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Photograph by Warren Hegg
Local veterans are gathering to make a series of digital documentaries at the Digital Clubhouse, a nonprofit that teaches computer literacy.
Vets gather in Digital Clubhouse
By Sam Scott
Jack Thatcher saw history unfold. Six hours after Japanese forces carried out a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Thatcher, returning from a mission to Wake Island, sailed into the wreckage.
"It was a total disaster," the Sunnyvale resident says. "It was a pretty good shock. It got your ire up quickly."
After taking on supplies, the ship he was on took to sea in search of the attackers. Despite partaking in one of America's first steps into the war (and many steps after that), Thatcher never talked about his time in combat.
"It was quite an experience. Takes a long time to get over something like that," Thatcher says. "I never had any desire to talk about it."
As time begins to take old soldiers before they can leave their tales to history and the importance of recording such memories grows, a local organization is gathering them for posterity.
On Veterans Day, November 11, Digital Clubhouse, a nonprofit that teaches digital literacy, will present short digital documentaries of some of the stories that veterans like Thatcher have kept with them all these years. The vets and others with wartime stories made the videos with the help of staff and volunteers at the Clubhouse.
Many of the folks telling the stories will be on hand for the presentation.
"This isn't Saving Private Ryan, this is Meeting Private Ryan, Warren Hegg, co-founder of the Digital Clubhouse, says.
The movies use pictures, scripts and the latest digital technolgy to tell their stories.
John Gawienowski, another veteran involved in the project, came to the Clubhouse to learn the technology, but was talked into doing the project when he revealed he was a vet.
Half a world away from Thatcher when Pearl Harbor was bombed, Gawienowski was so enraged by the attack in Hawaii, he tried to enlist in the Air Force immediately.
"I was just mad as hell," he says.
He flew 75 fighter missions over Europe, defying odds that took the majority of men he started with.
"Of the 32 pilots that went out with me, only eight finished their tours," he says.
Though he says he originally didn't want to do it, he's glad he's leaving the memories for his family. The compilation and development of the documentaries has been under way for more than a year, John Matuk, the project's executive producer, says. "It's like an Amish barn-raising," Hegg says of the Digital Clubhouse's "everyone is involved" method of operating. He says the Clubhouse gives people the tools to make money, but only if they agree to give back to the community through volunteering their time as mentors and teachers.
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
