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.
Oral History Interview: Joseph McCormick of Danville
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Joseph McCormick served in the Army in Europe in the quartermaster corps supplying the front lines. He spoke excellent French and acted as an interpreter with the Free French.
RealVideo archive:
Danville Residents Remember World War II
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Seventy-five people attended a community conversation October 16, 2007 at the Danville Public Library in Danville, IL featuring stories from eight Danville-area residents. Speaking were John Saint who enlisted in the Air Force in 1942 and was a POW in Germany; Bill Kannapel, who cared for wounded soldiers as a doctor; Helen Montgomery, who served in the Medical and Identification division of the American Women’s Voluntary Service; Charlie Dukes, who was a POW in Germany and Russia; Joe McCormick, who was a translator who worked with the French Underground; Milt Crippin, who landed on Utah Beach on D-Day and “Sparky” Songer who was a POW in Germany during the Battle of the Bulge. The event was co-sponsored by WILL AM-FM-TV and the Danville Public Library. The panel and audience discussion were moderated by Mary Coffman of the Danville Area Community College.
RealVideo archive:
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
Oral History Interview: Alexander Samaras of Danville
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Alexander Samaras was the commanding officer of an LCT in the Navy, and fought at Utah Beach on D-Day. He and his men worked to ferry in troops and equipment, and then later on to ferry out the dead and prisoners. His LCT also carried in crucial equipment used to set up communications for both Omaha and Utah Beach.
He joined his LCT in New Orleans, and the LCT was taken across the Atlantic on a larger LST. As a junior officer, he had to take his turn standing watch on the LST. During rough weather one night while he was on watch, three of the ships in his convoy were struck by torpedoes and blown up. That same night, his LST was hit by a torpedo, but it was dud. The entire hold of his LST, the length of a football field, was filled with ammunition. The torpedo put a dent in the stern. “It made me a fatalist,” he says.
RealVideo archive:
Audio archives:
Play Now:RealAudio archive | downloadable MP3
Sparky Songer, Danville
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Sparky Songer served in the infantry in Europe and was captured by the Germans in the Battle of the Bulge. He spent six months in German camps before escaping as the war was winding down and finding his way to American lines, thanks to the help of an English-speaking German guard who was a graduate of the University of Michigan. Songer talks to WILL-TV producer Denise La Grassa about his escape and his experiences in the German camps, where he subsisted almost almost entirely on rutabaga soup. He weighed under 100 pounds when he reached safety. Songer is curator and president of the Vermilion County War Museum.