You can tell by the expressions on our faces that World War II vets Bob Foster & Don Shady and I enjoyed our time on the air last week with talk show host Nelson Price. Nelson is the host of a long-running live history talk show —Hoosier History Live! Hoosier History Live is... Continue Reading →
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WWII Vets to Share Stories on Upcoming Radio Interview
On Sat 2/28 my husband John & I will accompany 2 World War II vets from my book -- World War II Legacies: Stories of Northeast Indiana Veterans -- to University of Indianapolis to be featured on a Hoosier History Live radio show. It airs each Saturday, noon to 1 p.m. ET on WICR 88.7... Continue Reading →
WWII Vet Vernon Affolder served at D-Day and Battle of the Bulge
My Vet of the Week is Vernon W. ‘Bun’ William Affolder of Decatur, IN. Mr. Affolder died on Monday, Jan. 20, 2014. His birthday would have been tomorrow. I interviewed him in his home three years ago. He became emotional about several parts of the war that were still very real to him. That... Continue Reading →
Elmo Rieddle served in Army Air Corps during WWII.
I’d like to recognize a vet who passed away last year. Elmo Rieddle was drafted into the Army Air Corps in 1943. He worked two years as a mechanic for the 486th Bomb Squadron at Sudbury England. After he was discharged at the war’s end, he was a member of the Army National Guard for... Continue Reading →
WWII Navy Vet Aided at Pearl Harbor, Attu
May 8, 1921-Jan 17, 2015 It is with sadness that I tell of the passing of Richard Vanderwall whose story was included in my book, World War II Legacies: Stories of Northeast Indiana Veterans. I met Richard Marvin Vanderwall, Sr. when my mother introduced me to him at the location where they both lived... Continue Reading →
Wish a WWII Vet Happy Birthday!
Today is my birthday. I live in the Midwest of the US and have sworn to myself that someday I’m going to be somewhere warm for my birthday! Right now it is 30 degrees so I know it could be worse. But I'm definitely thinking 'beach' is in a future birthday! Anyway, I have nothing... Continue Reading →
Marty Wyall Last WWII WASP in Indiana
“Being a WASP changed our thinking about everything,” said Marty Wyall of Fort Wayne. Among the 25,000 applicants for the WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots), Mary Anna Martin of Indianapolis was one of 1,830 women accepted and one of only 1,074 who completed the program. This is an excerpt from my book, World War II... Continue Reading →
Meet Distinguished WWII Vets at Free Event!
If you’ve wanted to meet a World War II vet and ask questions about his or her service, you’ll have a unique opportunity to do so on Sat, Jan 24 at River Terrace Estates in Bluffton, Indiana. Two vets from my book, World War II Legacies: Stories of Northeast Indiana Veterans, have agreed to... Continue Reading →
Bob Batchelder’s Unusual WWII Surrender
Robert ‘Bob’ Batchelder of Fort Wayne landed on Omaha Beach at Normandy on June 6, 1944, as part of the D-Day invasion. “I crawled down the side of our landing craft with medical supplies into the cold water while guns strafed the water around us,” he said. “Thankfully, I knew how to swim.” He was... Continue Reading →
WASP Margaret Ringenberg’s Life as Revealed Through Her Daughter
My privilege as a writer and now author of World War II Legacies: Stories of Northeast Indiana Veterans is to celebrate occasions when the subject of World War II is promoted to the community. I admit, before interviewing nearly 60 World War II vets, I might not have been as interested in the subject as... Continue Reading →