Year long research project imparts personal histories to students
Apr. 24—GRAFTON — Buried in Grafton, Steve Shields fought through Italy in WWII as part of the 365th Infantry Regiment, also known as the famed Buffalo Soldier Unit. In the midst of the Great Depression, he dropped out of High School before joining the military to find work to help support his family. It's a life experience far removed from that of McKenna Tighe, a 16-year-old sophomore at University High School in Morgantown.
"He never got to finish his schooling," Tighe said. "He never got higher than two years into high school and I think that as someone for whom school is such a priority, I could never imagine having to get rid of school to help protect my country or support my family. I think that's just such a wonderful thing that he did. It's really brave."
Shields' story was one of several featured in this year's West Virginia National Cemeteries Project. The West Virginia Humanities Council presented Tighe's research on Shields, along with research by other students on different veterans, at an event Monday afternoon at the Taylor County Historical and Genealogical Society in Grafton.
The project is funded by the U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs. For the past three years, roughly 40 students from Grafton High School have paired with graduate level researchers from the West Virginia University History Department. Each fall, students take a walking trip from the high school to Grafton National Cemetery, and find the grave of a veteran. Students also visit the National Cemetery in Pruntytown.
Beginning with a name, students search for their veteran's military paperwork through the Veteran's Administration and find out details such as birth and date of death. This serves as a jumping off point to learn of their veteran's personal history.
The work takes months and months. Whenever students hit a dead end with their research, they reach out for help to the researchers at WVU and Humanities Council, who provide ideas on where to go next. The project takes all year, with the final results shown in presentation held by the Humanities Council at the end of the school year.
"I think it's important that these people's stories get told," Rebecca Bartlett, a Grafton High School teacher, said. "The amount of learning that we get from doing these projects is phenomenal. I like to tell the kids, 'it's like ripples in water.'"
That rippling can link several events together, taking students down a rabbit hole of history. For example, Gilbert Johnnie Stansberry was born in 1925 and died in 1945. From there, students found a link to the USS Samuel B. Roberts and its role in the Battle off Samar, where sailors aboard Fletcher Class and Butler Class destroyers and destroyer escorts held back a Japanese battlefleet composed of battleships and cruisers which were trying to attack the American landing in Leyte Gulf. The Battle of Leyte Gulf itself was an even larger battle the Battle of Samar took place in.
A small American task force of destroyers and escort carriers, named Taffy 3, was left to fend for itself after Admiral William Halsey Jr. took the bait laid by Japanese Admiral Kurita and sailed his powerful task force south after a decoy fleet. Despite being outgunned by the Japanese forces, including the IJN Yamato who's bulk outweighed the whole of Taffy 3, American sailors fought with overwhelming ferocity and stopped the Japanese from interrupting the U.S. amphibious landing in the Philippines.
All that from a single name. From a veteran who died in the battle on the Roberts, and is now buried in Grafton.
"This project is about teaching West Virginia high school students college level research skills, in a way that also exposes them in a very relatable manner to National History, West Virginia history," said Kyle Warmack, Humanities Council and Cemeteries Project program facilitator. "You really are examining these bigger moments in history through the life of a single person."
Warmack said presenting the research in a public event makes the work take on special significance for the students, it's not just another paper that will only be seen by the teacher and not reach the light of day. The project also hones important skills like research, teaching students the right way to research something rigorously that can stand up to scrutiny.
Doing the project had a big impact on students like Tighe and Brennan Cox. Cox, 16, is also a student at University High. She said it provided a better understanding of what people in different time periods went through, and showed her how the life she enjoys today was borne out of the sacrifices made by previous generations.
"Without the people who fought in those wars and gave us these freedoms," Cox said. "We may or may not be standing here in this beautiful building today."
Reach Esteban at efernandez@timeswv.com
