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World War II

A young man in his Merchant Marine uniform in during World War II

Radio Telegraph Operator Second Class Leon Schiff, U.S. Merchant Marine – A Will to Serve During World War II

After the United States entered World War II, the American public rallied behind the war effort. Everyone contributed by recycling metals, accepting shortages of consumer goods so war materials could be produced instead, and buying war bonds. Even more significant, millions of men volunteered to serve in the armed forces. Yet not all who wanted to serve in the military could. Some had crucial jobs in agriculture and industry, so they could not be released to serve. Others like Radio Telegraph Operator Second Class Leon Schiff faced different barriers. Leon was so nearsighted, the military would not allow him to volunteer. Undeterred and committed to doing his part to bring about the defeat of Germany and Japan, Leon volunteered in 1944 to serve in the U.S. Merchant Marine—an underappreciated yet crucial component of the Allied victory in the war.

World War II soldier in U.S. Army Uniform

Episode 36 – Private First Class Oscar W. Green, U.S. Army

Welcome to Episode 36 of the Voices to Veterans podcast. This episode features the story of Private First Class Oscar W. Green, U.S. Army. While I love all the veterans’ stories I’ve done, Oscar’s is one of my all-time favorites. His story is both a war story and a love story – it’s about a […]

Lieutenant Alfred Sokolowski in his Navy summer white uniform

LCDR Alfred Sokolowski, U.S. Navy – Dreadnoughts to Destroyers: A Two-Ocean Sailor in World War II

Lieutenant Commander Alfred “Ski” Sokolowski, U.S. Navy (Retired), has experienced much over the last ninety-nine years. He had a front row seat in World War II as his ships plowed the North Atlantic, protecting convoys from German submarines. He fought on a destroyer in the Pacific, helping recapture islands lost to Japan at the start of the war, and then joined the fight again just five years later in the Korean War sailing off the coast of North Korea. As if that wasn’t enough, he took on the dangerous job of explosive ordnance disposal and managed weapons logistics in the western Pacific. He didn’t just watch U.S. history from a distance—he lived it over the course of thirty years. This is his story.

1LT Henry Lowenstern

Episode 29 – 1LT Henry Lowenstern, U.S. Army

Welcome to Episode 29 of the Voices to Veterans podcast. This episode features the story of 1st Lieutenant Henry Lowenstern, U.S. Army.Henry served in the Army during World War II and has a truly amazing story. He and his family escaped from persecution in Nazi Germany in 1937 and came to the United States. Henry […]

Joe Dwigans 2011-10-14 17.59.24 copy

LCDR Joe Dwigans, U.S. Navy – From an Iowa Dairy Farm to Flying Navy Helldivers

The naval aviator training pipeline is grueling. It takes months of study to learn the basics of flying. It takes strength of body and mind to withstand the physical and mental strains of landing a plane on the pitching deck of an aircraft carrier at sea. Most of all, it takes courage, to launch from a ship in the middle of the ocean in search of a target with the hope of accomplishing the mission and returning home safely. Few have what it takes to even try to meet naval aviation’s high standards and even fewer succeed. At the height of World War II, with the naval war against Japan raging in the Pacific, Lieutenant Commander Joe Dwigans, U.S. Navy (Retired), raised his hand and said I can do it. This is his story.

Partial image of the cover of the book Last Hope Island showing the title of the book

Last Hope Island by Lynne Olson

I was hesitant to commit to reading Last Hope Island by Lynne Olson when a neighbor recommended it, but finally decided to give it a try. Boy, am I glad I did! The book discusses how England opened its doors to the exiled governments of Norway, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Czechoslovakia, and Poland, after their countries […]

E-7 1963 Midway

Master Chief Petty Officer Donald Gohman, U.S. Navy (Retired) – Keeping the Navy Flying During Three Wars

Master Chief Petty Officer Donald Gohman, U.S. Navy (Retired) is a humble man. When we began to talk, he told me his career was routine and he didn’t think he’d done anything special. Then he told me about how he helped keep planes flying from Henderson Field during the six-month long battle for Guadalcanal during World War II and kept carrier aircraft in fighting shape for missions over Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Needless to say, I was spellbound. Weaving in and out of peacetime and war, Don’s career is a thirty-year American history lesson taught at the individual level. I could not get enough of it, and I think you will share the same view. This is his story.

Service Photo of Arnold Fernandes in 1942

Episode 22 – Petty Officer Second Class Arnold Fernandes, U.S. Coast Guard

Welcome to Episode 22 of the Voices to Veterans podcast. This episode features the story of Petty Officer Second Class Arnold Fernandes, U.S. Coast Guard.Arnold’s service spanned two wars, World War II and the Korean War, and two services, the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Navy. In World War II, Arnold served in one […]

Seaman 1st Class Edward Collins

Seaman 1st Class Edward Collins, U.S. Navy – Serving on an Aircraft Carrier in the Pacific War

In the 1965 World War II movie classic In Harm’s Way, the character Commander Paul Eddington, played by Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas, describes the coming war in the Pacific as “a gut bustin’, mother-lovin’ Navy war.” All the men who served on ships in the Pacific theater from the start of the war at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, to the end of the war in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945, know just how true that statement was. One of those men was Seaman First Class Edward Collins, U.S. Navy, who joined the fray in 1943 aboard the USS San Jacinto (CVL-30), a light aircraft carrier that participated in all the major Pacific War Navy campaigns in 1944 and 1945. Manning his station on the USS San Jacinto’s flight deck during everything from hurricanes to kamikaze attacks, he lived and breathed the history that has inspired generations of Americans ever since. This is his story.

Staff Sergeant Jerry Ingram, U.S. Marine Corps

Episode 11 – Staff Sergeant Jerry Ingram, U.S. Marine Corps

Welcome to Episode 11 of the Voices to Veterans podcast. This episode features the story of Staff Sergeant Jerry Ingram, U.S. Marine Corps.

Enlisting in 1942 and lying about his age, Jerry soon found himself driving tanks in the island-hopping war against Japan in 1944. After participating in

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