Delano woman helps tell veterans’ stories
BY EMILY BYWATERS
Correspondent
Everybody has a story to tell, and June Braith of
Delano knows that very well.
She specializes in telling stories - specifi cally, tell-
ing the stories of men and women who have served
our country. A Delano resident for 35 years, (and
Minnesota resident for life) she has a special passion
for hearing the tales of veterans.
“Every veteran has a story, and they all want it to
be told, they just don’t think their story is exciting
enough,” she commented.
June’s own background in her family’s military in-
volvement was a key factor in sparking her interest
in war stories. She had a father, three brothers, and a
husband all enlisted in the services. When she retired
from mechanical inspecting about three years ago,
she found that she was unsatisfi ed with sitting home
all day and therefore, decided to put her free time
towards helping people. Originally, she attempted to
volunteer at a hospital, but shortly after decided that
she wasn’t quite equipped for that line of work.
“I thought, there’s got to be another way,” she
noted.
Luckily, as soon as one door closed, another
opened. Braith found out that a friend of hers was
planning on building a veterans memorial in Carver
County, and needed people to log the veterans’ sto-
ries onto an online website. Eagerly, she agreed to
assist.
“People call and ask if they can have their stories
done,” she explained. “Everyone’s a little differ-
ent. Most of the time people send something. I have
everyone’s original stories in their own handwrit-
ing, and I just haven’t had the heart to throw them
away.”
Where do the veteran’s stories go? First,
they are put in a big binder that Braith owns - her
current binder has over 100 different stories of ser-
vice in it.
After that, she types them up and
uploads them to a special website made in honor of
the different people who have served. (www.ccvmr.
org) The stories range anywhere from a simple list
of facts (otherwise known as a DT 214 form) to tes-
timonials of the veterans.
“When I see a vet’s hat, I go over there, and I say
‘Thank you for your service.’ Most of them say, ‘Oh,
thank you, thank you very much,’ but every once in
a while you’ll get one that you just can’t walk away
from.”
She goes on to state, “If that was my dad or my
brother, I’d like to think someone would take the
time to listen to their stories.”
She fi rmly believes that it’s important to keep
track of individual’s stories, as that’s what will be
passed down to their children, grandchildren, and
great-grandchildren.
She also believes that everyone she’s ever met has
an interesting story. The longest story she has writ-
ten took her several days of interviewing, but Braith
claimed that she could have listened to him for hours
and hours.
As for her favorite story to write, the award goes to
the story of Edith Widmer and her husband.
When Edith was 15 or 16, she had lived in Ger-
many, as a citizen. Coincidentally, her husband also
lived in Germany, as a US soldier. At one point, he
made her drink some water to make sure it had not Delano’s June Braith is having fun in her retrement by
been poisoned by the Germans. Braith laughed as listening to military veterans and witing their war sto-
she recounted this story, interjecting that she had ries. The stories she pens end up on the Carver County
Veterans Memorial and Registry website, so all may
asked Mrs. Widmer, “And you married him??” The read them.
full story of the Widmers, she notes, is eight pages
SUBMITTED PHOTO
long. “I’m just having a lot of fun, and I hope I never
stop having this much fun.” Braith concluded. “I’ve
met a lot of nice people,
had a lot of times where
I’ve come home kind of
feeling drained. . . but
it’s really opened my
eyes.”
To read more veter-
Canadian Rockies:
ans stories, visit Carver
June 25th - July 3rd, 2019
County Veterans Me-
$1,595
pp double occupancy
Exploring Central Arizona
morial and Registry on-
line.
Feb. 5 - 7, 2019
Washington DC and New York
Health Care Choices 2019 is now
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es for Minnesotans on Medicare publication is
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It includes all Part D, Medicare Advantage,
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