Students Capture WWII Vets' Memories In Letters
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
While many who have already died will be remembered on Memorial Day, students in Dave Hoffert's U.S. History classes have been working to collect the memories of veterans while they are still alive.
Hoffert said the project at Warsaw Community High School started six years ago. He contacted the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association chapter in Indiana and told them about the project he had in mind. Students would write to surviving veterans and ask them for their thoughts and memories. The Indiana chapter jumped on board.[[In-content Ad]]Throughout the six years of the project, Hoffert said they've worked with different chapters of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association and other organizations to contact surviving World War II veterans. After the Indiana and Ohio chapters were contacted and participated, Hoffert said other chapters in other states started contacting him about being a part of the project.
The U.S. History class includes juniors and seniors. Each student wrote to a veteran who was not contacted previously. Each year, Hoffert said, it gets harder and harder to find WWII veterans for students to write to because their numbers are dwindling. He said he hopes they can do the project for one more year.
"It really bridges the gap between two generations," Hoffert said.
Many of the WWII veterans, Hoffert said, were sharing their memories for the first time and had never told their stories publicly before.
"Some will talk blood and guts, some will talk about love stories. I never expected this project to bloom like this. It's been an incredible experience, and many veterans now call Warsaw Community High School their home," said Hoffert.
Many times, Hoffert said, a veteran has died a couple of weeks after a WCHS student received a letter from them. The school also receives requests from family members to see or get copies of the letter the veteran sent because they never knew their father's or grandfather's story.
At last count, Hoffert said they had 850 first-hand handwritten accounts of the Pearl Harbor attack and the first moments of the war.
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise attack against the United States' naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, by the Japanese navy, on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, resulting in the United States becoming involved in World War II.
One of the participating veterans is Joe Sumner. Sumner was a medic aboard the USS Honolulu stationed at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. He went on to be involved at Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima during WWII and ended up in the occupation force right outside Nagasaki. Fifty years after the attack he became friends with one of the Japanese pilots.
Sumner donated all his photos, medals, books and materials to the classroom for students to learn from. He lives in Cincinnati, Ohio.
In a telephone interview Friday, Sumner said he is happy to talk to the students.
"I don't glorify war, I paint a picture of what it really is like," he said.
Sumner had only nice words about the WCHS students. He said, "They're very alert, they're very aware, they're very good experiences."
Four of the students involved in the project spoke about their experiences during an interview Thursday.
Senior Erin Coppes said she had Hoffert for U.S. History her junior year. She has since been working to put all the letters students received on a Web site. Coppes said they hope all the letters and materials sent by the veterans will be public eventually.
Vanessa Sizemore, senior, started talking to her veteran "pen pal", Andreas O. Osborne, 98, of Arizona, last year and still keeps in touch with him. She has talked to him on the telephone, and they send pictures back and forth. He has even sent her books.
Before Pearl Harbor, Sizemore said Osborne was in China and witnessed "The Rape of Nanking." Osborne then was deployed to Hawaii to a naval base. After the Pearl Harbor attack, Osborne was part of the building of the first missile that was sent over to Japan to be used for combat, Sizemore said.
"He will talk to me about anything except the actual attacks he witnessed," Sizemore said.
Coppes' first correspondence was with Elmer Troxcil, who served on the U.S. Nevada and was at the attack on Pearl Harbor. Coppes said Troxcil continued to serve throughout the war. Though Coppes received only one letter from Troxcil, he did open up to her about his life after the war. Coppes also met and talked to WWII veterans Paul Lillis and Paul Kennedy.
Junior Kyle Tucker has talked by telephone with veteran Paul Goodyear, who served on the USS Oklahoma. One of the interesting pieces of information Goodyear shared with Tucker, Tucker said, was that Goodyear saw the torpedo that hit the ship that made the ship capsize.
Also a junior, Kyra Lollar got to know Robert Mills on a more personal level, she said. Mills was a Marine at Pearl Harbor.
In one of the packages Mills sent to Lollar, he sent her a stack of stuff, including a letter from President Bush. Lollar also found a torn-up piece of paper with barely legible writing on it. It was a list of "ifs" and "whens" written by Mills' wife of what she was going to do in her life if she married Mills.
For her class veteran project, Lollar said she wanted to do something unique. So she and her dad used the list to compose a song that Lollar also recorded and sent to Mills. Mills' wife, who had Alzheimer's disease, died on April 21, about two weeks after Mills received Lollar's CD and wrote back to her. Though Mill's wife never got to hear the song, Lollar's CD was played at her funeral.
Mills has arthritis, so his daughter writes most of his letters.
In his letter to Lollar, Mills wrote that his daughter read the letters and played the CD to him over the phone. "At the end of the CD," Mills wrote, "I could not understand her, she was crying so much. She said, 'Dad, it was so wonderful; I couldn't help crying.
"Robin works for the U.S. Dept. of Justice. She made me a copy of everything you sent and carried it to work with her the next day. She let all her fellow workers read everything and then she played the CD. Robin said all the ladies were crying and even her male boss had to go out and blow his nose. Her boss wanted to call the 'Today Show' in New York and put everything on the show. Robin told him she would never get me to go to New York. She was right.
"When my neighbors heard about this, they flocked in. They all wanted a copy of everything. ...
"The Marine Corps have opened its new museum in Quantico, Va. I have a lot of memorabilia from Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal, Vella Lavella, Iwo Jima and Japan. ... I promised everything I have to the museum. I would like to include everything you have sent to me."
Lollar said, "It was really hard to read that letter. My mom, dad and I were crying."
Hoffert said the work the students are doing is going through the Indiana University VETS program, and from there will be submitted to the Library of Congress Veterans Oral History Program.
Tucker said the project gives students a first-hand account of the war, better than reading about it in a textbook. Each story is different, he said.
"I have the biggest respect for (veterans) now," said Coppes. Having read their stories and talked to them, she said she feels she knows them really well. She also learned the importance of not putting off knowing their story.
Sizemore said, "I think it's incredible being able to speak and write to them, getting to know them in my case. Mine has been like a grandpa."
What's amazing to Hoffert, he said, is that these have just been the experiences of four students. All of the students are doing the project on their own time, before and after school. After the students get into the project, Hoffert said, the students want to take it a step further. He said the project is something he thinks will stay with the veterans and the students for life.
Coppes said, "I hope people can have the same respect for these guys that we do."
While many who have already died will be remembered on Memorial Day, students in Dave Hoffert's U.S. History classes have been working to collect the memories of veterans while they are still alive.
Hoffert said the project at Warsaw Community High School started six years ago. He contacted the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association chapter in Indiana and told them about the project he had in mind. Students would write to surviving veterans and ask them for their thoughts and memories. The Indiana chapter jumped on board.[[In-content Ad]]Throughout the six years of the project, Hoffert said they've worked with different chapters of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association and other organizations to contact surviving World War II veterans. After the Indiana and Ohio chapters were contacted and participated, Hoffert said other chapters in other states started contacting him about being a part of the project.
The U.S. History class includes juniors and seniors. Each student wrote to a veteran who was not contacted previously. Each year, Hoffert said, it gets harder and harder to find WWII veterans for students to write to because their numbers are dwindling. He said he hopes they can do the project for one more year.
"It really bridges the gap between two generations," Hoffert said.
Many of the WWII veterans, Hoffert said, were sharing their memories for the first time and had never told their stories publicly before.
"Some will talk blood and guts, some will talk about love stories. I never expected this project to bloom like this. It's been an incredible experience, and many veterans now call Warsaw Community High School their home," said Hoffert.
Many times, Hoffert said, a veteran has died a couple of weeks after a WCHS student received a letter from them. The school also receives requests from family members to see or get copies of the letter the veteran sent because they never knew their father's or grandfather's story.
At last count, Hoffert said they had 850 first-hand handwritten accounts of the Pearl Harbor attack and the first moments of the war.
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise attack against the United States' naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, by the Japanese navy, on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, resulting in the United States becoming involved in World War II.
One of the participating veterans is Joe Sumner. Sumner was a medic aboard the USS Honolulu stationed at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. He went on to be involved at Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima during WWII and ended up in the occupation force right outside Nagasaki. Fifty years after the attack he became friends with one of the Japanese pilots.
Sumner donated all his photos, medals, books and materials to the classroom for students to learn from. He lives in Cincinnati, Ohio.
In a telephone interview Friday, Sumner said he is happy to talk to the students.
"I don't glorify war, I paint a picture of what it really is like," he said.
Sumner had only nice words about the WCHS students. He said, "They're very alert, they're very aware, they're very good experiences."
Four of the students involved in the project spoke about their experiences during an interview Thursday.
Senior Erin Coppes said she had Hoffert for U.S. History her junior year. She has since been working to put all the letters students received on a Web site. Coppes said they hope all the letters and materials sent by the veterans will be public eventually.
Vanessa Sizemore, senior, started talking to her veteran "pen pal", Andreas O. Osborne, 98, of Arizona, last year and still keeps in touch with him. She has talked to him on the telephone, and they send pictures back and forth. He has even sent her books.
Before Pearl Harbor, Sizemore said Osborne was in China and witnessed "The Rape of Nanking." Osborne then was deployed to Hawaii to a naval base. After the Pearl Harbor attack, Osborne was part of the building of the first missile that was sent over to Japan to be used for combat, Sizemore said.
"He will talk to me about anything except the actual attacks he witnessed," Sizemore said.
Coppes' first correspondence was with Elmer Troxcil, who served on the U.S. Nevada and was at the attack on Pearl Harbor. Coppes said Troxcil continued to serve throughout the war. Though Coppes received only one letter from Troxcil, he did open up to her about his life after the war. Coppes also met and talked to WWII veterans Paul Lillis and Paul Kennedy.
Junior Kyle Tucker has talked by telephone with veteran Paul Goodyear, who served on the USS Oklahoma. One of the interesting pieces of information Goodyear shared with Tucker, Tucker said, was that Goodyear saw the torpedo that hit the ship that made the ship capsize.
Also a junior, Kyra Lollar got to know Robert Mills on a more personal level, she said. Mills was a Marine at Pearl Harbor.
In one of the packages Mills sent to Lollar, he sent her a stack of stuff, including a letter from President Bush. Lollar also found a torn-up piece of paper with barely legible writing on it. It was a list of "ifs" and "whens" written by Mills' wife of what she was going to do in her life if she married Mills.
For her class veteran project, Lollar said she wanted to do something unique. So she and her dad used the list to compose a song that Lollar also recorded and sent to Mills. Mills' wife, who had Alzheimer's disease, died on April 21, about two weeks after Mills received Lollar's CD and wrote back to her. Though Mill's wife never got to hear the song, Lollar's CD was played at her funeral.
Mills has arthritis, so his daughter writes most of his letters.
In his letter to Lollar, Mills wrote that his daughter read the letters and played the CD to him over the phone. "At the end of the CD," Mills wrote, "I could not understand her, she was crying so much. She said, 'Dad, it was so wonderful; I couldn't help crying.
"Robin works for the U.S. Dept. of Justice. She made me a copy of everything you sent and carried it to work with her the next day. She let all her fellow workers read everything and then she played the CD. Robin said all the ladies were crying and even her male boss had to go out and blow his nose. Her boss wanted to call the 'Today Show' in New York and put everything on the show. Robin told him she would never get me to go to New York. She was right.
"When my neighbors heard about this, they flocked in. They all wanted a copy of everything. ...
"The Marine Corps have opened its new museum in Quantico, Va. I have a lot of memorabilia from Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal, Vella Lavella, Iwo Jima and Japan. ... I promised everything I have to the museum. I would like to include everything you have sent to me."
Lollar said, "It was really hard to read that letter. My mom, dad and I were crying."
Hoffert said the work the students are doing is going through the Indiana University VETS program, and from there will be submitted to the Library of Congress Veterans Oral History Program.
Tucker said the project gives students a first-hand account of the war, better than reading about it in a textbook. Each story is different, he said.
"I have the biggest respect for (veterans) now," said Coppes. Having read their stories and talked to them, she said she feels she knows them really well. She also learned the importance of not putting off knowing their story.
Sizemore said, "I think it's incredible being able to speak and write to them, getting to know them in my case. Mine has been like a grandpa."
What's amazing to Hoffert, he said, is that these have just been the experiences of four students. All of the students are doing the project on their own time, before and after school. After the students get into the project, Hoffert said, the students want to take it a step further. He said the project is something he thinks will stay with the veterans and the students for life.
Coppes said, "I hope people can have the same respect for these guys that we do."
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