FRIENDS OF VETERANS CANADA National Video-A-Veteran Contest Required question list:

The fallowing questions must be asked to your subject veteran during your interview.
Please make a note of the veteran’s main information like his name, service number, address, phone number on paper an include the information with the DVD entry that you send in to the contest for our records. Keep a copy of everything that you send in for your records.

Ask the veteran for their approval to use their story for the “Harry Watts Veterans Video Library” on camera. Have them sign the “Release Form” that can be down loaded from the fovcanada.ca website under the “Consent Form” button on the main page.

When asking your questions of your veteran subject let the veteran expand on their answers. Be patent, you can ask the questions one at a time, in any order. Let the interview flow by not interrupting your subject. The veterans is the subject not the interviewer, try to make your question short and to the point. You can ask fallow up questions that are not on the list after the veteran tells you something that you are interested in. Don’t be shy; think of yourself as a reporter doing your job.

If the veteran that you are interviewing served after World War 2 or Korea you may have to adjust your questions accordantly.

Be polite and respectful

Required questions to be asked of the veteran.

1) Please say and spell your name into the camera?
2) What date is your birthday?
3) What was the reason you decided to join the military?
4) What year did you sign up for the Canadian military?
5) Did you sign up in your home town?
6) Where did you do your basic training?
7) What was the atmosphere in Canada at the time?
8) Did you go overseas or did you serve in Canada?
9) Where did you ship out from? (If they served in WW2 or Korea)
10) What countries did you serve in and can you name them?
11) What regiment, ship or air wing did you serve with?
12) What was your rank when you finished your military service?
13) Did you make any friends in the military or in any of the country you served in?
14) Have you ever been involved in any military action and where did it happen, (some veteran’s will talk about their battle experiences and some will not, do not push the subject if the soldier does not want to talk about it).
15) How did you make your way back to Canada?
16) What did you do after or military service ended.
17) Would you like to add anything more that we may not have covered?
18) Can we please record have your service number and phone number for the record.
19) At the end of all these historical video’s we always ask this question: (Ask) …If you had anything to say to the young students that may be viewing your story about your time in the military or the war what would you say to the young people? This question must be asked at the end of the interview.
20) Shake hands with the veteran and thank him/her for the interview.

Leave the camera focused on the veteran for as long as they sit in front of the camera because something may come to the veterans mind after the interview ends. Let them talk if they want to.
Good luck and enjoy your time with your veteran. Thank you Friends of Veterans Canada