WESTBROOK – One perennial challenge of Memorial Day is to help young people understand the significance of the holiday, beyond the parades, speeches and a day off from school.

But for Morgan Rielly, 15, history, particularly the history of one of the world’s most violent conflicts, is more than just interesting. The son of City Councilor Brendan Rielly has launched an ambitious project to chronicle the deeds of living World War II veterans, in their own words.

Rielly said he is in the process of interviewing as many veterans in the state as he can find, and hopes to turn those interviews into a book of veterans’ memoirs on the subject.

“I have a deep, passionate interest in World War II,” he said.

So far, he’s only done three interviews, but he has plans for many more. Armed with a webcam-equipped laptop to record the interviews, he has been contacting veterans organizations and other related groups in Westbrook, Scarborough, and Portland, and that’s just the start. He has plans to visit another veteran in Machias.

Rielly said he has been inspired by books written by others, including “Band of Brothers,” the Stephen Ambrose book about the 101st Airborne Division that parachuted into France just days before the 1944 D-Day allied invasion.

The book inspired a television series on HBO, and Rielly said he remembered seeing real-life interviews with survivors of the division at the beginning of each episode, which was part of what gave him the idea to start this project.

“I want to be the next Stephen Ambrose,” he said.

Rielly said the books, TV shows and movies about the war are fun to read and watch, but nothing brings the triumphs and tragedies of the war home like speaking to people who were there.

“I just like to hear it from them, because when they say it, it’s like reading it in the book,” he said.

Beverly Preston, manager of the Westbrook American Legion Post 197, said she liked seeing Rielly’s enthusiasm for paying attention to America’s past, and honoring what the nation’s senior citizens did to build it.

“I think it’s wonderful when young people are aware of what older people did,” she said.

Rielly said the interviews brought to life stories of courage, like the one tale of how Dick Goody, a soldier riding with his squad in a halftrack, was surprised by a German tank division, and how a member of his squad took out a tank with a single bazooka shot.

“I like to hear their story in action, like what they did under battle,” Rielly said. “That’s some pretty hard courage.”