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
Central Illinois World War II Stories
Bringing World War II Stories to Light
WILL’s Central Illinois World War II Stories project focuses on recording untold World War II stories and making them available through broadcast and the Web.
More than 90 central Illinois World War II veterans, their families and others involved in war service have volunteered to be a part of the project. Many stories aired in September and October 2007 on WILL-TV and radio, and are archived on this Web site. The station is recording video oral histories of veterans and making them available here, as well as providing copies to the Veterans History Project of the Library of Congress.
Special events, sponsored by WILL and community partners, offered opportunities for veterans and their families to discuss war experiences.
Iris Lundin, Champaign
Aired on WILL-TV's "Prairie Fire" at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 7
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When World War II broke out, Iris Nigg Lundin of Champaign left her small town in Minnesota and joined hundreds of other women in the newly formed Marine Corps women’s Reserve. She became one of the first four female navigation instructors.
Producer Denise La Grassa said that in her conversations with Lundin, she was impressed by the strength of this woman who left a secure life in Minnesota to join the ranks of the Marines, the toughest of the tough. “This was the first time many of these men who were her students had encountered a female instructor and she really held her own,” said La Grassa. “When I listened to her stories, I was moved by her description of how she went to bat for African-Americans on the military bases where she worked. She was brave enough to tell a higher-ranking officer that he shouldn’t be treating a steward in a demeaning manner. Later in her life, equality was very important to her.”
RealVideo archive:
Audio archives:
RealAudio archive | downloadable MP3
Love and War
Aired on WILL-TV's "Prairie Fire" at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 14
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The story of Jerry and Wilma Ashenbremer of Oakwood is one of love amid the ruins of war. They met in Vienna at the conclusion of World War II. Wilma was a young Austrian, Jerry a GI patrolling the city. They began a silent relationship.
Bob and Hattie Marion of Urbana sustained their love throughout the war when he was overseas. Letters kept the spark alive. But every time the letters temporarily stopped, Hattie worried.
Producer Denise La Grassa looks at the lives of these two couples in “Love and War.” “The couples are similar in that they’ve been together so long that there’s a great friendship and a close bond,” says Denise. “I found the way they interacted to be very fresh and youthful, yet both couples are older. I wonder if it’s because they came through so much in their years having to go through the war and its aftermath together.”
RealVideo archive:
Audio archives:
RealAudio archive | downloadable MP3