GOWANDA, N.Y. — The Cattaraugus County Museum and the Cattaraugus County Department of Veterans Services will host a free film premiere event at Gowanda’s Hollywood Theater at 7 p.m. Friday, April 8.
As part of the ongoing “Our Veterans, Their Stories” project, this event will showcase a new film series entitled “Vietnam: What a Vet Wants You to Know.”
This series, consisting of four approximately six-minute films, features four veterans from Cattaraugus County who share their experiences in a format intended to fit with high school social studies curriculum and be shown to local students.
The titles of the films are “Called to Serve,” “In Country,” “Coming Home” and “Looking Back.”
The project was developed with the assistance of two local educators, Katie Wolfgang from the Olean City School District and Dollene Christopher from the Allegany-Limestone Central School District. Wolfgang and Christopher offered input regarding the topics to be covered and the length of the films in addition to creating lesson plans that follow New York state standards. They also introduce each film as hosts in the production.
Educators, veterans or anyone interested in local history is encouraged to attend.
The goal of the films is to give students the opportunity to hear a local perspective of the Vietnam conflict from veterans of their own communities, allowing them insight into the lasting impact of war in their own neighborhoods.
In 2021, approximately two dozen veterans from Cattaraugus County were interviewed, whose service spanned from WWII through Iraq. Many of these interviews are currently available at a kiosk at the Cattaraugus County Museum as well as on the county website, www.cattco.org/veterans-stories.
For more information about this event or the “Our Veterans, Their Stories” project, contact the museum at (716) 353-8200 or Veterans Services Director Steve McCord at (716) 701-3298.
