FOOTSCRAY City College students were abandoning their textbooks in favour of a more hands on approach to their history studies.

Rather than simply reading about experiences of Australians during the Vietnam War, the Year 9 students decided to get their information straight from the source.

The students interviewed 20 wives and partners of Vietnam War veterans to gain a better understanding of their experiences both during and after the war.

The youths and their interview subjects broke off into small groups and chatted over a cup of coffee to get to know each other before plunging into the question and answer sessions.

The students will compile the information into a series of stories to be released in a book by the end of the year.

Teacher Sue Dwyer said in some cases, it was a bit of a struggle for the students to persuade the women to open up and discuss what were often painful memories of their war years.

“Sometimes, at the beginning, they were alittle hesitant but by the end, they were usually chatting away and quite enjoying themselves,” she said.

At other times, the war wives struggled to speak, but for a different reason. She paused on some questions we asked,” said 15-year old Luke Collins of his interview subject, Cheryl Hersey.

“It was just hard for her going back in her mind to remember what happened, but we got through it alright.”

Luke and two other students spoke to Cheryl for several hours over two sessions.

During this time, the scholars not only learned about the war; they also gained a new friend.

Cheryl spoke of her struggles as a new mother when her partner, Dennis, was conscripted as an apprentice in the Wombats Air Corps. “The way she talked about it, it sounded terrible for her,” Luke said. “Her kids grew up not knowing their dad until they were toddlers.”

The history student said the experience of listening to Cheryl was one he would never forget.

“It’s so different actually having someone who’s been there.

The textbooks don’t even come close to what we learned from her, Luke said. It was not only the students who gained from the experience.

Cheryl said in helping the students, she had learned a lot about herself. “I dobbed myself in when I first heard about it (the project). “I think the best way to learn is from listening to people’s experiences. These sorts of things are really worth while because you have to learn from the previous generation,” she said.

Ms Dwyer said speaking to people who had first hand experiences of Vietnam had challenged some students’ notions of war. “I guess it changes their awareness and makes it real.”

Some boys have a bit of a glorified view of war, but when they actually hear the stories of how hard it actually was, it takes away some of that glorification and brings it down to earth a bit,” Ms Dwyer said.

The finished book will be available to buy after its release through the school, or at the Shrine of Remembrance.