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Oral History

H

Hern07

Charter Member
This is a difficult thing to say. Eventually all these WWII vets will have answered the last post. Could we ask them now to write or record their memories so we will have a record of what they did and how the average American answered the call. They will be precious heirlooms for succeding generations. I've already asked my father-in-law and he gently refused. I have to honor his decision. And don't forget the women, the Home Front had a major role in the final victory. Well, except for the fact that major domestic beer makers changed the taste of American beer to appeal to their palates.
 
I did that with my Grandfatherin 1984 - he was talking about how he was wounded in WW1, and I had a cassette recorder available - just quietly plugged in a microphone and pressed record........
In 1996, I did a similar thing with Dad, when he was talking about his childhood and things that happened up in the islands, during WW2....recording walkmans were very handy........
 
My wife and I made a 4 cassette recording of her uncle relating his experiences in North Africa, Greece, and Crete from 1940 to 1941. Probably the most interesting parts for me were his account of the battle for Crete around Maleme and his capture and escape. He was on the run with one other guy for 6 months before British operatives lifted him and got him back to Alexandria where he was hospitalised. It turned out that one of the nursing sisters was his first cousin! You can't keep a good man down, and eventually he was shipped back to Oz and did jungle training before being sent to Bougainville, where he earned the MC. Sadly he died before we could make a full record of his time on Bougainville.
 
Those are great, wish I could hear them. You might think about sharing with some sort of public repository. Here in the State I think the Library of Congress has an oral history section looking for such material. I don't know about Australia. Don't forget the Home Front. During our present times of economic worry, do you think anybody would consider rationing? Family story. During the war my oldest brother was about 14-years-old and worked in a local grocery store. Occasionally he could finagel a couple of extra stamps fpr sugsar and he would be the family hero for months.
 
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