With only two weeks before the start of a five-year Air Force posting in Germany, first class airman Steven Baum is experiencing a wide range of emotions.

He is excited, fearful, curious and more than a little worried. He is wondering how he is going to maintain his Latter-day Saint beliefs in a new environment and culture. Because he will periodically be deployed to Iraq, he is concerned about surviving the war, not just physically but spiritually.

With those thoughts in mind, Baum decided to examine the online World War II exhibit offered by BYU's Harold B. Lee Library. It offers images and narratives of Americans'-including some Latter-day Saints-experiences during that conflict. The presentation is online at wwii.byu.edu

It gave him insight and direction.

"My favorite part was the First Presidency prayer," Baum said. "It was more important to them to return spiritually clean than alive."

Baum found the Latter-day Saints' stories of enduring through the war relevant to his position in the military.

"I think it's more applicable to me right now," he said. "The world is more wicked now than it was 60 years ago."

In an effort to provide wider access to the physical exhibit that was on display in the library from 2006 to 2007, an online exhibit was created.

Roger Layton, HBLL Communications Manager, said that due to exposure to light and differences in temperature, the actual artifacts could be damaged and could only be exposed for a year.

"We wanted to protect them [the artifacts], but we also wanted people to have access to that information," Layton said.

He said that unlike the physical exhibit where only a few thousand people could go through, the online exhibit can be accessed by any number of people anywhere in the world. The exhibit has been up for a couple of weeks but the library made it official around Memorial Day.

"A lot of places have WWII exhibits, but our exhibit is geared to Latter-day Saints," Layton said.

The exhibit presents artifacts that pertain to the LDS culture such as sacraments trays, worn-out scripture sets, the First Presidency prayer, President Boyd K. Packer's Book of Mormon and pictures taken in the war.

"We wanted to tell a story that you don't always hear," said Kristi Young, an HBLL folklore archivist. "It's the story of the common man."

She said history usually tells stories of admirals, generals, presidents, or major players from famous battles but people do not hear about what it was like to fight in those battles or to be a prisoner of war.

Young said that during the time the exhibit was physically exposed, many people visited it-anyone from veterans to grade school children.

"For the older generation it often made them cry," Layton said. "For those that were younger, these were their grandfathers and it gave them a sense of pride."

Young said other colleges and universities have online exhibits, but that BYU is a little unique in the way it's exhibit was created-by highly talented students.

"The students at BYU work at such high quality, that it really is at a professional level," Young said.

The WWII exhibit is not the first online exhibit created through BYU, but it is the largest.

Without much direction, Ryan Farnes, an art student, created the Web site. He did the graphics, the layout and made the whole thing interactive, Young said.

"The students in here are well prepared," said Mike Gee, a multimedia section head, "so when they enter the workforce they are very marketable."

Young said that with the large number of people that will have access to the online exhibit, they are hoping to receive more stories of times of war that they could include in the archives.

Baum thinks the day will come that his generation will produce similar artifacts and souvenirs of war time. However, he said the stories told will be even more important.

"I see more value in the testimonies of Latter-day saints than in historical facts."

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story repeated errors appearing in The Daily Universe, which misspelled President Boyd K. Packer's surname, and Kristi Young's first name. BYU NewsNet apologizes to President Packer and Kristi Young for the errors, and appreciates the efforts of readers who brought it to our attention. BYU NewsNet corrects all errors that are brought to our attention, and we thank the dedicated readers who point them out.

Copyright Brigham Young University 2 Jun 2008