thedrifter
07-19-08, 05:25 AM
July 19, 2008
A 'worthy' project: Author collects WWII oral histories
By Robbie Evans
revans@thenewsstar.com
Local author and veteran Lee Estes vividly remembers September 1944 — the day he stepped onto French soil as an American Army infantryman.
It was about three months after the Allied invasion of mainland Europe. As a young 18-year-old from Kentucky, Estes had been shipped to Scotland with 15,000 other American soldiers on the Queen Elizabeth before taking another transport to Utah Beach at Normandy, France.
And little did he know that nearly 64 years later, every minute detail of the experience would remain etched into his memory.
"It was a cloudy, overcast day," said Estes, now 83. "The first thing you noticed was the wrecked gliders and half-tracks on the beach."
He goes on to talk about the march with his comrades that day, first through the rain and then setting up base camp with a full moon shining. Other sights during the march were more striking, like Saint-Lo, a French city destroyed during the Battle of Normandy.
"I will never forget. That town was nothing but rubble," Estes recalled. "There wasn't a building standing."
Estes' story, along with the details he recalls, are the essence of interviews local veteran Stan Wall is conducting as part of an initiative by the Secretary of State's Office to record and archive the stories of Louisiana's veterans.
Wall, along with videographer Steve Pender of Monroe, is producing scores of video biographies on veterans like Estes. The biographies will later be edited and archived at the state archives in Baton Rouge and museums around the state.
As the country is losing its World War II veterans at an alarming rate, Wall said there isn't much time left to permanently record the veterans' stories before they pass away and take their stories with them.
"Now is the time to get the story of the World War II veterans," said Wall, who served in the U.S. Navy and Marines as a radio-gunner on torpedo bombers in the Pacific Theater. "As they get older, they are more willing to submit their stories."
Wall's interviews are 30 to 45 minutes long. Some are conducted at the Chennault Air and Military Museum in Monroe, which had already been producing interviews with veterans.
The interviews will be a nice addition to the museum, not only for visitors but also for other veterans and their families, said museum director Nell Calloway.
"We've made available our facilities for him to use for his interviews, and we also have an audio library we've started on," Calloway said. "We'd like to expand that library and in cooperation (with Wall) we'll have access to the interviews he's conducting.
"For the families of veterans, a lot of those interviews will be invaluable because the veterans, in some cases, wouldn't talk to family members about their experiences."
Wall has already conducted more than two dozen interviews with veterans and has planned to do another 150 around northern Louisiana, including Alexandria and Shreveport. He said there are about 14,000 veterans in the region.
There are also disappointments that go along with Wall's job.
"I do get upset when I find someone dies who I had lined up to interview," Wall said. "We've already missed some gem-dandies right here in the area."
In 2005 Estes published "Fading Warriors: Twilight Reminiscences From World War II," a compilation of personal recollections of more than 40 World War II veterans.
"It's sad when people pass on and don't leave any record," Estes said. "People involved in World War II came home after the war, and there was no real trauma involved with it. They got married, went to work, raised a family and got on with life."
"Every time I talk to a group of people where there might be veterans, I urge every one of them to write their stories down. I looked on a division Web site recently from World War II, and there were 900 messages from family members trying to find information about their relative that had been lost because they had passed on without telling family anything."
Estes considers himself lucky. After arriving in France, his 94th Infantry Division was stationed at Saint-Nazaire to serve as perimeter guards against German submarine ports. He was evacuated in January during the Battle of the Bulge with frozen feet. He later learned that his division suffered heavy losses.
"That probably saved my life," he said.
The opportunity to record the stories of veterans has given the 82-year-old Wall a new purpose in life.
"In my lifetime, I don't think I could have done anything more worthy than this project with worthy people," Wall said. "It excites my patriotism to be around them.
"They aren't shy, but they had the agony of talking about the war. At the time all these events took place, they considered it their duty to serve. Duty was foremost with these guys."
Ellie
A 'worthy' project: Author collects WWII oral histories
By Robbie Evans
revans@thenewsstar.com
Local author and veteran Lee Estes vividly remembers September 1944 — the day he stepped onto French soil as an American Army infantryman.
It was about three months after the Allied invasion of mainland Europe. As a young 18-year-old from Kentucky, Estes had been shipped to Scotland with 15,000 other American soldiers on the Queen Elizabeth before taking another transport to Utah Beach at Normandy, France.
And little did he know that nearly 64 years later, every minute detail of the experience would remain etched into his memory.
"It was a cloudy, overcast day," said Estes, now 83. "The first thing you noticed was the wrecked gliders and half-tracks on the beach."
He goes on to talk about the march with his comrades that day, first through the rain and then setting up base camp with a full moon shining. Other sights during the march were more striking, like Saint-Lo, a French city destroyed during the Battle of Normandy.
"I will never forget. That town was nothing but rubble," Estes recalled. "There wasn't a building standing."
Estes' story, along with the details he recalls, are the essence of interviews local veteran Stan Wall is conducting as part of an initiative by the Secretary of State's Office to record and archive the stories of Louisiana's veterans.
Wall, along with videographer Steve Pender of Monroe, is producing scores of video biographies on veterans like Estes. The biographies will later be edited and archived at the state archives in Baton Rouge and museums around the state.
As the country is losing its World War II veterans at an alarming rate, Wall said there isn't much time left to permanently record the veterans' stories before they pass away and take their stories with them.
"Now is the time to get the story of the World War II veterans," said Wall, who served in the U.S. Navy and Marines as a radio-gunner on torpedo bombers in the Pacific Theater. "As they get older, they are more willing to submit their stories."
Wall's interviews are 30 to 45 minutes long. Some are conducted at the Chennault Air and Military Museum in Monroe, which had already been producing interviews with veterans.
The interviews will be a nice addition to the museum, not only for visitors but also for other veterans and their families, said museum director Nell Calloway.
"We've made available our facilities for him to use for his interviews, and we also have an audio library we've started on," Calloway said. "We'd like to expand that library and in cooperation (with Wall) we'll have access to the interviews he's conducting.
"For the families of veterans, a lot of those interviews will be invaluable because the veterans, in some cases, wouldn't talk to family members about their experiences."
Wall has already conducted more than two dozen interviews with veterans and has planned to do another 150 around northern Louisiana, including Alexandria and Shreveport. He said there are about 14,000 veterans in the region.
There are also disappointments that go along with Wall's job.
"I do get upset when I find someone dies who I had lined up to interview," Wall said. "We've already missed some gem-dandies right here in the area."
In 2005 Estes published "Fading Warriors: Twilight Reminiscences From World War II," a compilation of personal recollections of more than 40 World War II veterans.
"It's sad when people pass on and don't leave any record," Estes said. "People involved in World War II came home after the war, and there was no real trauma involved with it. They got married, went to work, raised a family and got on with life."
"Every time I talk to a group of people where there might be veterans, I urge every one of them to write their stories down. I looked on a division Web site recently from World War II, and there were 900 messages from family members trying to find information about their relative that had been lost because they had passed on without telling family anything."
Estes considers himself lucky. After arriving in France, his 94th Infantry Division was stationed at Saint-Nazaire to serve as perimeter guards against German submarine ports. He was evacuated in January during the Battle of the Bulge with frozen feet. He later learned that his division suffered heavy losses.
"That probably saved my life," he said.
The opportunity to record the stories of veterans has given the 82-year-old Wall a new purpose in life.
"In my lifetime, I don't think I could have done anything more worthy than this project with worthy people," Wall said. "It excites my patriotism to be around them.
"They aren't shy, but they had the agony of talking about the war. At the time all these events took place, they considered it their duty to serve. Duty was foremost with these guys."
Ellie