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: Sam Weldon of Urbana
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Sam Weldon grew up in Champaign, Ill., a Midwestern college town. He was drafted and became a member of the 4th Marines Division at 18. Following a shortened training session, he and his fellow Marines were put on ships and sent to the Pacific. He was part of the second wave to land on Iwo Jima. His stories of the days and nights of battles there are amazing and touching and very human. He became a Corporal when the officers ranked above him were killed. Weldon talks about friendships made and friends lost and those who survived during the fights on Iwo Jima and afterward. His stories of being discharged and celebrating in Chicago add another picture. Looking back over it all, he can still say he would do it all again.
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The First to Enlist for Chanute's All-Black 99th Pursuit Squadron
Eunice Dansby Gingrey of Decatur, Ill., describes the early flying exploits and World War II experiences of her late husband, Tuskegee Airman Ellsworth Dansby Jr.
Oral History Interview: Malcolm Davis of Urbana
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Malcolm Davis served in the U.S. Army infantry in the battles of Ardennes, Rhineland, Central Europe and the Battle of the Bulge. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge. In his pocket, he carried a small Bible with a metal cover. The Bible saved his life, he said, when a bullet hit the Bible instead of him.
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Oral History Interview: Ralph Woolard of Tolono
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Ralph Wagner Woolard, veteran with the U.S. Army 36th Infantry Division 142d Regiment 3rd Battalion served from April 1943 to Oct. 5, 1945. He was in an intelligence squad and his highest rank at the end of the war was Staff Sergeant.
Woolard was in combat for the majority of his service in Europe except for recuperation from wounds (twice). He saw action in some of the bitterest battles in Italy, France, Germany and Austria (for example Monte Cassino, Selestat, on the Siegfried Line). His decorations are two Purple Hearts with oak leaf cluster, Bronze Star, and the Combat Infantry Badge.
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Oral History Interview: Olive Clark of Urbana
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Olive Cocker Clark relates stories from the home front, based on her experiences as a World War II-era bride. She and George Cocker settled in Childers, Texas, while George was assigned to the base nearby. When George was later transferred to Langley Field, Va., their cross-country journey by car to their new home was an adventure of late-night car repairs, a blinding snow storm, and finally a collision with the back of a slow-moving truck. With the assistance of the Red Cross, however, they were finally able to complete their journey.
To the interview, Olive brought a World War II-era photograph of her late husband George standing next to Lord Louis Mountbatten, the uncle of Charles, Prince of Wales. George had helped to build and inspect engines during the Lend-Lease program with Britain, and Lord Mountbatten had stopped by to visit with the workers and to express to them his appreciation for what the workers in the Lend-Lease program had meant to England’s efforts in the War.
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Guarding U.S. Coastline on Horseback
Rebecca Barber tells about her husband’s service in the U.S. Coast Guard’s Mounted Beach Patrol along Florida beaches. Ralph Barber lived in a barracks in the dunes near the horse stables and kept a lookout for Germans trying to come ashore from submarines.