The Veterans History Project

[Prairie Dog]

This summer the YouTube Generation is being enlisted in the recording of history. In a cooperative effort involving PBS and the Library of Congress’ Veterans History Project, anyone can get a camera and interview a grandparent or senior neighbor and learn what that generation did during the war and how in shared sacrifice, they made their country richer and safer.
http://www.loc.gov/vets/kit.html

Ken Burns the man behind this project was saddened by how little the YouTube Generation knows about the war, the defining event of the 20th Century.
“To them history has become merely a castor oil of dates and places. There is no greater resource than to tap into the memories of those who were there. From these memories we shape that thing we call history – no longer dry dates and places, but a living organism that relates to us on a profoundly personal level.”

Over 500 vets have already been interviewed for Burns’ PBS series, The War which will air this September.
http://www.pbs.org/thewar/

 

[Chanfan]

What a great idea! Alas, too late for my father to contribute.

 

[dhermann1]

Living history

Is anyone out there involved in any living history projects with our remaining WWII veterans? Even if it's your own granddad, someone should get a microphone or a camcorder and get their last reminicences recorded.

 

[MrBern]

Y'know PBS has been putting out a call for home-made tapes. I think they want to do local specials in coordination w/ the new KenBurns WWII documentary.
-b

 

[Spitfire]

My father - who is still alive and kicking - were in the resistance during WWII.
A few years back he decided to write a "book" to my sons about how it was.
I helped him with some pictures, layout and print.
We made 5 books. One for each of my two sons, one for him, one for me and one was sent to the WWII resistance museum in Copenhagen, where they still keep it.
A small contribution.

 

[Mr. K.L.Bowers]

I have a close friend who drove a jeep in D company, 115th Regiment , 29th Division. He has recanted many incidents over the years and I am planning to sit down with him this month and record his stories. He started driving for the Lieutenant in his squad but between Normandy and Germany he drove for three and all three were killed. He was wounded at the Ruhr River and returned to a hospital in England.

 

[SMUPhil]

My grandfather (still alive, 90 years young!) served in the Army Air Corps in WWII. My mom said that none of his kids knew too much about his life before and during the war, at least not in too great of detail, so last year, he sat down and typed about a 20 page autobiography with pictures and everything.

Some highlights:

-Out of a class of 40 people selected for pilot training, he was one of only two that passed.
-Flew in the China-Burma-India theater, flying supplies back and forth over the Himalayas to the Flying Tigers and China to help fight the Japanese. This flight was called "the hump" and something like 50% of all crews (1500+ servicemen) crashed or were shot down. I believe he flew B-24's, C-45's, and C-47's. Said he never saw an enemy plane.
-Later in the war, he was a flight instructor at Moody Air Field in Georgia. His personal plane there was a P-38. He said that in order to fly a different plane, you just had to read the manual and watch a film on it. He said because of this, he flew all kinds of different planes on the base there, including the P-51, which he said was the fastest he'd ever been in his life.
-I knew he wasn't involved in the D-Day invasion, but I asked he where he was when he heard about it. He said he had flown some general up to West Point to watch his son graduate, which was on June 6th. They announced it in the stadium that we had just landed at Normandy and there was a loud cheer from everyone. Also, he said Glenn Miller's band was performing at the graduation.
-After only 4 years in the service, he left at the rank of Lt. Colonel. He earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, which is the number 7 award in the US military (The Medal of Honor being number 1)

Not trying to brag if it seems like that, just really really proud of my grandad and his neat story. To me he was always this nice old guy that practiced law, so it's amazing to imagine him as this accomplished pilot from WWII.

 

[M. Jeffroy]

Last semester, I took a WWII history class, and one of the primary assignments was to interview a veteran and write a ten page narrative of their experiences. The professor, a local museum curator, has been teaching this class for years and collecting these narratives from each student.
I interviewed a family friend's brother who was wounded in Belgium with the 75th Infantry Division. Spending the day with this gentleman was a terrific experience and having the opportunity to record his story made the class very meaningful and memorable. Moved by this assignment, I plan to interview my grandfather, a Korea vet, and my neighbor, a WWII sailor, very soon.

 

[Gaige]

Not trying to brag if it seems like that, just really really proud of my grandad and his neat story. To me he was always this nice old guy that practiced law, so it's amazing to imagine him as this accomplished pilot from WWII.

Sir, feel free to "brag" all day and all night. This is a wonderful story you've shared, and your grandfather certainly deserves to have the limelight as you describe it to us.

You have every right to be proud and deserve the attention such a story commands.

Thank you for sharing it. :eusa_clap

 

[dhermann1]

I just spent the weekend with my girlfriend's family. Her half brother was born in France in 1939, and lived there till 1951. He was describing living in occupied France as a young, only partly understanding child. The farmers used horses and human muscle for energy, only getting an old steam engine after the war. They harvested grain with a scythe, and threshed it with leather threshers.
He described his uncle hiding from the French collaborationist police (worse that the Gestapo). The door was locked and barricaded, and he crouched behind a table with a knife in his hand. They eventally left.
During the liberation there was a battle between the resistance and the Germans. His six year old mind didn't find anything strange in seeing wounded people being bandaged in his kitchen.
He came to America with his mother and step father (my girlfriend's dad. He's a story himself), in 1951.
He became a brilliant writer. Look up his work: Francois Camoin.

 

[Warden]

There is a FALLSCHIRMJAGER living history group here in the UK, who have in thier ranks a former FALLSCHIRMJAGER.

He was captured in Italy, sent to a UK pow camp and stayed.

He has been on TV a few times, speaks with a strong Newcastle accent. I guess you can't get more accurate than having a vetran in your group.

Harry

 

[MrBern]

PBS

FYI, some PBS stations are accumulating interviews w/ vets...as a companion piece to the upcoming KenBurns WWII documentary

WAR STORIES ORAL HISTORY LINK

 

[Story]

If he's doing this now, wonder what he was like back then?

A 95-year-old World War II veteran from Sydney dared two knife-wielding home invaders to kill him.

Police said Robert Taylor was sitting on the front veranda of his Copeland Street home in Liverpool, in Sydney's southwest, when two men tried to rob him about 3pm (AEDT) yesterday.

One of them threatened him with a knife, while the other went inside the house, cut the phone line and then rummaged through the elderly man's belongings.

Mr Taylor said the knife-wielding men told him to get inside the house or they would kill him.

He said he refused and dared them to carry out their threats.

"I said to them while they were standing there,'If you are going to kill me, kill me now','' Mr Taylor said to Network Ten.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22955133-2,00.html

 

[Story]

WWII vet had an idyllic beginning
Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 12/21/2007 09:00:00 PM PST


As he climbed over a hill with his fellow soldiers in the South Pacific in World War II, Marshall Avila looked up and saw a Japanese pilot looking down at the platoon from his plane. Moments later, an American plane appeared and, after a brief dogfight, shot down the enemy aircraft right in front of them.

Knowing he might never see such a sight again, Avila grabbed a piece of the Japanese plane and brought it home with him.

Years later, when the glass on his wife's Bulova watch broke, he replaced it with glass from the plane. * lol

http://www2.sbsun.com/news/ci_7782739

* Makes you wonder how many innocuous items were turned into iconic momentos like this (watchbands fashioned from the leather seats of knocked-out Panzers, ad nauseum). [huh]

KY Oral History Commission Preserving Stories of WWII Veterans

Friday, Dec 21, 2007 - 05:35 PM Updated: 06:19 PM

The stories of World War II veterans are disappearing before our eyes as more and more pass on. Now, the Kentucky Historical Society is making an effort to preserve the stories of Kentucky's World War II vets.

The Kentucky Oral History Commission's goal is to ensure that stories in Kentucky are collected and preserved. The Commission is working to get as many stories recorded as possible from Kentucky veterans for use by future generations.

Right now, the Commission is gathering the stories of about 30 WWII veterans. Once they are collected by oral historians, they will be put on the Kentucky Historical Society's website where anyone can access them. But the Oral History Commission wants the stories of more of Kentucky's veterans, even if you think your story isn't worth telling. "A lot of times people think, well, I'm not famous or I didn't do anything out of the ordinary, why would you want to know about it? But that's exactly what we do want to know, we want to know the stories of everyday people and everyday lives" said Gretchen Haney, Director of Special Collections at the Oral History Commission.

If you would like to get involved either telling your story or collecting stories, visit the Kentucky Historical Society website.

http://www.wtvq.com/midatlantic/tvq/news.apx.-content-articles-TVQ-2007-12-21-0009.html

 

[Story]

http://www.hfxnews.ca/index.cfm?sid=90843&sc=93

One of Canada's last Second World War senior army commanders passed away in Halifax's Camp Hill Veterans' Memorial Building on Dec. 10, in his 91st year. Bob Moncel, whose funeral was held on Monday, was a long-time resident of Nova Scotia.

As far as I can discover, Moncel's death leaves only one surviving wartime senior commander. Elliot Rodger, 100, commanded 10th Infantry Brigade, and lives in Ottawa.

Moncel, a pre-war militia officer in Montreal's Victoria Rifles, was promoted to brigadier in August 1944 in Normandy to command 4th Armoured Brigade, replacing Brig. Les Booth, who had been killed in action. At just 27 years of age, he was Canada's youngest brigadier.

Moncel's rise through the officer ranks was meteoric. A lieutenant when the war broke out in 1939, he was promoted captain in 1941, major in 1942, lieutenant-colonel in 1943 and brigadier in 1944, skipping the rank of colonel.

Moncel sailed to England in late 1939 as a platoon commander in the Royal Canadian Regiment, a unit of 1st Infantry Brigade in 1st Canadian Infantry Division. Before the fall of France, he was one of few Canadians to make it to the continent when his brigade was sent to reinforce the British and French.

Blitzkrieg

In June 1940, the Germans overran France in one of history's first "blitzkrieg" operations - lightning-fast thrusts by tanks and motorized infantry, supported by aircraft. They quickly reached the English Channel, leaving 1st Brigade scrambling to return to England.

Ordered by a British officer to destroy his platoon's valuable Bren-gun carriers, Moncel managed to get them aboard a ship as ballast - after he ordered his platoon sergeant to shoot the British officer if he interfered.

 

[A.R. McVintage]

It'd been nice to have had people care about this a few years ago when my grandfather was still on this earth.

At least I have his stories for myself since they only care about a veteran's experience if they haven't succumbed to old age yet.

 

[NoirDame]

This is WONDERFUL. :eusa_clap Unfortunately, we lose history every day. A statistic I just heard on the radio says we lose 1,000 WWII vets each year. The last WWI vet just passed.

I am actually going to be writing a book with veteran's stories. I've yet to start my interviews but it's a serious project after the holidays. My first subject is a nurse who served at Hickam in Hawaii.

It makes me sad when I think of all the contributions forgotten and stories lost. My grandfather served in the Phillipines, but I don't know much other than a funny story that I'll share. My grandfather saw a lot of topless women where he was stationed and one day he gave a shirt to one of them. The next day he saw her walking around with two holes cut in the front of the shirt!

I hope to contribute to the preservation of these important parts of history as I begin my graduate studies in History with my emphasis and thesis work in WWII.