this earth to do a task, you do that task to the best of your ability, and you do it with pride and integrity," Ellis said.
For Jorge Cervantes, a senior at Mira Monte High School, the interviews became deeply personal.
"When I interviewed my first veteran, I actually cried a little bit because I had a grandpa that served in Vietnam, and he had passed away just after two years when I was born. And kind of filling that, it was like almost like talking to a person I never really got to see in my life," Cervantes said.
The project also provided healing for the veterans themselves. Lawrence John Walker, who served in the Army for 21 years, said being interviewed by the students felt like the welcome home he never received after serving in the Vietnam War.
"I'm making up for lost time," Walker said. "I am so proud that they want to do that. As everybody of my age knows, when we came home, nobody wanted to talk to us. And we could not basically advertise we had been there or we would have been shamed."
The students spent five months on the project, reaching out to veterans, conducting interviews, and producing the final documentary. Their goal was to preserve veteran legacies and help younger generations learn about these hometown heroes.
"We're preserving history. And it's truly a great feeling, so. So I think we're doing a really good thing," one student said.
The documentary has already made an impact on viewers.
"It was sad, but it was informational about how life was whenever they were in the military," one viewer said.
World War II veteran William Glaspie praised the students' work and the final product.
"Yeah, I had a good interview with they're friendly. They're just a nice bunch of young people," Glaspie said.
Glaspie's family was moved by his participation in the project.
"To see the documentary where he just told everybody about his experiences over there just made my heart swell," a family member said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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