Highlights Archives
Wisconsinites' World War II Letters Go Online
Fourteen collections of letters, diaries and memoirs by Wisconsin World War II soldiers, nurses, and support staff are now available free at Turning Points in Wisconsin History. They were digitized and published to help Wisconsin Public Television expand the experience of viewing Ken Burns' documentary series, The War, which is airing this fall.
These firsthand reports provide vivid and moving accounts of the attack on Pearl Harbor, life in a German prisoner of war camp, living under Fascism in Italy while the war was at its height, and many other events of the war. The documents total more than 200 pages and were written by Wisconsin men and women in all branches of the military, from all areas of the state. Highlights include:
- Milwaukee Colonel Stewart Yeo describes the attack on Pearl Harbor.
- Paul Fergot, an aviator from Oshkosh, describes being shot down over Italy and life in a German prisoner of war camp.
- Signe Skott Cooper, a nurse from Middleton, writes home about her training at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, in 1943 and from her work in a military hospital in India in 1944-1945.
- In letters and short memoirs, Howard Ruppel of Milwaukee describes his paratrooper training, jumping into France, the Battle of the Bulge, and his hospital experiences.
- Arild Neilsen, a military police officer from rural Polk County, writes home from Okinawa and other Pacific Islands about Japanese air attacks, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, and more.
- Frances Otis of Oshkosh spent much of the war in Florence, Italy, under Fascist rule. She kept a diary from April 3, 1943, to September 4, 1944, which provides an almost daily account of the privations, fears, injuries and deaths in a city under Axis occupation and Allied bombardment that culminates in the Allied liberation of the city.
You'll find all 14 documents, and much more about Wisconsin in World War II, at Turning Points in Wisconsin History.
To make the Ken Burns films especially useful for teachers and students, Wisconsin Public Television has included the Society's documents on its interactive Web site for the series, alongside lesson plans and other classroom activities. The Society's letters from Wisconsin GIs will help Wisconsin students go beyond just passively watching the television. Students in grades nine through 12 will be able to use these valuable primary sources to conduct further research while the series is airing. Teachers are encouraged to help them write essays, create dramatic readings and videos, mount museum displays, and assemble multimedia presentations using the content of the letters.
:: Posted September 21, 2007
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