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In previous issues of this publication I’ve mentioned that WTVP is in process of collecting the stories, the anecdotes, the memoirs of World War II from those in Central Illinois who experienced it firsthand. I asked for your help in finding those stories, and you responded. Boy, did you ever respond.
The first of these oral histories are now airing on WTVP under the banner of Stories from the Heart. Each story runs about two minutes and is a unique telling of a personal experience from the battlefront or the home front. As each is told, the depth of emotion makes it readily apparent that the umbrella title is very apt: Stories from the Heart.
The genesis of this project is the new Ken Burns documentary The War, which debuts on WTVP on Sept. 23. While Mr. Burns tells the story of WWII through the people of four diverse towns across the country, it is left to us to tell the Central Illinois stories.
And tell them we are. Among the Stories from the Heart already recorded are personal reminiscences of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Blitz, Kamikaze attacks, POW experiences, liberation of concentration camps, soldiering on the Russian front, and more.
I think you will be as moved as we are when you see them, and I hope they will inspire you to tell your Stories from the Heart. If you would like your story recorded or if you would like to comment on the project, please call us at 309/677-4747.
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