Teen filmmaker, author tells veterans' stories
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Margaret Swearman, 17, of North Huntingdon, interviewed people who have served in the military and made a video and a book for her Girl Scout Gold Award.
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"You look ahead and you see all of this black smoke ... and you see an airplane go down -- it was kind of scary," Dan Rose, 90, recalled of his service as a B-24 pilot in Europe during World War II.
Mr. Rose, now the mayor of Irwin, is one of 10 local veterans from several wars who were interviewed for a film documentary created by Norwin High School senior Margaret Swearman for a Girl Scout Gold Badge Award.
"We were bombing enemy railroad yards in Hungary. ... Can you imagine, how it felt to them, an enemy lands in your town? I was lucky they didn't kill me," said Mr. Rose, who, along with other U.S. Army Air Corps members, was imprisoned and physically abused by the captors.
Margaret, 17, also interviewed both of her grandfathers for her film, "Tales of America," which she produced on her own.
"What inspired me is that both of my grandfathers were in World War II. I always enjoyed hearing their stories," she said.
Using a video production program, she eliminated her voice and allowed the veterans to speak alone. "I felt like it flowed better to hear them tell the stories themselves," she said. She was surprised to discover that many of the veterans were no older than she is now when they were in the service.
The film was recently screened for about 30 people at Norwin Public Library, and some of the veterans who were interviewed attended.
Margaret also has produced a book from the transcripts of her movie.
Many of the veterans were interviewed at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 781 in Irwin.
Don Kattic, a retired Norwin High School teacher who is commander of the VFW post, learned of Margaret's project when she asked him if she could use space at the post for interviewing. He supported the project and helped her contact some local veterans.
Mr. Kattic, a Korean War veteran, was one of those interviewed. He served with the Army in Korea in 1951 and said he learned how the weather can be another enemy during a war.
"Once, in the mountains, it was 50 degrees below zero," Mr. Kattic said.
Margaret also interviewed veterans of Desert Storm and the Iraq War.
She has been interested in filmmaking for some time and had familiarized herself with video production software before undertaking her veterans film. Knowing she needed to do a project requiring 65 hours of work and involving the community for her Girl Scout award, Margaret borrowed her father's video camera and tripod, and began to interview the veterans. The Norwin senior worked on the project in the summer and over weekends during the past year. A history buff, Margaret plans to major in international studies at Seton Hill University.
Copies of "Tales of America" are available at Norwin Public Library.
First Published February 17, 2011 5:47 am
