University of Wisconsin - Extension

Wisconsin — s WWII veterans fought the forces of tyranny to secure democratic freedom. In a new documentary airing on Wisconsin Public Television (WPT), 18 veterans recount their stories in the European Theater of Operation, from D-Day to VE-Day.

It — s part of the dramatic Wisconsin Stories series. The program, Wisconsin WWII Stories Part II — Europe, — is a partnership of the Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS) and WPT, in association with the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs.

The 60-minute program premieres at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12. There will be an encore presentation at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 4. WMVS-TV/Milwaukee premieres the documentary at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12.

Wearing Veterans of Foreign Wars cloth hats or POW-MIA caps shadowing lined faces, these veterans recount stories that belie their current comfortable appearances. Seated in front of visual backdrops of combat scenes, munitions stations or field hospitals — whatever matched their service in the war — they tell of hunger, loss of comrades, sleeplessness and battlefield injuries.

Yet, whatever their experience, a common theme is echoed. Roderic Campbell, a medic from Superior, sums it up, — Everybody believed that freedom doesn — t come free. —

From 8 — 10 p.m. on the evening of the broadcast premiere, the Wisconsin Historical Society and the Wisconsin Veterans Museum will operate a phone bank to dispense advice on preserving WWII photos, documents and artifacts. Call 800-348-9529.

The documentary is the second in a series of four broadcasts. The first premiered in the spring and looked at a world jolted out of peace by Hitler — s atrocities and the shock of Pearl Harbor. That program, Wisconsin WWII Stories Part I — Struggle, — again will air at 9 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 6.

In — Europe, — tales of the war — s carnage are juxtaposed with veterans — stories of how they dealt with the constant threat. Arden Gatzke tells of Hitler Youth, 13- and 14-year-olds, who would feign death but then get up and shoot U.S. infantry in the back after they passed. — We decided it was going to be them and not us, — says Gatzke of Ripon, who was a tank driver. — That was the hardest day of the war, shooting those kids. —

Jack DeWitt, from an armored division and now living in Madison, says, — You — re sweating it out everyday. If you — re lucky, you make it. It isn — t a question of being smarter or braver. —

Three Wisconsin veterans who endured the 1945 Black Death March are featured in one of the program — s most somber segments.

— I don — t know what heroes are. You hear so much about heroes, but I saw some men do some things to help save these guys on the march. I never saw anybody more courageous, — says the late Jim McGruder of Peshtigo, a POW who had been a ball turret gunner.

Thousands of POWS fought starvation, physical exhaustion and 30-below temperatures in a march of 86 days undertaken when Russians were ready to overrun and liberate their camp, Stalag Luft Four.

Yet even here, the veterans prove to be characteristically and unfailingly humble, — We didn — t do anything extra, — says Bob Balliet, a B-24 navigator and gunner POW from Appleton. — There — s a lot of guys that had it a lot worse than we did. —

The program — s victory segment is muted — although celebrations were certainly much in order — in part because the liberation of the concentration camps was a sobering experience.

John Regnier, Stevens Point. — If there was any doubt about why that war had to be fought, it was removed when you got into one of those camps. —

Further tempering the jubilation was the thought of what Allied forces would face in the Pacific Theater. — A lot of somebodies were going to have to run up the beaches of Japan and fight people who were not going to give up, — says Bob Swanson, Menomonie, who had been in the 42nd — Rainbow — Division.

Funding for Wisconsin World War II Stories is provided by the Ho-Chunk Nation; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers; an advised fund of the Community Foundation of Southern Wisconsin; and Philip J. and Elizabeth B. Hendrickson. Additional funding provided by The Evjue Foundation Inc., the charitable arm of The Capital Times; The Boldt Company; Duard and Dorothea Walker; the Hamilton Roddis Foundation; contributors to the Wisconsin Program Fund; and the Dorothy Inbusch Foundation, Milwaukee. Closed captioning funded by Qual Line Fence Corp.

WPT is a service of the Educational Communications Board and the University of Wisconsin-Extension.

WPT is a place to grow through learning on WHA-TV/DT, Madison; WPNE-TV/DT, Green Bay; WHRM-TV/DT, Wausau; WLEF-TV/DT, Park Falls; WHLA-TV/DT, La Crosse; and WHWC-TV/DT, Menomonie-Eau Claire.

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