Warbird Information Exchange

I personally think one of the most fascinating aspects to wwii history is hearing the first hand account of experiences from those who were there. We are at a very critical time and fortunate time in that there are still a number of individuals alive and kicking that saw action in the most historic encounters of wwii as well as just the basics.

I was wondering if anyone knows if anyone has taken on the challenge to begin video interviewing as many soldiers, pilots, crewman, and sailors as possible while we still have the opportunity? There is so much information that soon could be lost. For instance, just life on a South Pacific island would be fascinating for me to hear and I think for others to hear. The routines the mechanics had to keep bombers flying. What was it like flying the hump, the types of cargo, the weather.... I could listen to stories from the guys that were there for hours.

Just last year I met a pilot that flew a B-26 out of England during the war and would sit and listen to his stories for hours. I wrote them down so I would not forget the details - just fascinating stuff. His name was 'Dirty Dan' if anybody knew him? And met anther fellow last year that was in the Battle of the Bulge. I would love to meet, had just sit and video the first hand accounts from anyone that was in any theater during WWII. I want to begin preserving this history for generations to come.

If anyone has advice on how to meet lots of these guys, I would be interested, and am willing to take on the task...

Thank you

Frequent WIX poster Zack Baughman directs the following program for the EAA:

http://www.eaa.org/timelessvoices/

I'm sure he could get you set up with the basics of scheduling & conducting interviews in your area.

_________________
It was a good idea, it just didn't work.

Ive been talking with Vietnam vets since 1997 and for me its time to pick up the pace. Time is going way too fast.

_________________
Long Live the N3N-3 "The Last US Military Bi-Plane" 1940-1959
Badmouthing Stearmans on WIX since 2005

On the Timeless Voices page is a "how to participate" link

That will bring to to an explanation page. They have a very nice "Project Kit" pdf. that you can download and print.

Here's the link
http://www.eaa.org/timelessvoices/tv_projectkit.pdf

Go get them....but be very patient.

_________________
Zane Adams
There I was at 20,000 ft, upside down and out of ammunition.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Join us for the Texas Warbird Report on WarbirdRadio.com!
http://www.facebook.com/WarbirdRadio
Listen at http://www.warbirdradio.com

I too would love to get involved in a project like this. I'm slowly trying to build a decent collection of video equipment so I can take this on next summer. I've got a background, studio lights, microphones, and am using "crowd funding" to help purchase a better camera.

So far I've had the opportunity to interview two WWII veterans. My adoptive grandfather was in the Merchant Marines during the war. I grew up listening to his stories. In 2009, I spent several hours with him, taking videos of his telling his stories of war and travel, and posted some of it here online: http://radiorestorer.com/merchantmarine.html . Today is also his 87th birthday as well!

Last December I interviewed a 92 year old friend of mine from a radio club that we are both members of. At the outbreak of the war, he went to flight school, but ended up washing out for being "too nervous". Being a ham radio operator for several years, he ended up spending the rest of the war in the signal corps state side, leaving the Army as a Captain. I hope to have his interview with pictures types up and available online soon.

http://yankeeairmuseum.org/oral-hist.php


Yankee Air Musuem does...I was fortunate enough to be at a couple of membership meeting when the vets told their story for us and the video camera.

I have filmed around 150 New Zealand WWII veterans, mainly RNZAF and Army but also some Navy. I have interviewed many more just with audio recordings too.

_________________
The Wings Over New Zealand Forum http://rnzaf.proboards.com

The Wings Over New Zealand Show http://www.cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZ_Show.html

Wings Over Cambridge http://www.cambridgeairforce.org.nz

We have partnered with the Library of Congress and submitted over 700 VHP (Vetereans History Project) interviews to them so far. I believe it's one of the most important programs we have at the Warhawk Air Museum and even have a dedicated filming studio we use to conduct these interviews. It's a very personal experience and a first hand account that history or the media can not change. It's very important we preserve these histories in their own words.

Several of these interviews can be viewed on our website:

http://www.warhawkairmuseum.org/vhp

JC

A couple of experiences......

I had the privledge to interview a WWII B-17 Nav back in 2010. It took me 2 years to locate him. It was part of our ongoing MIA recovery project in Greenland. He was the Nav on the B-17 that located our Duck and dropped rescue supplies to another crashed B-17. I was with him for approx 3-4 hours with the recorder going. He explained how they flew into snow storms, kept their visual references over the ice cap, dropped supplies, did a bomb run on a German weather station in Greenland. He spent a little time with COL Bernt Balchen at BE-2. I have a nav chart that he traced showing where the Duck, the B-17 and the Lost Squadron were located and which way the planes were resting (important!). He signed and dated it back in 1942 or 43. When I showed it to him he didn't remember it. I gave him a blown up copy of it. He got a kick out of that.

Their is another older gent in the Coast Guard Air Aux who was in the Army at the end of the war. I was stationed with him from 2000-2004 but didn't know of his background till one day he mentioned it. He was an Army MP at the Nuremberg Trials. He has done a few interviews about it. I passed this onto our CG Historians so they could arrange an interview with him. They have a pretty good catalogue of interviews and oral histories.

My pop was a 16 year old Marine toward the end of the war. He was island hopping in the Pacific and doing clean-up ops for hold out Japanese troops. He would never talk about it when I asked him while I was growing up. It was until his later years after Alzheimers started to set in that he opened up about it a little. I guess when your 16 and seeing the results of those "clean ups" you just want to forget about it.

what i personally do is have a photo album of all aircraft, and I have the veterans sign their photo to my sons. Their too young to understand the great stories they have and it's unfortunate that when they get older, the greatest generation will be gone. They won't have the oportunity to ask them questions. But at least they got to meet them, take a photo with them and have all the warbird pictures personalized for their wall. So, hopefully when they get to be men they will understand how special these items are that I got for them when they were little

_________________
" I am a nobody in aviation, but somebody to my family."