Jackson County (Mo.) Historical Society

Portals to the Past by David W. Jackson

Call Goes Out: Give Us Your Stories of WWII Life

April 15 reminds us of the two certainties in life. (Unfamiliar with the saying? “Death and taxes.”) We avoid talking about both, but with the former I must say that it hardly seems fitting that the many veterans eulogized in our daily newspaper remembrances have their loyal service to country truncated to only a sentence or two.

There is a remedy, and it requires veterans and civilians to ACT NOW. Veterans are hereby enlisted to share their recollections. For this to happen, civilians must to volunteer to help the Jackson County Historical Society gather those stories.

Local author (and WWII veteran) Edward T. Matheny, Jr., was inspired to write his book, Pursuit of a Ruptured Duck: When Kansas Citians Went to War, after reading this call to duty: “As veterans of World War II ‘take their liberty’ of this world, what they have lived through and experienced in one of the most eventful times of our country, and of the world, will be lost to us forever unless it is set down and recorded. We need to be about the business of capturing as much of their experience as possible in the short time left to us to do so.”

The Jackson County Historical Society is gathering written and oral history interviews of local veterans from all wars, and others who supported wartime activities (such as war industry workers, USO workers, flight instructors, medical volunteers, etc.) through the Veterans History Project. The Library of Congress (LOC) through its American Folklife Center in Washington, D.C. sponsors the national initiative created by Congress in 2000.

Locally, the Historical Society is a ‘partner archive,’ meaning that the interviews conducted locally will be preserved and made available locally.
With the dedicated assistance of volunteers, the Historical Society has surpassed a benchmark of 1,000 oral history interviews of metropolitan Kansas City-area veterans. It is because of local resident’s volunteerism that the project functions successfully, and it will continue so long as volunteers contribute their time and talents to this worthy cause. Volunteers also provide their own equipment and supplies because funding appropriations for fieldwork are nonexistent.

The Historical Society is doing all it can to coordinate this massive project; to make sure that the complexities and intricate details are properly organized; and, to ensure the long-term preservation and access of the information and memorabilia being gathered.
Collaborations with other local individuals and entities help spread the message and share the workload, including: Gary Swanson and Bob Babcock, with Americans Remembered, Inc.; Raytown Historical Society and Raytown Shepherd's Center; Lee's Summit Senior Center; and, the City of Independence through its Truman Memorial Building.

This project is not only about gathering battle stories. Moreover, it’s about what every day life was like at a particular time in American history. It’s learning about Kansas City women who engaged in defense to produce 2/3 of all the B-25s flown in World War II. It’s about neighborhood kids who pitched in collecting newspapers, scrap metal and grease for recycling. What was rationing? The USO? How did soldiers cope daily? How did they keep in touch with their families back home? The list of questions and answers are endless. Let’s dialogue now! Leave behind more than a sentence or two about the experiences of the Greatest Generation.

[SIDEBAR]

Help collect and make available rich, colorful stories of your fellow citizens. Veterans may submit their own personal memoirs, or pair up with an available volunteer to chat about their wartime job. Readers might contribute funds to this project. Remember, without volunteers stepping forward, it won’t happen.

[END SIDEBAR]

David W. Jackson is archivist for the nonprofit Jackson County (Mo.) Historical Society’s Archives and Research Library at 112 W. Lexington Ave. Suite 103, Independence, MO, 64050. Explore deeper into local history topics like those presented in this column through the Jackson County Historical Society JOURNAL, a scholarly periodical delivered to Society members twice annually. For more information, or to donate historical materials, visit www.jchs.org, call (816) 252-7454, or e-mail info@jchs.org.

Privacy Statement