St. Charles students capture war stories with veteran videos

Of all the details Alex Volz shares about being a Marine, it's his description of coming home that is the most telling of experiences in Afghanistan.

"It's something else to go from a chaotic and really primal way of life and an untapped part of who you are that most people never, ever encounter - Here I am. I'm home again," Volz said. "The whole time you're there, you want to leave. That's all anybody talks about. That's pretty much all you think about. But that feeling of relief that you anticipate (when you leave) wasn't there. The weight wasn't off your shoulders. Nothing was."

Volz's interview and those with other local veterans are from a series recently completed by students and staff members at St. Charles East High School.

Those interviews will be part of the "Celebrating Veterans Through Art" event opening Saturday. The pop-up gallery at 11 E. Main St. in St. Charles runs through Nov. 29.

The video interviews with veterans began earlier this year when then-freshman Megha Nayyar found inspiration in her mother's work as a nurse at Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital, which led her and fellow student council members to participate in the Library of Congress' Veterans History Project.

The project documents the military service memories of those who served through photos, videos and other documentation.

Faculty adviser Neil Currie said the whole program was initiated and now is run by students, who find veterans, interview them and produce the interview videos.

The class of 2017 has submitted 14 videos to the Library of Congress for archiving so far. When that class graduates, the project will be handed down to the class of 2021.

"It's really cool to see these kids take on the responsibility, assign tasks and learn new skills while giving back to the community," Currie said. "This is really a special class of students."

The art exhibit will also feature a photo gallery of local veterans and works of art by artists who are not veterans exploring a "Stories" theme. The exhibit will pair with the city's official Veterans Day Ceremony at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the downtown fire station. There will also be a Veterans Day concert at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at St. Charles North High School.

For more information on the art exhibit opening at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, visit www.StCharlesArtsCouncil.org.