Please: First Hand Accounts Only!
Since
the inception of this web site devoted to World War II, this web
master has worked alone. This project is a labor of love. It began
eight years ago when I was working nights and had to stay awake at
night on my days off.
Currently, my time is being devoted to a number of
other ongoing projects and they take the vast majority of my
available time.
If
you wish to submit a story to this site, please consider the
following:
1)
First hand account. Stories of events
witnessed by a veteran, a civilian who wrote their account of their
experiences of the war years. First hand accounts could include; but,
are not limited to: diaries, letters, memoirs of the time that a
person spent in the military, transcriptions from audio and video
tapes, transcribed interviews with family or friends, and similar
accounts.
2)
Second hand accounts. They would consist of
an author writing a novel or book and includes quotes from
individuals who served in the military, etc. An ongoing family
research project to include in story form what a veteran might have
experienced by "tracing their footsteps" through documents, research,
military records, unit histories, maps, etc. Unit histories, etc.
that are historically accurate; but, are not first hand accounts of
men and women who experienced first hand World War II.
Though the second hand accounts are time consuming
and may entail weeks, months or even years of painstaking research,
they are not first hand accounts. There are numerous sites on the
world wide web that such accounts can be displayed for the world to
see and read.
Many
sites offer free space and can be easily utilized to place such
historical accounts.
When
I began this project, I envisioned interviewing veterans, and
ordinary folks who lived during the turbulent war years and recording
their experiences for the world to read and remember.
Such
experiences like a B-17 navigator on a mission over Germany -- a
lonely GI who spends weeks in a muddy foxhole with only his foxhole
buddy to keep him company -- a sailor aboard a ship in the middle of
the Pacific scared out of his mind fearing that tomorrow he may be
dead -- a young boy growing up in WWII America and watching as train
after train loaded with troops, and military equipment move
relentlessly off to some distant destination.
World
War II Stories -- IN THEIR OWN WORDS! That is my goal.
I
will happily place a link to your accounts should you wish to send me
the web site where your account may be located, or review of your
book, or where a unit history may be located. I have a page that
lists each story on this web site and a new section can easily be
placed to include such labors of love.
Thank
you.
the
web master
WELCOME. On July 16, 2001, I
decided as an extension to research work I had been doing on the
military careers of my family members during the Civil War, that I
might want to take my search a step further and look into the
events that took place with my family and their service during
World War II.
I
had managed to listen to a few tales of things that had happened
to my father-in-law who served at Schofield Barracks and was there
to see the events unfold that led this country into World War II.
Additionally, I had heard a few brief accounts
(mostly comical) with regards to my Dad and his experiences during
the war years and eventual service during the last year of the
war.
Still, most of what I had heard or read about the
war came as a result of my love of reading and some of the events
depicted during the early years of black and white television.
Seldom had I actually heard an account of what it
was really like to be in combat, whether on the ground, on the sea
or in the air. Virtually no one I had met had ever mentioned
anything about those experiences.
As
a young boy growing up in 1950's small town America, war was just
something that we played as children with our toy soldiers, or
with our friends as we pretended to do battle with an imagined
enemy.
Many years passed and life went on. The Vietnam
war came and went with its many facets. My first experiences away
from home came during the time that this war was in its early
stages. I spent four years serving my country during that era, but
did not serve in Vietnam. My country deemed it necessary that I
serve elsewhere, including a year on the island of Iwo
Jima.
Over the coming years, the war that changed the
world began to emerge in my mind as a possible endeavor in the
form of a collection of stories. With the advent of the
world-wide-web, this became a distinct possibility.
So, many years later, I have begun a journey. A
journey to help tell a small part of the story that eventually
encompassed the entire world.
World War II.
This web site makes no attempt to glamorize
war.
I
am gathering war stories from the men and women who experienced
World War II. Those stories are portrayed here for all to read --
and remember.
No
one went off to war to become a hero.
The vast majority of World War II veterans that
this webmaster has encountered vehemently deny that they were a
"hero" and only did a job that had to be done. But, to the seeds
of that "greatest generation" -- they were indeed OUR
heroes.
In
my own small way, this webmaster is attempting to honor these
wonderful men and women by telling their story...
...In Their Own Words.

Iwo
Jima Memoirs
October 22, 2007.
My latest endeavor. A new site that I am currently
developing that will draw together stories/photographs from
veterans who served on Iwo Jima between February 19, 1945 to the
hand-over of Iwo Jima back to Japan in 1968.
A number of stories are already in place on this
new site.
I am currently looking for additional
stories.
If you served on Iwo Jima please drop me a line
and I would be honored to include your story. You can click on the
link on the bottom of this page and e-mail me.
Thank you...
the webmaster
"The
Search for Julius S. Hass,
Co.
F., 407th Regiment, 102nd Infantry Division"
A
Search by a Margraten Caretaker
Did you know that there are some wonderful
folks
who are still caring for the individual grave sites
of our World War II soldiers who fell in combat?
Hard to believe -- but true!
To this day, the care of a grave site
at many of the U. S. Cemeteries in Europe
have been passed down from one generation
to another and these wonderful folks
take on the task of care taking
as a means of saying
"Thank You"
for the ultimate sacrifice
given by American soldiers in World War II
For Your Convenience!
You can now search the World War II Stories -- In
Their Own Words web site. We have added a search engine that can
enable you to search this web site for names, units, dates, etc.
The search engine is also capable of extending
your search to the web. Check out the search engine
below...