He records NC veterans’ histories, because their stories ‘deserve to be told’

In the past eight years Rusty Edmister has recorded the stories of more than 430 North Carolina veterans, from combat soldiers to postal workers. He doesn’t want their voices — or their faces — forgotten. Here he talks about his work to help families preserve a piece of their history.

Q: You retired from IBM 11 years ago after 39 years of service. What made you decide to start recording veterans’ stories?

A: I met a guy who had been interviewed by the state archivist about his time in the Navy. I found out the only way to be interviewed was to go to the archive (building) on Jones Street because the legislature hadn’t funded the ability of the archivist to talk to veterans where they lived and worked. There are a lot of veterans, particularly the Korean War, World War II and, increasingly, Vietnam veterans, who just physically can’t travel. They may live in Wilmington, Charlotte, Asheville or Boone; they’re not going to drive four or five hours round trip to tell their stories. They just don’t think it’s worth the time or the effort. I said, “I’ll buy a camera and a tripod and find these people and record them where they are.”

Q: What compelled you to take this on?

A: My dad died when I was 5. He was in Boston, and he was flat-footed so they wouldn’t send him to World War II, but he served. I have no idea how he served. I wouldn’t know him by voice or face if he came into my house today. What I’m trying to do as I preserve the stories of military service — because I use video to record facial expressions and voices — I want kids and grandchildren and great-grandchildren to say, “That’s my granddaddy or great-granddaddy, and I didn’t know him but now I can know something about him.” Everybody who’s served did something worthy of recognition.

Q: Many of your subjects have difficult stories to tell. How do you handle that?

A: I talked to a retired lieutenant colonel in Fort Bragg who was severely wounded in Vietnam. I also talked to a Marine veteran in High Point who said to me, “I’ve done 182 combat missions, and I have severe PTSD,” and we didn’t talk about any mission he ever went on. You have to know where the triggers are. I don’t want to be responsible for a PTSD episode. There’s so much to talk about; we don’t have to talk about that mortar attack. You can talk about a lot of things, including a crappy drill sergeant or that the meals were terrible or that it was really hot in Vietnam.

Q: Can people access these interviews?

A: I wish that were the case. I bring the recording home, burn DVDs, and I give the families as many copies as they want.

Q: You’re a veteran yourself. When did you serve?

A: I did six years in college in Chapel Hill at UNC, got a BA, got an MBA, went to work for IBM. I was 24, married, and absolutely certain I’d missed the draft. I went into the Army in January 1969, and one year later (was) sent to Vietnam and got out early because President Richard Nixon brought home troops. I got out in December 1970, a little less than two years after I went in.

Q: What drives you to keep going after eight years?

A: The thing that drives me is that families often don’t know much about what their loved ones did in the military because they’ve just never had that conversation. And then it’s just a few lines in an obituary; it’s not right. This is a blessing in my life. I’ve talked to people I would have never met, heard stories that deserved to be told.

Q: What’s surprised you the most about this project?

A: I’m sorry that so many veterans either don’t think what they did was worthy of telling or just don’t think their families are interested. The VA web site reports that there are approximately 800,000 veterans living in Nor Carolina; another source says 80,000 are women. A Veteran Service Officer tells me that the VA number only includes veterans who have registered with the VA. There could really be many more than the website suggests. They’re neighbors, they’re friends, family members ... but they don’t make a big deal out of serving. They’ll just tell you they did it because it was the thing Americans ought to do.

Rusty Edmister - Tar Heel of the Week

Born: July 2, 1944, in Boston

Residence: Chapel Hill

Education: UNC-Chapel Hill; University of Alabama at Birmingham; N.C. State University, M

Profession: Retired from IBM

Fun fact: He earned a master’s degree from N.C. State in 2012, when his son graduated with two engineering degrees.

This story was originally published November 15, 2018 at 7:29 PM with the headline "He records NC veterans’ histories, because their stories ‘deserve to be told’."