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| Post 372, Martin Ave. at Marlboro, Cherry Hill, NJ 08002 (856)665-3889 | |
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POST MEMBER FEATURED IN Ken Burns Hit TV WWII Series on PBS Visits to the National World War II Memorial in Washington are up by 200,000 this year over the same period last year, according to the National Park Service. More people are also visiting the Battleship New Jersey in Camden and the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. The study of the war years is also popular at Rutgers University, where a course focusing on oral histories from World War II has a long waiting list. The university has collected 700 oral histories and placed more than 400 online. The Web site has recorded nearly 270,000 hits. Most university students are the age their grandparents were during World War II, Rutgers spokesman Greg Trevor said. "We are seeing a tremendous level of interest" in the war, he said. Now in their 80s, the veterans are heartened to see renewed interest in the war that shaped their lives. Many have spoken to classes at high schools, colleges and universities, to scout troops, and at patriotic observances. Edgar Wolf, one of Cherry Hill Post 372’s longtime members was cast as a central figure in Ken Burns’ recent hit television series spotlighting World War II. Wolf was interviewed for Burns' series and we’re proud to replay part of his dialogue from that television show: ********************************* Edgar Wolf, who served in the China-Burma-India theater of operation, also has spoken before many junior high and high school students "to spread this piece of history." Wolf was the officer of the day when a raucous celebration broke out at a base in what was then Karachi, India. Soldiers were drinking and removed flare pistols from planes and were firing them. "All hell broke loose," Wolf said, describing a party that was getting in the way of important flights. "I took some sober GIs and had them go through planes at the repair depot to collect flare pistols. "I also had the flight surgeon come to the operations office to certify that all crew members were sober before they took off." To reward Wolf for his steady hand, his commander sent him back to the United States on the first available flight. Wolf surprised his family when he walked through the door of his parents' home in West Philadelphia. "I think the Ken Burns film will stir memories," said Wolf, 87, a former Cherry Hill councilman and former national historian for the China-Burma-India Veterans Association. "It will renew the interest of some [veterans] who haven't talked about it. . . . Once we're gone, there's nobody to shout about what we did." Ken Arnold, a Washington Township man who operates a Web site with dozens of profiles of air-combat veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam, also has noticed an uptick of interest in the Second World War. He attributed it to the buzz caused by the Burns series and because "any opportunities to talk to the people who lived through those times are fast diminishing." Most men said they had a "vested interest" in telling the story of WWII. "We want people to know what we did," he said. "It was an important part of our young manhood."
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  To contact American Legion Post 372 email Don McDonough at donmac0412@yahoo.com. Print This Page / Email this site to a friend / Message Board Website Design and Hosting by DesirePC Corporation. Email sales@desirepc.com. http://www.desirepc.com . 2005 Copyright |
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