Close to Home: Interviewing America’s World War II veterans

‘We were just doing our job,” is the most common phrase we have heard in three years of interviewing Sonoma County World War II veterans for the Library of Congress. Most veterans, no matter their branch of service, assignment or outcome of their experience have let us know this was their focus during that greatest challenge to America's freedom.

After nearly 60 interviews for an oral history project, we have learned much about America's World War II veterans.

They are humble and unassuming about their service during America's greatest challenge since the Civil War.

When approached about sharing their story, most respond with, “I wasn't a hero; you don't want to interview me.” I tell them, “Your part in that conflict was important; every job was important for victory. All of you had to work together to overcome that evil foisted upon the world. America needs to hear your story. It needs to become part of our nation's historical record. Young people need to hear what you did, what you sacrificed to guarantee them the life they enjoy today.”

We also have learned that vets sent overseas didn't know the “big picture.” They didn't know what was going on outside of their immediate field of operations. They focused on the “job we had to do.” They trusted orders were given in the effort to defeat the enemy, and that is all that needed their attention. Only after the war did they learn much about the war.

The experiences they had as young men are the most profound experience of their lives and still affect them in their 80s, 90s and 100s. They may not talk to you about it, but they think about it all the time. They didn't seek help for “battle fatigue,” or “shell shock,” which weren't recognized at the time as post-traumatic stress syndrome. They came home and carried on with their lives.

Seventy years later, memories of loss and gratitude often bring overwhelming emotions - and apologies for showing them.

We tell them it's OK to show those feelings. For some it's the loss of a buddy in battle, the death of FDR, the discovery of the inhumanity of concentration camps, witnessing the death of innocent civilians or the tears of their mother upon their homecoming. These “silent warriors” are not unfeeling veterans.

Their families may not know what their fathers, mothers or grandparents experienced in the war. Many a son or daughter, after bringing their parent to the interview, has said upon its completion, “I have never heard this before,” “I didn't know what he did during the war,” or “He never talked about it.” It can open a new conversation and opportunity for understanding, respect and bonding within their family.

Sharing their stories and being acknowledged for their contribution to the war effort results in renewed pride. Every story is interesting. Every story is unique, and they are often surprised that our oral history team thinks so.

You don't know what stories and treasures lay within that senior slowly crossing the street and causing you consternation because he is so slow. He may have stormed Omaha beach on D-Day to keep you free.

Perhaps that elder struggling with a walker in the doorway of the store, hindering your entry, flew through flak over Germany, bailed out of a flaming B-17 bomber, endured a POW camp and suffers with health issues today.

Maybe that woman struggling to write her check at the grocery store worked to save a soldier whose legs were blown off, or held the hand of a sailor so he wouldn't be alone as he died. She gave up her civilian life.

World War II veterans are everywhere in your life. They have endured death and destruction, witnessed civilians executed by the enemy, liberated Nazi death camps, zipped up body bags over their best friends, thrown themselves into battle never expecting to survive, loaded trucks with ammunition and driven under fire to get it to the front, typed reports, stocked pharmacies, turned bomb craters into airfields, threw bridges across rivers, removed mangled limbs, delivered death notices to families. Every job and all assignments were important in America's all-out effort in World War II.

These veterans kept America from being taken over by fascism. They kept us free. You need to be patient with them in their senior years as age often brings challenges in daily living. You should honor what they did over 70 years ago. You should thank them for keeping us a free nation, still, today.

Nancy Heilesen Sandborn of Sebastopol is a member of the Pacific Coast Air Museum's oral history team, which is interviewing World War II and Korean War veterans for the Library of Congress' Veteran's History Project. For interview information, call 575-7900.

You can send a letter to the editor at letters@pressdemocrat.com