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: 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.”
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