As a 16-year-old volunteer on Scarborough’s fire and rescue squad, Mark Dyer, 53, was fascinated by the stories from World War II that he heard recounted in the station.

“These guys were giving a much better account of history than any book could give,” he said.

Five years ago, when World War II veteran and former fire department co-worker Ken Dolloff, 87, suggested people from Scarborough get involved in a national project to preserve the stories of veterans, Dyer jumped at the opportunity to help.

In 2000, the U.S. Congress started the Veterans History Project to collect first-hand accounts in the form of personal narratives, letters, diaries and photographs from veterans around the country. Dyer and Dolloff have spent the last five years finding and interviewing World War II veterans from Scarborough, whose stories are to be preserved in the Library of Congress.

“We wanted to make sure Scarborough got in there,” Dyer said.

In addition to the national project, the Libby Mitchell Post 76 American Legion has sponsored the publishing of a book of Dyer and Dolloff’s work, to be given to the local veterans and their families, as well as to libraries in town. The book is coming out on Friday, coinciding with Memorial Day weekend.

“In the past couple of years, there’s been a lot more attention to World War II veterans, because they’re dying,” Dyer said. “A lot of veterans haven’t told their stories.”

Four of the 25 veterans Dyer and Dolloff interviewed have already died.

“In another 20 years, there aren’t going to be any left,” Dyer said.

Initially, Dyer and Dolloff thought they would spend one winter trying to collect stories, but the more interviews they did, the more Scarborough veterans they discovered.

Using records from the town hall, the historical society and Legion post, as well as letters from former schoolteacher Francis Libbey, who corresponded with Scarborough soldiers during wartime, Dyer and Dolloff have collected the names of 225 World War II veterans from Scarborough that will be listed in the book.

The project has a dual purpose – to honor the veterans for their service and to provide personal histories for their families. Dyer said they had the veterans tell their stories as they would like their grandchildren to hear them.

“They don’t understand what their father went through or their grandfather went through,” Dolloff said. “What we want people to know in Scarborough is that they’re not forgotten.”

To purchase the book of stories from Scarborough veterans, contact Ken Dolloff at the American Legion Libby Mitchell Post 76, 883-3902.

Memorial Day Parade information

Cape Elizabeth: Starts at 9 a.m. at the intersection on Fowler Road and Ocean House Road, goes through the town center and ends at the War Veteran’s Memorial on Scott Dyer Road, where there will be a brief ceremony. An open house at the Town Center Fire Station will follow the ceremony

Scarborough: Starts at 10:15 a.m. at Scarborough High School on the Gorham Road side, moves up Gorham Road, turns onto Route 1 toward the Veterans Home and ends at Memorial Park.

South Portland: Forms at 9:30 a.m., starts at 10:30.

Parade route starts at Southern Maine Community College parking lot on Broadway, West to Cottage Road then north to the traffic circle. Anyone with an antique auto who would like to be in the parade should contact Paul Neal at 767-0874 or

232-7410

Scarborough veterans go down in history