World War II Veterans and their Stories
Title
World War II Veterans and their Stories
Description
In the mid-1990s Midway Village Museum interviewed World War II veterans about their military experiences. The interviews were recorded on cassette tape and then transcripts were typed up. Those written transcripts are available here. In some cases parts of the interview were inaudible. These sections have been reflected with question marks or the use of square brackets around a word or phrase that is the transcriber's best guess. No audio files have been digitized.
Creator
Midway Village Museum
Publisher
Midway Village Museum
Date
1993-2001
Rights
Midway Village Museum
Format
pdf
Language
English
Type
Oral History
Collection Items
Elmer L. Wilt
Born October 5, 1924, Elmer L. Wilt enlisted in 1942 as an Army Air Force pilot. He was discharged December 5, 1945. He died August 4, 2015.
Frank Wilson
Frank Rodney Wilson was born October 14, 1923. He enlisted in the Army Air Force in 1941 and was discharged in 1945.
Hilda Wills
Born December 23, 1920, Hilda Wills became a welder during World War II. She died April 21, 2001.
Helen Robertson Williams
Born 1925, Helen Robertson Williams became a recruiter for the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service, a unit of the U.S. Naval Reserve) in 1945. She was discharged in March of 1946.
Earl John Vogelpohl
Born July 18, 1924, Earl John Vogelpohl was drafted in 1943 and served as a Navy radio operator. He died April 30, 2002.
Everett Tuttle
Born in 1923, Everett Tuttle was drafted in 1942 into the Army Air Force, becoming part of a weather crew. He was discharged in 1946. He died June 29, 2018.
Floyd Swenson
Born February 5, 1907, Floyd Swenson was an Army engineer, drafted in 1942. He was discharged in 1946. He died December 14,1995.
Robert Brooks Stringer
Born in May of 1922, Robert Brooks Stringer joined the Army Air Corps in 1942 and was discharged in June 1945. He flew a B-24 Liberator Bomber. Robert died May 16, 2007.
Charles W. Staley
Born October 8, 1920, Charles W. Staley enlisted in the Army Air Corps in January 1941. He died October 31, 2010.
Ernest S. Stolp, Jr.
Born April 18, 1921, Ernest S. Stolp joined the Army Air force in 1942 and was discharged Dec. 13, 1945. He died November 19, 2006.
Bruno Stasica
Born September 22, 1921, Bruno Stasica joined the Army in 1942 and then applied to the Army Air Force, ultimately becoming a paratrooper. He was discharged in 1946. He died May 15, 2007.
Russell Sanden
Born November 17, 1924, Russell Sanden was drafted June 1943 into the Air Force as a turret ball gunner. He was discharged November 1945. He died March 18, 2004.
Max Rubin
Born November 2, 1907, Max Rubin was drafted October 1943 by the British Army as a clerk. Died August 4, 2002.
Robert Travis Robertson
Born October 19, 1924, Robert T. Robertson was drafted in 1942 into the Army Air Force. He died January 6, 2002
Reverend Dr. Robert Wildman
Born April 20, 1924, Dr. Robert Wildman enlisted in the Army as a Chaplain's Assistant in April 1943. He was discharged in January 1946. He died February 26, 2005.
Raymond L. Purfeerst
Born November 2, 1923, Raymond Purfeerst enlisted in January 1942 into the Air Force as a pilot. He was discharged in 1946. He died March 22, 1999.
William J. Pirages
Born September 17, 1922, William Pirages joined the Navy Air Force in April 1942 as a pilot. He died March 20, 2012.
Russell Peacock
Born January 21, 1925, Russell Peacock enlisted in 1943 joining the Army Air Corps as a top turret gunner. Died November 19, 2002.
Glen Peacock
Born November 25, 1919, Glen Peacock was drafted into the Army infantry in 1941 and discharged in 1946. He died June 16, 2011.
Donald W. Owens
Born February 4, 1919, Donald W. Owens joined the Army Anti Tank Battalion in April of 1941. He was discharged in July 1945. He died September 27, 2009.
Kaare Nevdal
Born October 9, 1920 Kaare Nevdal joined England's Royal Air Force as a radio operator and gunner, in March of 1941. He was discharged in June of 1945. He was still living as of 2016.
Robert George Miller
Born January 15, 1919, Robert G. Miller joined the Air Force in October 1942. He retired from the military in 1976. Died October 2, 2010.
Robert Lucas
Born August 21, 1921, Robert Lucas was drafted into the Airforce in August 1942 as a radio operator. He was discharged in August 1945. He died March 17, 2012.
William Kunz
Born September 28, 1921, William Kunz was drafted into the Army during World War II. He died July 30, 2014.
Helen Kunz
Born May 24, 1922, Helen Kunz was a civilian and the wife of William Kunz who served in the Army. She died June 29, 2018.
Herman Jerome Johnson
Born May 17, 1926, Herman Johnson served as an electrician in the Navy from the spring of 1944 to July 1946. He died December 5, 2009.
Elmer Hooper
Born July 12, 1924 , Elmer Hooper was trained as an Air Force tail gunner. He died February 14, 2008.
Dr. Robert Heerens
Born July 1915, Dr. Robert Heerens became a hospital doctor with the Marines. He died October 19, 2014.
Thomas Harker
Born August 6, 1919, Thomas Harker joined the Army Air Corps as a pilot. He died April 29, 2013.
Joe Geraghty
Born February 27, 1920, Joe Geraghty served in the Naval Air Corps during World War II. He died November 22, 2014.
V. Stewart & Jeanette Fisher
V. Stewart Fisher was born in 1918 and enlisted in the Army during World War II. He died October 7, 2005. Jeanette Fisher, born May 1917, volunteered as a nurse in 1943. She died November 21, 2012.
John Danaher
John Danaher was born February 14, 1920. He enlisted in the Navy Air Corps in August 1941 and served until December 1945. He died August 1, 1997.
John B. Whitehead
Born September 10, 1923, John B. Whitehead was drafted in 1942. He served in the Navy until 1947.
John T. Sowle
Born 1920 , John T. Sowle joined the Marines as a pilot from 1942 to 1944. He died November 20, 2005.
Robert Persinger
Born September 29, 1923, Robert Persinger was drafted in 1943 and became an Army tank commander. Persinger helped liberate the Ebensee Concentration Camp in Austria. He was discharged October 29, 1945. Persinger died November 19, 2018.
Stanton Ragnar Olson
Born January 16, 1923, Stanton R. Olson joined the Air Force from 1942 to 1945 as a navigator. He remained in the reserves and was recalled to active duty during the Korean War. He died October 7, 2001.
Fred G. (Ted) Nott
Born in 1920, Fred Nott (also known as Ted Nott), joined the Air Force from 1943 to 1946. He died May 13, 2000.
Charles Nelson
Born May 19, 1922, Charles Nelson was drafted in December 1942 into the Army Air Force. He died September 21, 2013.
Carl Edward Lind
Born about 1924, Carl E. Lind enlisted in the Airforce as navigator in July 1943. He was discharged in June 1945. Carl died January 9, 2019.
Earl Hutchinson
Born December 4, 1921, Earl Hutchinson was drafted into the Army. He died November 8, 2001.
Thomas D. Gilbert
Born January 19, 1921, Thomas D. Gilbert enlisted in the Air Force from 1942 to 1944 as radio operator. He spent time in the Nazi prisoner of war camp Stalag 17B in Austria. He died April 9, 1998.
Nels Gunnar Fransen
Born February 10, 1924, Nels Gunnar Fransen joined the Air Force as a pilot. He died May 31, 2010.
Leroy Elfstrom
Born August 14, 1922, Leroy Elfstrom enlisted in the Air Force as a radio operator. He died July 9, 2006.
Joe H. Crawford
Born November 13, 1921 Joseph H. Crawford was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1941. He was discharged in 1945. He died February 7, 2005.
Dwight W. Conrad
Born May 7, 1919, Dwight W. Conrad served in the U.S. Army from 1941 to 1945. He died January 15, 1998.
Warren Carlson
Born February 26, 1916, Warren Carlson served in the U.S Army Air Corps from 1941 to 1945 as a pilot. He died April 23, 2010.