There was no such thing as a typical day in Vietnam, Mac Wilkes told students at Southeast Bulloch High School Thursday night.
 "You were scared all the time," he said. "It was all a shock to the senses."

Wilkes was one of dozens of veterans from the "unappreciated generation" who spoke to students as part of Project VET, which stands for Veterans Educating Teenagers.

"When we were in combat, we weren't fighting for our country," Wilkes said. "I was fighting for the guy next to me and he was fighting for the guy next to him. All we wanted to do was live."

While speaking to the students, the veterans' memories were recorded on video to be preserved for future generations.

This was the third year for Project VET–World War II was the focus two years ago and Korean War veterans were honored last year.

Hearing the stories of the veterans helped the students understand more about the wars they fought in.

"You can only learn so much from a text book," said Ashley Akins, a junior at SEB who served as student project director. "It makes me realize how important our freedom is. I couldn't imagine not knowing these stories."

Phil Oliver, coordinator for the project, said the gathering of Vietnam veterans might be the largest group ever assembled in Brooklet.

He said the stories of all the veterans will be transcribed and made into a book that will be distributed to schools in Bulloch County. Also, he said all three Project VET books would be compiled into a single book that will be placed at Georgia Southern. Also, Dr. Kemp Mabry is working to have the finished product sent to the Library of Congress.

Phil Crowley, who served in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969, said he felt it was important to have veterans tell their stories to the students.

"I think people need to know the story of the Vietnam War from people like myself who were there," he said. "I think more and more of us want to tell their stories and set the record straight. We weren't baby killers or any of the other names they called us."

Crowley called the work done by the students at Southeast Bulloch "overwhelming" as being together with veterans and seeing various memorabilia brought back memories.

Prior to breaking into small groups, the names of the soldiers from Bulloch County who died in the Vietnam War were read aloud, followed by the playing of Taps. Outside of the school, a replica of the Vietnam War memorial with the names of soldiers from Georgia who died etched in the wall.

That was a touching moment for Eddie Hutchins, who said one of those who died was a friend of his who died on Hutchins' birthday.

"Every time I have a birthday, I think about what he's missed and what he was never able to enjoy," he said. "Seeing that wall, sometimes I think my name ought to be on it."

Despite the sad memories, there were also times of laughter among the veterans as they recounted their happiest moments from the war.

Holmes Ramsey told of the time he received a call saying there was a "Captain Black" who needed to see him.

Ramsey thought it was strange that a captain would call to see him and began making his way to the place he was supposed to go.

"When I got about three-fourths of the way there, I saw one of my best friends from Statesboro," he said. "I didn't even know he'd joined the Army."

"I wish someone could have taken a picture of us running towards each other and hugging each other," he said.

Before breaking into small groups, Four-Star General Tom Ryan Jr. addressed the crowd of students, veterans and family members. He said the lessons of Vietnam have been learned as the members of the military serving in Iraq and Afghanistan were hailed as heroes, unlike the reception many veterans received when they returned from Vietnam.

Oliver said the class would begin transcribing the interviews and compiling the information into a book as they did with the interviews from World War II and Korean War veterans.

Oliver said the mission of the project was to not only educating the students about the Vietnam War, but to capture the memories and stories of the veterans before they pass away.