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A primary goal of The Center for The Study Of War Experience is to record and produce programming based on the veterans accounts of their war experiences. These interviews go beyond the usual dates and places treatment of history. They offer a unique, personal view of all facets of war experience, often with details that will fascinate even serious students of history. In many cases, the veterans interviewed by the Center have not related their experiences publicly before, sometimes, not even to their own families. The Center's mission is not just to document memories, but the path they have taken to reconnect memories in the present day context.

Omni Media Services has partnered with the Center to interview over 130 veterans with a wide range of war experiences. You will find decorated heroes and combat veterans, the heroes of the home front and those who trained men for action. Their stories detail the brutality of the war experience, as well as the camaraderie and even humor that accompanied their service. It is the history not covered in the textbooks...the true experiences of war and the men and women who've experienced war.

Video excerpts on this page are taken from interviews conducted by the Center and represent a tiny fraction of the overall footage already acquired. Our most recent clips have been encoded in Quicktime H.264 format for superior quality. . Get Quicktime 7 for Windows and Mac Here.

Online Video Archive - Individual interview excerpts
World War II Europe	World War II Pacific		World War II Home Front	Korean War	Vietnam War
World War II Europe
			The story of Martin Small's rescue from Mauthausen has a twist that he didn't discover for nearly 60 years. Watch this entire clip for one of the most amazing stories you'll ever hear from World War II.	Wendy Oakes treated casualties of the Battle Of The Bulge at an evacuation hospital. Doctors and nurses there had to learn quickly how to adapt to the injuries they were facing, and were affected by the impact those injuries would have on the men who suffered them.	The approach to the target was one of the most dangerous times for the men flying bombing missions. Joe Clarke describes how planes were vulnerable in the moments immediately before and after reaching the target.
Upon liberation as a POW from Stalag Luft 1 in May 1945, Loy Dickinson got a taste of future Cold War rivalry when he and other American prisoners were nearly interned by the Russians, and would only be released when certain conditions were met.	One of the deadliest and least-known accidents of World War II, Operation Tiger, occurred less than a month before D-Day as Carlton Goodwin recalls.		Few things went smoothly on Dewey Augenstein's Channel crossing to Utah Beach on D-Day. His artillery crew had difficulty getting to the beach and though they didn't land under fire, he soon made a rookie mistake.	Not long after arriving at the front for the first time, Al Nelson experienced the first attacks in The Battle Of The Bulge, where he feels history hasn't given enough credit to his undermanned 99th Division.	Ray Spiro survived over two years of tank combat with the Germans. Here's his account of the mortality American tankers faced, and the strategies they used to overcome superior German armor.
After glider pilots delivered their troops and cargo behind the German lines in Normandy on D-Day, they became ground troops whose goal was to get back to the American side of the lines. Along the way they faced numerous hazards, and Jesse Black describes how one man in his group discovered a newfound appreciation for foxholes.	Tom Gunning fought from the opening invasion of North Africa to Anzio. Here's his account of the action during the opening stages of the invasion of Sicily that earned him a Silver Star.		During and immediately after the D-Day invasion, the Navy was on constant lookout for German submarines. Bill Kenyon describes the tactics used to prevent the U-Boats from disrupting the flow of supplies and reinforcements to the beachhead.	Ken Wilson learned that getting on the wrong side of a superior officer can get you taken out of cushy stateside duty and sent to Europe to fly gliders into combat. He talks about why he didn't exactly relish his new assignment.	The American push into Germany was slowed by the numerous rivers that needed to be crossed. Bill Hessin tells how Army Combat Engineers constructed ponton bridges that allowed entire divisions to cross and continue the advance quickly.
Few bombing missions were costlier to the Eighth Air Force than the infamous Schweinfurt raid of October, 1943. Jim Tracy was one of the fliers shot down in that raid, and he says the results weren't completely unexpected to the men who flew that day. Jim spent six months with the French Underground before escaping through Spain and returning to England.	The Eighth Air Force's early raids on Germany proved so costly it necessitated a dramatic overhaul in tactics. Barney Nolan addresses how General Curtis LeMay devised new formations that protected more bombers and made the raids more effective.		The most forgotten of all the service branches is the Merchant Marines. Still fighting for recognition and respect, their contributions during the war were seldom publicized, largely due to the fact that they had higher casualty rates that the other branches of service as Clarke Valles explains.	Events moved quickly at the end of the war in Europe for Bill Moore. The Germans managed to put up sporadic resistance almost to the very end, albeit with a ragtag collection of troops.	Joe Sakato of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team was recruited into the Army from the internment camps Japanese-Americans were imprisoned in after the war started. He tells of what finally receiving the Congressional Medal Of Honor meant to him 55 years after his heroic actions in France.
Felix Sparks, one of America's most decorated soldiers, commanded the first American unit to enter the Dachau Concentration Camp. Another unit soon entered and a controversial incident developed with the Germans taken prisoner there.	As a court reporter at the Nuremberg Trials, Vivien Spitz saw some of the worst of humanity, but also describes how some were able to resist the Nazis...even in the concentration camps.		Phil Antonelli recounts how soldiers fighting their way across France in 1944 dealt with the fear inherent in combat and how the bonds between each other helped them deal with the fear.	B-24 navigator Vern Bingham flew in the lead plane in some of the largest bombing raids in Southern Europe. He discusses the experience of high altitude daylight bombing and the importance of bombardiers and their equipment.	After his bomber was shot down over Germany, Bob Ball learned what it took to survive as a Prisoner Of War. Here, he describes what men did to cope with their captivity.
B-17 Armor Gunner Mike Quering talks about the mental intensity of air combat over Europe and the stress it brought upon the young crewmen who carried out the missions.	One of the most famous aviation units of World War II played a role in the rescue of Gil Maestas. He tells the aftermath of a raid to southern Germany that gave him a lifelong appreciation for the Tuskegee Airmen.		Glider pilot Tom Sander thought the life of a glider pilot would be exciting and glamorous, but had a different impression after flying into Normandy on D-Day +1.	German fighter pilots were particularly good a attacking American bomber formations from angles that offered the best possibility of doing damage to the bombers with minimal opportunity for response. Lucky McGinty was a gunner on B-17s and describes how the Germans preferred to attack.	Though Mitch Mischler's plane made it through its missions relatively unscathed and he completed 25 missions quicker than almost anyone, others in his bomb group weren't as fortunate. He tells of the most dangerous missions his group faced, including a long-range trip to Berlin without fighter escorts.
Few pilots have had the varied flying experiences of Orville Horn. An American who enlisted with the RAF before America's entry into the war, he few Hurricanes and Spitfires before transferring to the Army Air Corps, which immediately assigned him to fly B-17 bombers. Here he describes whether he'd rather fly a fighter than a bomber.	In the winter of 1945, the Germans moved prisoners of war out of their camps and marched them through the German countryside in the cold and snow. Among them was Duane Thayer, who'd been shot down and captured several months before. Though in German custody on the march, he and his fellow POWs did have protection from their fellow American fliers along the route.		The inevitable casualties of the air war also brought about awkward situations as replacement crews were brought in to replace the dead and missing, often within hours of their loss. George Meshko discusses how veteran fliers reacted to these new colleagues.	Hal Weekley flew the B-17 during the war, and flew it while touring the country with the Aluminum Overcast into the 21st Century. During many visits, he noticed a number of spectators who always seemed to watch the plane from afar. He soon learned there was a very special reason for their interest.	For all the men who flew on the heavy bombers, there were many more on the ground who did the important work of keeping the planes in the air, often salvaging equipment from damaged planes to keep others airworthy. Henry Dahlberg was a crew chief in charge of several maintenance crews, and was so valuable he was forbidden to fly on the planes he maintained.
World War II Pacific
	Only at teenager at the start of the war, Yvonne Charles was among the civilians caught up when the Japanese overran the Phillipines. She tells of what internment was like for the women and children she was with, and of how her father was lost in a tragic accident.		Even the first few hours of combat can harden men to extraordinary situations. During the invasion of the Marshalls, John Greaves describes how on his first landing, he quickly became numb to the carnage around him.	One of the factors why the Battle Of Iwo Jima was so difficult is the fact that the enemy was rarely seen. Joe Weinmeier carried a flamethrower for 36 days on Iwo, and talks about what it took to fight an invisible enemy.	Don Whipple's first taste of combat came on Day one of the invasion of Iwo Jima. Fresh out of training with other green troops, he tells when it began to sink in that it wouldn't be like the repetitive training exercises they had become bored with.
Working in a field hospital in the South Pacific during World War II often meant making do with less than ideal facilities. Penny Schumann, a nurse in several field hospitals, recounts how the Army went about setting up operating rooms and patient wards in temporary quarters within a few miles of the front lines.	Infantry observer William Vickers went ashore in the invasion of Peleiliu, one of the toughest days the Marines had before Iwo Jima. He tells about how the initial landings unfolded.		Paul Murphy is one of only 317 survivors of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis at the end of World War II. Though many more men survived the initial attack by a Japanese submarine, there were more perils in the water before they could be rescued.	A rare treat...two of the Doolittle Raiders at one location. Jimmy Doolittle's Co-pilot Dick Cole and Bill Bower, pilot of the 12th plane, discuss their famous mission to bomb Tokyo in April 1942.	John Doolittle, son of Jimmy Doolittle and his daughter Jonna Doolittle Hoppes on how the Hollywood movie "Pearl Harbor" inspired her to write a biography of her famous grandfather focusing not just on his career but on the man they knew as a father and grandfather.
B-29 pilot Bill Reynolds describes the varying accounts he and his crew have come up with while discussing their war experiences at reunions decades after they happened.	Before pilots could launch missions, an accurate weather report was essential to their safety and mission success. Air Corps meteorologist Dick Newell tells how the weather affected pilots around his bases in New Guinea and Darwin, Australia.		The importance of training was driven home for Julius Jordahl when the USS Tennessee was attacked at Pearl Harbor. He survived the attack, where the crew members at his station on the nearby West Virginia paid a price for a lack for preparedness.	The late Clay Decker was one of only nine men to survive the sinking of the submarine USS Tang. He was taken prisoner by the Japanese, though wasn't considered a Prisoner of War by them. Hear him tell about what it meant to be a "Special Prisoner Of Japan".	Few men are as resilient as Glenn Berry. He spent nearly all of World War II in brutal Japanese captivity, Berry survived being bombed off of two "Hell Ships" transporting him to Japan, but not before enduring the Bataan Death March.
World War II Home Front
	As a young boy growing up in the countryside of England, Robert Goldie frequently saw German bombers fly directly over his house on their way to raid English cities. One night, he saw the devastation brought to two cities from miles away.		Before fighting in Korea, a young Jim Madrid witnessed history outside his hometown of Alamogordo, New Mexico when early one morning, he unexpectedly viewed one of history's most pivotal events.	It took a different breed of individual to take off and land fighters from an aircraft carrier, particularly the smaller ones used in World War II. Daryl Wilson describes what it was like for those pilots.	Before facing the dangers of combat, young bomber crews faced the unique dangers of training. Daniel Oredson tells about one training flight that ended comically, but could have been deadly.
Romana Antonelli was only a child during the war, but war intruded on her family when her American-born mother decided to rescue a downed British flier in Nazi occupied northern Italy.	Ruth Prudhomme served as a nurse stateside and in field hospitals of the South Pacific. Before going overseas, she treated casualties from the Aleutian Campaign and found the Army was ill-equipped for fighting there.		Front line troops get most of the credit, but Clarence Edmonds knew the importance of the troops behind the lines who seldom got the credit they deserve.	Pauline Edmonds discusses moving to Oak Ridge, Tennessee where her entire family was employed in the Manhattan Project.	Louise Lyon treated German POWs at a camp in Louisiana. She recounts one incident where the differences between America and Germany at the time became apparrent to her.
Korean War - Cold War
Flying jets on and off of aircraft carriers in the is one of the most thrilling experiences. Bill Roberts describes what goes through the mind of a pilot making his first carrier landing.	Lou Barrientos fought in some of the Korean War's bloodiest battles, but for him, Bloody Ridge was the worst. The carnage and intensity of that battle stands out in his mind even after witnessing several other vicious conflicts.	The biggest howitzers of the field artillery in Korea required a crew of several men to operate. Robert Fleming details the process needed to fire the big guns.		When the lines stalemated in Korea, the fighting continued with little ground being made. Ken Harris describes the artillery duels the Americans and Communist forces engaged in.	With limited eyesight, Arthur Bjorhus' service consisted mostly of serving chow to hungry soldiers. At a field kitchen in Korea, he served an officer who nearly gave him an assignment he wasn't remotely prepared for.
During the Korean War, Air Force communications and intelligence personnel used the most sophistocated technology of the time to intercept and crack enemy codes. Joe Weibel details what high tech consisted of in the early 1950s.
Vietnam War
Green Beret Mark Nichols scouted narrow roads through rugged mountain passes on armored guntrucks leading up the invasion of Cambodia. That frequently led to ambushes by North Vietnamese troops and fierce firefights	Not all military tactics are strokes of genius. One tactic during the Vietnam War got a number of soldiers killed unnecessarily according to Tom Ryan.		Political considerations hampered the B-52 raids that Lew Moir led over North Vietnam. He outlines some of the restrictions placed on Air Force pilots that endangered their lives.	American troops on the ground in Vietnam had one distinct advantage over their enemy, air superiority. Tom Campbell was part of a vital air wing that flew outdated planes, but protected U.S. ground forces by delivering massive amounts of ordnance on the North Vietnamese.	Artie Guerrero is one of the most inspiring veterans you will ever meet. Seriously wounded as an Army Ranger in Vietnam, he describes the role of faith in his ability to survive.
A long-term goal of the Center is to offer programs for sale on DVD and VHS culled from this vast inventory of video footage. Check this site frequently to see additional excerpts as the Center continues to conduct interviews and find out when you can purchase programming produced by the Center.