Capturing WWII Stories, One Veteran at a Time
September 18 was the Air Force’s 75th birthday. It was officially formed in 1947, two years after WWII ended. During World War II, the aviation branch of the military was an arm of the Army. It was called at different times the Army Air Corps and Army Air Force. As a proud supporter of our... Continue Reading →
Bill Current served aboard an LST in the Pacific. Today’s story is taken from Book 3 in my World War II Legacies series: We Gave Our Best: American WWII Veterans Tell Their Stories. Note: The books do not have to be read in order. Each of the four books in the series are filled with... Continue Reading →
I met Francis, or ‘Link’ as he preferred to be called, Holmes in his nursing home around 2012. This was early in my interviews with 260 World War II veterans so I don't recall who told me about him. He was happy to tell about his years as a sailor in World War II. I... Continue Reading →
I met Robert Kreider, World War II veteran with the Army Air Corps, through a mutual friend. Chris Jones had known him since she had been a child as the two families spent much time together. He lived an hour away so we visited a couple of times when I was in the area. He... Continue Reading →
Photo taken inside the IN War Memorial Museum in Indianapolis. As we celebrate the anniversary of our nation’s freedoms, I reflect on the World War II stories I’ve heard and written about in the past decade. Dean Reckard of Huntington, Indiana, was part of the D-Day invasion in June 1944. Stories of pilots and soldiers... Continue Reading →
Clairus Dew served with the 5th Air Force in WWII. I met Clairus Dew 10 years ago through another veteran I had interviewed. I liked when that occurred because it helped introduce me to World War II veterans who didn't know me. Clairus was very elderly but sharp about his military service. His photo of... Continue Reading →
Charlie Conrad served aboard the USS Farquhar during WWII. I met World War II Navy veteran Charlie Conrad several years ago at a patriotic picnic gathering near my home. He had a ball cap with a Navy design on it and so I approached him (as I have done with many veterans) to ask if... Continue Reading →
This is Day 3 of Military Appreciation Week. Today I’m featuring an excerpt of a story of Ed Dager who served in the Army Air Corps. If you’ve just dropped in, be sure to go back and read the earlier stories of other veterans. This blog is dedicated to telling about our amazing veterans to... Continue Reading →
We're into Day 2 of Military Appreciation Week. Each day this week I’m featuring an excerpt of a story I've written from my 10 WWII vet books. Today is Francis Bushong who served in the Navy. After you've read his story, check out other posts on this blog -- it's full of stories of other... Continue Reading →
Joseph Wojciechowski sits atop a gun on a ship in WWII. April is designated as ‘The Month of the Military Child’. This is an important recognition for me, not because I’m a military child, but because it is one of the reasons I began writing World War II stories. When working as a reporter for... Continue Reading →
Writing of Kayleen Reusser 