VALENTINE, Neb. - Fifty years after the end of the Vietnam War, many veterans still struggle to talk about what they lived through. A new effort in Nebraska is helping change that. Hundreds of veterans from across the state are now sharing their experiences—some for the first time—through the Nebraska Vietnam Veterans Project “Share Your Story.”

For veterans like William Kluender, opening up hasn’t come easily.

“Yeah, I never talked about it for years,” Kluender said.

The project captures unrehearsed, personal accounts that organizers hope will preserve firsthand history while helping veterans begin to heal.

“It’s not a comfortable thing to talk about, but I think people need to understand,” said Vietnam veteran John Johnson of Valentine.

Johnson was drafted into the Army after graduating college in 1970 and later sent into combat in Vietnam. He is one of the hundreds participating in the project.

“The Vietnam War was different. It was a war that wasn’t about conquering and moving forward and taking land. It basically was by body count,” Johnson said.

Nearly 400 Nebraskans died in the war, and many more returned home wounded.

“We slept on the ground most of the time because we were out on the field. We had very little time back in the company area,” Kluender said. “It was a different way of life — the way the people lived. You ate a lot of C-rations. You didn’t have cooked meals often.”

Kluender was drafted in 1968.

“Being a young person just shortly out of high school, I didn’t know much about Vietnam. I couldn’t even put a finger on the map where it was at,” Kluender said.

Michael Cook, coordinator of the Share Your Story project, said the goal is to document not just service memories but the lives veterans led before and after service.

“It’s not just those who have served in Vietnam, but the people who served in the Vietnam era, which is 1955 to 1975,” Cook said. “It’s unbelievable the information. We’ve had people who were stationed in Germany, Korea and of course Vietnam.”

Both Johnson and Kluender say sharing their experiences isn’t only about remembering the past—it’s about passing along lessons that shouldn’t be forgotten.

“A lot of Vietnam veterans are getting old, and I think the lessons of history have to be retained and learned from,” Johnson said.

“The younger generation needs to hear some of this stuff,” Kluender added. “They don’t understand what people went through for this country and the freedom they have.”

All of the completed interviews can be viewed online, and project organizers are encouraging more Nebraska veterans to participate. If you’re able to share your story, please contact Cook at (308)660-2198. If you live in Cherry County, you can also reach out to the Cherry County Veteran's Service Office at (402)376-2680.