Kurt Esman's doctors told him he shouldn't be alive today.

Esman, 60, served in the Army during the 1980s and has devoted the past few years of his life to recording the stories of other veterans for the Library of Congress.

A late-career change to videography and entertainment brought him into contact with Chuck Jennings, a fellow veteran who heads the recording efforts in the area for the Veterans History Project.

And for the past three years, Esman has helped record for posterity the stories of at least 50 veterans in the area.

“I didn't have a very good camera. I had a little one that had a DVD in it. Worked with Channel 10 Armstrong. They said you have fantastic stories, but the video quality was too low for them,” Jennings said. “I started looking around for someone who could do that. And I found Kurt. It was an off-the-wall thing. I talk to vets about what I'm doing, and he heard I needed help. His cameras are really high quality.”

Near-fatal incidents

But none of it would have happened if Esman had succumbed to several near-fatal incidents.

Esman said he was born dead and it took doctors three attempts to revive him.

“By the time I was 5, I was dead five times — freak accidents, illnesses and such,” Esman said.

Esman, of Butler, joined the Army in 1981 and served until 1988. He said he joined the military out of a familial sense of obligation.

“Everybody in my family goes in,” Esman said. “The tradition goes back hundreds of years. My dad served in World War II, 82nd Airborne. My brothers served in Vietnam. I missed Vietnam, but they all served.”

During his military service, an truck engine fell on him, crushing much of his body, including his spine. The 2,300-pound engine was being set into an armored carrier. Esman said the chain on the crane broke right above him.

“Over the years, they've done eight surgeries on both my arms. Had to reroute nerves on both,” Esman said, adding last year, he underwent radical surgery to replace his neck bones and about a third of his spine. He said he is still recovering from the operation, and that it could take up to a year to fully heal.

After his military service, Esman owned and ran an antiques store with a specialization in furniture restoration. He said he worked the business for 25 years, working with local historical societies to restore furniture.

In 2013, Esman returned to school for filmmaking, photography, graphic design and videography because of his first love: Japanese cartoons.

Known as anime or Japanimation, the genre was imported to the United States in the 1960s, and Esman was there from the beginning. He grew up watching shows like “Gigantor,” “Astro Boy” and “Starblazer,” all classics within the cartoon subgenre.

“I watched the birth of Japanese anime in the United States,” Esman said.

Decades later, his passion hasn't waned. He boasts a collection of more than 1,400 anime DVDs.

“I'm surprised how few people know about anime,” Esman said.

As a videographer, Esman has recorded events for the Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau and works on movie projects.

And while the coronavirus pandemic might have slowed his projects down, Esman continues to be active.

On Aug. 19, he traveled to Kentucky to help take photos for a movie called “Vampire Santa.” In the coming weeks, he plans to take video of bull riding at Buckhorn Ranch in Branchton. He also plans to do video work for a cart-racing track in Slippery Rock.

And he aspires to do more voice acting for anime.

While the outbreak of the virus caused his work to slow down, he still keeps busy by editing previous projects. With only one hand that he still fully uses, Esman stays up late at night editing videos and working on his latest project.

And in his spare time, he always goes back to his classic shows.

“Watching anime is just something I did as a kid, and I've never lost it,” he said.

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