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PARKERSBURG - Students at Parkersburg High School Monday received firsthand accounts of military service and wartime experiences as part of a state program to bring veterans into schools.

The "Take a Veteran to School Day" program kicked off at PHS, which is one of 13 participating schools in West Virginia. The program provides students and educators with local veterans' firsthand accounts of their experiences.

"The 'Take a Veteran to School' program gives a rare glimpse of the life and times of our nation's history through the stories shared from veterans in our community," said Principal Ralph Board.

A half-dozen veterans representing wartime service from World War II to Korea to Operation Desert Storm to Afghanistan spoke to students Monday morning at Parkersburg High about how they came to serve and how service changed their lives.

Randy Bare, a 22-year Marine veteran, served in Vietnam and Beirut and now serves as a member of the Governor's Veterans Council. Though Bare spoke of traumatic flashbacks to wartime and public hatred of soldiers after their service in Vietnam, he said he remains proud of his time in the military.

"Am I glad I did it? Absolutely. Would I do it again? Absolutely," he said. "It's a life you just can't imagine. The service has been good to me. The service has been good to the country."

Jim Viers, who lives in Washington, W.Va., served as an Air Force mechanic in both Korea and Vietnam.

"It was a toss-up between freezing to death or someone trying to kill you," he said.

Though he said he loved his time in the service and valued the lessons learned, they came with a price.

"Nothing about Vietnam was easy. There are times when you think you've made a mistake and times when you know you made a mistake," in enlisting, he said.

"It's a great career, but make no mistake, there are going to be many nights when you get through that you don't sleep."

World War II veteran Howard Nichols served aboard a Navy PT boat in the English Channel during the invasion of Normandy.

"They told me I could serve on a submarine or a PT boat," he said. "I told them I didn't want any damn submarine. Give me a PT boat. I've never regretted it."

Nichols said his unit's mission was to keep the German's from infiltrating Allied lines by sea during the D-Day assault on the beaches of Normandy.

"I tell people I had a ringside seat for the invasion," he said. "Basically, that's what it was."

During maneuvers in the Philippines, Nichols boat came under fire.

"The next morning I picked shrapnel out of the gun seat," he said. "That's how close I came to a Purple Heart."

Kathy Camerlin, a master sergeant with the West Virginia Army National Guard, served in Operation: Desert Storm in the 146th MEDEVAC company.

"The way (service) changed my life was it made me appreciate living in the United States of America," she said.

A recent census showed more than 178,000 veterans hailing from and living in West Virginia.

"It is amazing to know there are thousands upon thousands upon thousands of other stories such as these," said Brian Knost, Atlantic region marketing administrator for Suddenlink.

Students from West Virginia University's School of Journalism were on hand to record the veterans' stories for submission in the Library of Congress' Veterans History Project.

"Our job is just to capture their stories and let them tell us what they've experienced," said Missy Myers, a senior at West Virginia University majoring in public relations. Myers was one of four WVU students to attend Monday's event.

The group interviewed each of the veterans, compiling about 30 minutes of footage for each person. That footage will be submitted to the Library of Congress.

"It is a really great project because it is educational for us," she said. "We get to play a part in preserving their history."

Myers said those interested in more information on the project should visit www.history.com/content/veterans and www.veteransinwv.com.

"Take a Veteran to School Day" is sponsored by the West Virginia Cable Telecommunications Association led by Suddenlink Communications, Comcast and Time Warner Cable. The program is highly recognized and supported by Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, as well as the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion and the state Legislature.