In December of 2014 the Belgium Military Vehicle Trust staged a WWII Army vehicle convoy centered around Bastogne, but including many smaller towns, to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge.

Alain Henry de Frahan of Gembloux, Belgium is the author of the article that appears in the Army Motors, The Quarterly Journal of the Military Vehicle Preservation Association, www.mvpa.org

I am an oral historian who interviews World War II veterans.  My latest projects/trips were to Normandy for the week of June 6th; Dallas, TX for the 82nd Airborne Annual Reunion and to Madison, WI for the Oral History Association annual conference.

I sit down with Veterans and preserve their stories through video interviews.  Those stories are shared with the Veteran, the Veteran’s family, and the archives of the U.S. Library of Congress and the National World War II Museum.  More information about this process and my experience is attached in the brochure that I provide to Veterans.

Veterans, who would like to give an oral history, please contact me and I will be happy to interview you.

Patrick Russell
Making History Project
Tel. (305) 608-2977
Email: patrick@making-history-project.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/makinghistoryproject
Twitter: @MakingHistoryPR

http://www.blogs.va.gov/VAntage/16726/free-tax-return-preparation-for-veterans-military-members-and-their-families/

To find the closest location near you, simply click here

70th Anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge

http://2ida.org/2014/12/15/70th-anniversary-of-the-battle-of-the-bulge/

You are invited to participate in a World War II ceremony presented by the living history group MTI-Military Timeline Impressions.

Where: The 82d Airborne Division Monument located on Highway US1 between Elgin and Camden, SC (adjacent to US1 on the Invista Company Property)

When: March 29, 2015

Time: 2:00pm

Purpose: Commemorate those who participated in the “Jump”, which occurred on March 29, 1943 and all WWII Veterans and Veterans of all Wars/Conflicts

Groups planning to participate include but are not limited to American Legion, SC Historic Aviation Foundation (SCHAF), Veterans of Foreign Wars, Marine Corps League, WWII C-47 Club, and others. We are planning a “flyover” of WWII Vintage and late model aircraft.

It would be great to see you there!

Questions call 803-356-0611

 Click here to learn how to request a bugler

The 2nd Indianhead Division commemorates the 70th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge with a return visit to where they fought during the “Bulge”.

click here to read the story

At precisely 11:11 a.m. each Veterans Day (Nov. 11), the sun’s rays pass through the ellipses of the five Armed Services pillars to form a perfect solar spotlight over a mosaic of The Great Seal of the United States.

Photos by Mike Spinelli

Listen to and read the stories of our veterans by clicking on the following link:

For more information click here to visit their web site

Searching for Bill Lewandowski 

(from Diekirch/Luxembourg) 

My name is Daniel JORDAO and I am from the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg. I’m currently assisting the Dudzinski family to locate former GIs who were billeted in their house in Diekirch in late November 1944.

One of those GIs’ name was Bill (William?) Lewandowski with Polish origins. There were also other Polish-descending soldiers billeted in Diekirch in late November 1944. Four of them, attended the wedding of the Dudzinski-Weber family on November 25th, 1944.

The exact outfit of Bill Lewandowski and his fellow Polish-descending GI friends is not known. According to official documents dating back to that time, I assume that they were members of the 28th Infantry Division – and most likely 109th Infantry Regiment – 3rd Battalion. As most of the men of the 28th Infantry Division were from Pennsylvania and Delaware, there might be a chance that Bill Lewandowski and his fellows came from one of these states.

Bill Lewandowski had a picture taken at a local photographer shop in Diekirch where you can see that he wears a wedding ring, so that I hope that might still be relatives living. The Dudzinski family was told that Bill did not survive the Battle of the Bulge and that he was KIA in Luxembourg, probably in December 1944 (not confirmed, though!).

Mrs Annie Dudzinski-Weber is now 90 years old and would like to find out more about Bill and the other GIs who attended her wedding.

Can anybody help in this research? Does anyone recognize one of the GIs on the wedding picture or knows a relative of Bill Lewandowski? Any help is welcome.

Please write to:

National Museum of Military History
c/o Daniel Jordao
10, Bamertal
L-9209 Diekirch
Luxembourg / Europe

Or email to:
dcj@jordao.lu

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Sent by Ashley Woitena

  Submitted by Bill Huxley, Associate

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE 1930s and 40s, the 50s, 60s and 70s!

First, we survived being born to mothers who took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can and didn’t get tested for diabetes. Some even smoked or might even have had an occasional drink while they were pregnant.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-base paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets, and when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps, not helmets on our heads.

We didn’t even have clips to keep our pants legs out of the chain – we might even have been wearing knickers.

We wore no fancy, expensive sneakers – a pair of Keds was two bucks, and we were only allowed to wear them in gym.

Ladies, do you remember those ugly bloomer gym uniforms you wore in High School

As infants & children, we rode in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts, no air bags, on bald tires and sometimes with brakes that didn’t work too well.

Oh, good Lord – there was no air-conditioning in the car! (Or anywhere else, for that matter.)

Riding in the back of a pick-up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.

We shared one soft drink with four friends from one bottle and no one actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon.

We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar, and, we weren’t overweight.

WHY? Because we were always outside playing…that’s why!

We could leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back for meals and when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day, and, we survived.

There were no school buses, in the city, at least, so we walked – through snow and rain or shine,

We could spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve that problem.

Anybody remember taking an orange crate, a piece of two by four and an old Chicago roller skate, and build on of those scooter things? We even rode those in the gutters without getting hit by a car!

We had no PlayStations, Nintendo’s or X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD’s, no surround-sound or CD’s, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms.

We had friends, and we went outside and played with them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were assured it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn’t had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!

Hey, there was no Little League!  We just found an empty field in the country or an empty lot in the city, chose up sides and played!

Any of you city-bred remember Ring-O-Levio, Johnny on a Pony, stick ball and the mean old lady who kept your ten cent pink ‘Spaldeen’ if it went into her front yard?

How about stoop ball? Chinese handball?

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

These were the generations that produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever. If YOU are one of them, CONGRATULATIONS!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We’ve had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we’ve learned how to deal with it all.

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good. While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave and lucky their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn’t it?

Submitted by the Duncan Trueman Chapter

The mission of the AVC is to guard the legacies and honor the sacrifices of all American veterans. Through oral history preservation, educational programs and civic events, we pass their stories on to the next generation so that they are never forgotten.

Click here to visit the AVC web site