Editor’s Notebook

Danette Goulet

History as a subject in school, was both a chore and a bore to me. It

was an exercise in memorization. The point was not to learn, but to

remember the dates and places long enough to get to class and put them in

the right spots on the test.

Anything I remember from history classes is a fluke and an accident.

Then there was the history that surrounded me as I grew up in Concord,

Mass. Louisa May Alcott’s house was, to me, the setting of a book -- that

was cool. What did I learn? People were shorter back then. I had to duck

through all the doorways. Wouldn’t my teachers be proud of what I gleaned

from that experience?

Walden pond where Ralph Waldo Emerson lived in seclusion and wrote his

many essays was a chance to be out in the sunshine instead of in a

classroom.

But history, in the form of living, breathing participants is

monumentally fascinating to me.

Since the first time, years ago, that I went to interview a veteran

for a story, I’ve been hooked.

I get a bit of ribbing for my fascination with and passion about the

importance of talking to and more importantly listening to these

historical treasures that are veterans.

I do not intend to make them sound like relics but rather convey their

deep importance to society.

A day will come when the only way to learn about Pearl Harbor will be

to read books or watch documentaries. That day is not yet here. There are

men and women out there, like Frank Weitzeland Donald Weir, who can tell

you about Pearl Harbor. What it felt like, sounded like, smelled like.

They may write their testimonies down so that children in years to come

can know their stories. But the opportunity to hear them tell of the “Day

of Infamy” and watch the expressions flit across their faces is now.

Tomorrow, as we remember the events of that Sunday morning 60 years

ago with these national treasures, let’s also all stop to think about the

men and women fighting now.

For they too, one day, will be the veterans whom we can not afford to

forget. * DANETTE GOULET is the assistant city editor. She can be reached

at (714) 965-7170 or by e-mail at o7 danette.goulet@latimes.comf7 .