WEBVTT

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- And there they were.

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- [Mohamed] Sometimes the only thing we have

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left to share is our story.

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Retired Army Sergeant First Class and Londonderry resident

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William Graser knows this too well.

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Mr. Graser demonstrated the power of the human narrative

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when he held the discussion of his self published book

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at a local bookstore in Concord, New Hampshire

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on Saturday, March fourth.

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- There's no story that isn't worth writing about.

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But putting the stories out there,

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and it's particularly in the way I've formatted them

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and they were written, you could read those stories,

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all 60 of them, by the time you're finished,

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you're gonna gain an understanding appreciation

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of veterans you never had before.

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- [Mohamed] In his book,

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"Veterans' Reflections: History Preserved",

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Graser documents the stories from 60 veterans

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that fought in wars as old as World War I

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and as recent as Afghanistan.

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Vietnam veteran Gary Gordon shared some of his thoughts

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on Graser's presentation.

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- We just have to able to understand

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that to get the word out, it's people like him

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that write books like this.

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And we have to learn what we went through.

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- [Mohamed] But Graser didn't just

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write this book for veterans.

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While spending over four years interviewing retired

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soldiers, Graser also provided his own commentary,

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in order to make each service member's story accessible

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to all readers.

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- From the wars to the Cold War,

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to the fun times, to the hard times,

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it's very easy to read and understand,

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I think that's what the core stories will tell someone.

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- People have to learn history.

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You can't repeat what we've been through if it was wrong.

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- [Mohamed] Mr. Gordon then went to emphasize

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the importance of sharing the stories of past soldiers.

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- I wanted to make sure, in my own way,

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that I preserved a piece of history.

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True stories don't change.

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They'll always be there.

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- [Mohamed] Reporting from Concord, New Hampshire,

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I'm Army Private First Class Mohamed Elmaola.