news-record.com

GREENSBORO - Veterans, the Greensboro Historical Museum wants you.

Technically, it's Jon Zachman, the curator of collections, rather than Uncle Sam, pointing at you.

And he's not asking you to bear arms.

He's asking you to share your experiences.

The effort has two purposes.

First, the museum wants to increase and improve its collection of voices of people with connections to various parts of Greensboro's past.

The museum is in the midst of a big renovation project that will showcase these exhibits when it is completed in

2010.

The second purpose is to enrich the exhibits in its existing hall of military history.

"This is a good time to make this request of the community, with (Veterans Day) approaching and its focus on veterans locally and across the nation," Zachman said.

The project will last past Veterans Day, but Zachman wants to collect the recollections as soon as possible because so many veterans, particularly those who served in World War II and Korea, are dying.

The request extends to veterans of any of our nation's conflicts, including the first Gulf War and operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

Zachman has created a form for veterans to fill out. It asks for name, rank, branch of service, unit, conflict or war in which you served, dates of military service, where you were stationed and your Greensboro or Guilford County connection.

Then it asks for personal stories or stories from your military service.

The museum also is seeking photos, which will be scanned and returned to their owners.

There are no plans at this point to record oral stories, Zachman said.

Contact Lex Alexander at 373-7088 or lex.alexander@news-record.com