One man's dream to document history in a creative way has come true.

Larry Cappetto, an independent documentary filmmaker, spent the last five years interviewing nearly 600 veterans from World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

"It's really humbling for me to listen to all this," Cappetto said. "I provide a non-threatening environment, and veterans tell me things that they've not even told their family members."

Now, in the latest film of a "unique, first-hand account" film series called "Lest They Be Forgotten," Cappetto shows the personal side of the Vietnam War through the eyes of the veterans he's interviewed.

"This is the truth. The people being interviewed that comprise this film were actually there, in Vietnam, on the ground or in the jungle," said Casper resident Frank Ahern, one of the veterans featured in the film. "They are real live soldiers. What they have to say is unrehearsed, and it's just their own words and their impressions and what they went through."

The film, screening in Casper on Tuesday thanks to a sponsorship from Bustard's Funeral Home, will also be shown at a film festival in Washington, and features two Wyomingites.

"I feel some nostalgia about it, because I was part of something that is still today being discussed," Ahern said.

Lee Alley, a Wyoming native now living in Wheatland, is excited that the film will give Vietnam veterans the voice they deserve.

"When we came back (from the Vietnam War), we were treated very poorly. Consequently, a lot of the Vietnam stories have never been told," Alley said. "A vast majority of Vietnam vets have not been asked to tell or willing to tell their stories."

The film also addresses post-traumatic stress disorder, a psychological illness often associated with soldiers returning from war.

"The wounds are lasting, psychological and physical," Ahern said. "The men who went over there were just regular, ordinary citizens out to do a job. They're not embarrassed or sorry about it. They went because the United States asked them to."

"There's been a lot of bitterness and a lot of scars that haven't healed," Cappetto said. "This film puts to rest a lot of the myths, and we're very proud of that fact."

Cappetto and Alley will also speak at area schools Tuesday morning to "help educate our younger generation as to why we have what we have."

"They were born in a free country, so they can't know or appreciate what it's like to not be free," Cappetto explained. "Look at a cemetery with all of those markers, and it doesn't take long for you to realize that freedom isn't free. There's a price to be paid for our freedoms."

Contact reporter Megan Lee at (307) 266-0589 or megan.lee@trib.com