Stories by Media
Stories by Location
The War, Ken Burns’ seven-part documentary series directed and produced by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, was the most-watched PBS series of the past 10 years. It explored the history and horror of the Second World War from an American perspective by following the fortunes of so-called ordinary men and women who become caught up in one of the greatest cataclysms in human history.
WILL-TV’s Central Illinois World War II Stories was developed in conjunction with the Ken Burns’ series.
Visit The War web site on PBS.org
Share Your Story
PBS is gathering WWII stories from viewers across the United States. Upload your story to PBS for sharing with all other viewers. If you need assistance, contact Mary Barrineau or Jack Brighton at 217-333-1070.
This project supported in part by:
Clark Lindsey Village
Ecowater Systems
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers #601
Strawberry Fields
Steamatic
WETA
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
WILL Stories
In stories on WILL radio, television and the Web, WILL looks at the war from many perspectives: men in battle on land and at sea, Japanese-American families in internment camps, conscientious objectors, women in the service, African-Americans at Chanute Air Force Base, German POWs in Hoopeston.
Web Stories
These stories and features are produced for the web only. Diary entries, oral histories, and other extended content too lengthy for broadcast will be published here.
Oral History Interview: O.B. Streeper of Chenoa
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O.B. Streeper served with the Army Air Corps from March 1943 to September 1945. He was shot down May 27, 1944, over southern France. He parachuted to safety, and joined the French resistance. During one of the missions that he participated in, a bag was accidentally left behind contained his name and some of his identification.
After finding this bag, the Nazis were apparently convinced that Streeper was one of the key figures in the French resistance so they offered a large reward for him—large enough that it represented several years of salary to an average Frenchman—so Streeper had to distance himself from some of his colleagues in the resistance for fear that someone might turn him in for the reward money.
RealVideo archive:
Oral History Interview: Charles Dukes of Georgetown
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Charles Dukes enlisted in the Army in October, 1943, during his sophomore year at Indiana University. He was shipped overseas 80 days after D-day, entering battle in the Cherbourg Peninsula. He fought through Belgium, Holland and Germany. Dukes was captured Nov. 23, 1944, spending six months in Runddorf, a labor camp near the Czech border. He escaped several different times, finally making it to the Elbe River where Americans were being exchanged one-for-one for Russians.
RealVideo archive:
Oral History Interview: Joseph Smith of Champaign
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Joseph Smith enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on June 11, 1943. Smith selected the Marine Corps after a USMC recruiter convinced him that he would be treated just the same as white recruits and could expect a job other than cook. While Smith would eventually serve in the Okinawa Campaign as a truck driver, he quickly learned during his trip to boot camp that institutional racism was alive and well in the Armed Forces.
RealVideo archive:
Oral History Interview: Eugene Houser of Farmer City
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Eugene Houser served as clerk typist in an Army Replacement Battalion in the Mediterranean Theater. From 1944 to 1946, he worked in a unit that processed incoming replacement troops and cut orders for troops being discharged. He says he didn’t do anything heroic, but like all Americans, he was deeply involved in the war effort. He left his father who had some physical handicaps to run the family farm because, as he puts it, he couldn’t have faced himself if he hadn’t gone into the Army when called. His story reflects those of many of the behind-the-line soldiers. His great respect for all who served is obvious throughout his interview. Houser talks about the men he met during these years. Years after the war, he and several other veterans collected stories of veterans, men and women, from the Farmer City, Ill., area into a book they titled “Their Roles Remembered.”
RealVideo archive:
Audio archives:
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Oral History Interview: Perry Rannebarger of Champaign
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Perry Rannebarger was drafted into the Illinois National Guard in September 1941 prior to the U.S. entering World War II. He became part of an infantry regiment and was sent to Australia just after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He was among the first soldiers to become part of the Americal Division. He fought in the Battle of Mount Austen during the Guadalcanal campaign.
RealVideo archive:
Audio archives:
Play Now:RealAudio archive | downloadable MP3
Oral History Interview: Harry Reed of Danville
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During World War II, Harry Reed was a flight engineer on a plane that was the equivalent of today’s Air Force II. His plane carrying Secret Service members flew about 20 minutes in front of the plane carrying the President and landed in time to give the Secret Service people adequate time to secure the area for the President and other dignitaries. His assignments included flying Eleanor Roosevelt after FDR died (The President’s body was moved by train). Reed’s plane flew the President and others to vital meetings at places like Yalta and Pottsdam, as well as making a flight to South America that gave the U.S. options for a possible new way to reach Japan by air. The plane also broke the round trip speed record to Paris. Harry Reed will tell you that is proud that he was able to serve his country and that he sees himself as being very lucky to have gotten the assignments he did.
RealVideo archive:
Audio archives:
Play Now:RealAudio archive | downloadable MP3