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: Steve Johnson of Champaign
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Steve Johnson served in the Army as an amphibious engineer from June 30, 1943 until January 2, 1946. He served in the Bismarck Archipelago, New Guinea and the southern Philippines.
RealVideo archive:
Three Urbana Women Remember WWII
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Seventy-five people attended a community conversation October 4, 2007 at the Urbana Free Library in Urbana, IL featuring three women who had very different experiences of WWII. Speaking were Yukiko Okinaga Llewellyn who, as a little girl, was interned with her mother at Manzanar camp in California; Iris Lundin who, as a member of the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve, taught navigation to Navy pilots; and Jill Knappenberger who was one of three women serving on the front lines during the Battle of the Bulge. Working for the Red Cross operating a refitted truck dubbed a “Clubmobile,” she passed out donuts, coffee and cigarettes to weary soldiers. The event was co-sponsored by WILL AM-FM-TV and the Urbana Free Library. The panel and audience discussion were moderated by U of I history professor Mark Leff.
RealVideo archive:
Springfield's WWII Veterans Presentation
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More than 200 people attended a community conversation September 6, 2007 at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Memorial Library in Springfield, IL about the impact of WWII on residents of central Illinois. Speaking were George Cordier, a veteran of the Guam landing; Dorothy Cordier, Mr. Cordier’s wife; Ruth Lockhart Whittington, who talked about her experiences working as a riveter; and Sandy Wheeler who was a four-year-old child when her father was drafted into WWII. The event was co-sponsored by WILL and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Memorial Library and Museum. The panel and audience discussion were moderated by Mark DuPue of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Memorial Library.
RealVideo archive:
Rantoul's 99th Pursuit Squadron
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Sixty people attended a community conversation September 20, 2007 at the Rantoul Business Center in Rantoul, IL about the all-black 99th Pursuit Squadron formed during World War II at Chanute Field. Speaking were Col. Elmer Jones, one of six original aviation cadets to be trained at Chanute; Edith Roberts, widow of George “Spanky” Roberts, who was the first commander of the 99th Pursuit Squadron at Tuskegee; and Mrs. Eunice Dansby Gingery of Decatur, wife of Ellsworth Dansby, who was one of the first enlisted volunteers to arrive at Chanute Field in 1941. The event was co-sponsored by WILL and the Chanute Air Museum. The panel and audience discussion were moderated by Howard Piggee of Rantoul.
RealVideo archive:
Oral History Interview: George Myers of Springfield
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George Myers grew up in Hoopeston on a family farm with his widowed mom. He enrolled in the U of I to major in agriculture, thinking he could learn something to make the farm more successful. Myers served on an LST in the Pacific from 1944 to 1946. He didn’t get shot at, but he recalls being scared. “I still remember the full moon on the water and how it seemed like we were visible to everybody, but we couldn’t see a thing,” he said. Myers has been president of the national LST Association. Of the some 100 men on his ship, only about 7 are left.
RealVideo archive:
Oral History Interview: George Boyd of Urbana
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George Boyd was 7 years old and living in Urbana when Pearl Harbor was attacked. His homefront memories of the war years are sharp and reflect much of what children living in this country experienced. He did the things children did, playing and going to movies and helping with liberty gardens. He gives a good picture of life in middle America where everyone was involved in some way in the war effort. At the same time he heard adults talk and radio reports and knew when neighbors or family members were hurt or had died in battles. Children of this period in our history were changed by what was happening and in some ways were adults well before they might have been if the war had not happened.