Tom Banit, history professor emeritus of Kean University, has interviewed hundreds of veterans whose lives have been touched by the battleship over its 68-year history. For more than a decade, Banit has recorded sailors who felt the awesome power of the Big J’s 16-inch guns, soldiers who witnessed the devastating results, and workers who built the New Jersey at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. The interviews are being provided to U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D., N.J.); his staff is copying DVDs and CDs, then sending them to the Library of Congress’ Veterans History Project, which is expected to make them available online in the coming months. For full story click here.