FAIRFIELD – Fairfield resident John Miller wants to encourage community members to write down their life story for future generations to learn from.

Miller is spearheading a couple of local initiatives that he hopes will get more people to leave behind a written record of their life’s highs and lows. One of those programs is specifically for veterans to record their experiences in the military, and another is for the general public.

Those interested in getting started on their own memoirs are invited to attend an introductory session Miller is holding on the topic on Thursday, Aug. 18 at the Fairfield Community Center. The event is free and open to the public. Miller said he hopes the group can meet about twice a month, during which he will guide participants in answering a few questions from the Iowa Department on Aging, which has a list of 85 questions to help people write a memoir.

“We’ll be answering questions like, ‘Name something you received recognition for in your life?’” Miller said. “I’m marketing this to older people, but it’s not exclusively for them. As an older person, I would think that many people would want to leave a little written record of their lives, their high points, accomplishments, relationships, the places they visited, you name it.”

The project specifically for veterans is one that Miller has been doing in conjunction with the Fairfield Veterans of Foreign Wars. He distributed a list of questions for the VFW members to answer that related to their military service, and put the answers into a three-ring binder which is available for viewing at the VFW. Miller said this binder is under construction as more veterans send in their answers.

“This project is going fairly well,” Miller said. “Luckily, our veterans are willing to share their stories. I put my own story in it, and as others complete theirs, we’ll assemble this binder.”

Miller said he’d like to make this binder available to high school students who might be doing a research project on the military.

“They would have a great resource of the local people who served, on a document saying what they did and how they served,” he said. “This could be very special.”

Miller said that, with the VFW’s blessing, he’d like to make a copy of the binder and have it on display at the Fairfield Public Library, too.

Miller grew up in Windom, Minnesota, the son of Calvin and Marjorie Miller. He said that his parents did not leave behind much of a written record of their lives, typical for people of their generation. They left behind several photo albums, but sadly many of the significant events from their lives were lost to time. He did not want the story of his own life to meet the same fate, so about 10 years ago he began writing his memoir.

Miller said the impetus for this project was sparked when he was interviewed by a friend for the Veterans History Project, a program of the Library of Congress to get veterans to share their military stories. Miller is a former Air Force officer who served in Thailand during the Vietnam War.

In 2012, Miller took a course through Maharishi International University with professor Nynke Passi. As part of the course, Miller composed a 30-page memoir.

“It was an evolution of my spiritual and religious stepping stones in life,” he said. “After the class was done, I began thinking more about how my parents didn’t leave very much behind, so I decided to expand [my memoir]. I ended up with this 101-page document with photos.”

Miller’s memoir contains photos from his youth and of his siblings. He broadened the themes to include places he had visited, such as trips to the Southwest United States, his participation in an Honor Flight to Washington, D.C., and family trips, such as to the Field of Dreams site in Dyersville, Iowa.

“I sent that to about four dozen friends and colleagues, and about a quarter of them wrote back with some really touching remarks,” Miller said. “It just made me very glad I had taken the trouble to do it. I thought, ‘Boy, this would be a rich experience for other people, too.’ Everybody has unusual experiences to share. Tragically, the vast majority of those die when the person dies and we never learn about them.”

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com

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Courtesy of Hilary Lanman, Jefferson Iowa State University Extension and Outreach County Youth Coordinator

Courtesy of Emily Shipley, Executive Director Villages of Van Buren, Inc.

The Southeast Iowa Union, an employee-owned source for local, and state news coverage for Washington, Mt. Pleasant and Fairfield Iowa.