Need help with WWII interview

Low&Slow

Low&Slow

Ancora imparo
My wife’s paternal grandfather was a B-17 and B-24 ball turret gunner and instructor in Texas during WWII. I never knew either of my grandfathers (both of them died in WWII) but he’s kinda been my unofficial adopted grandfather since about 1989. He has talked to me now and then about his experiences in the USAAF over the last ten years or so, but hasn’t ever talked to anyone else about it including his own children. I'm not sure if he just thought they wouldn't be interested, or why he never talked about it with them. I am completely honored that he chose me to tell his stories to, just not really sure why he chose me. My in-laws aren't upset about at all, in fact they are glad he has finally been telling somebody about it and ask me what he said every now and then after we talk. Sometimes they have things to add to what he told me that really paints a complete picture of what was happening at the time.

His health is really starting to fall now and I am concerned that his historical experiences will be lost forever (I think he is too) except what I can remember him telling me. All I have are second-hand recollections that were passed on to me though. He has experienced a lot of history first-hand in his lifetime.

I want to do an interview with him and have him talk about his childhood, what it was like growing up on a farm in Illinois during the Great Depression years, his time in the USAAF, how he met his wife, his marriage (over 60 years and counting), raising his kids, and anything else that he would like to talk about. I haven’t asked him if he would mind being taped yet, but I don’t think he will mind.

Anyhow, I have never done anything like this and was wondering the best way to go about it if he agrees. I don’t have a digital movie camera yet, so I am looking for recommendations (or one that I can borrow from a fellow JCer). I am in SW Michigan and he lives in central Illinois.

What is the best way to do the interview? I thought maybe just make it like a conversation between the two of us, but not sure that would flow good and capture everything. So, I thought maybe I should just ask him various questions and have him talk about it instead. I will probably end up doing a little of both unless someone has some better ideas.

I want the interview to be respectful and classy, not cheesy. This is a private project that I would like to do for myself, for him, and for the family, not the Discovery Channel, History Channel, or anything like that.

I don't want it to feel like work, or a Gestapo interview, or like I am saying "good-bye" to him while we are recording and I'm not sure if this will be a one-time sit through thing or be recorded over several different interviews. He still has his USAAF dress uniform (complete including shoes, hats, belt, awards, etc) hanging in the closet of the bedroom we stay in when we visit and I thought it might make a neat out-of-focus background item during the interview. He said it has been hanging there ever since he got home from the service in the 1940's.

I have alot of respect for him. He is very smart, friendly, generous (with his time and his money), and always seems to have a positive outlook no matter how bad things might seem. Every once in a while I will say, think, or do something I really regret when I start to think about what he would say about it and how disappointed he would be if he knew. Sometimes it keeps me honest and stops me from making a jackass out of myself, other times I don't think about it until after the fact and then have regret for it. He is an amazingly wonderful man that has made a big impact on my life and I don’t want to let his wisdom and experiences become lost. I have never met anyone like him in my life. I would like to be like him, but those are some really big shoes to fill.

If you have any technical or creative suggestions, ideas, or have any interesting questions I could possibly ask him or topics I could discuss with him for this project, please let me know. I am flying blind and inexperienced here.


Also, if anyone knows of where/how I might be able to set-up a tour (and possibly flight) of a B-17 or B-24 for him, that would be great. Not sure how medically fit he is to take a flying tour in the plane, but I think he would really like to at least take one last look and maybe one last flight if he can. He can’t get into the ball turret anymore either, but I’m sure that just seeing one up close again and/or hearing those radial engines one last time will bring back many memories for him.

Thanks.
 
I think it is great what your doing. I wish I had done more of that with my grandfather, and even my uncle (Vietnam) who died last year. My hats off your wife's grandfather. Sitting in the Sperry ball turret had to be one of the toughest jobs in USAAF during the "Big One".

As far as conducting the interview, I can't give any advice except, be sensitive, patient and let him speak his mind.

The Libary of Congress has a project to collect the stories of our dying veterans and preserve them for generations. If you grandfather in-law agrees, this would forever preserve his story.
http://www.loc.gov/vets/
http://www.loc.gov/vets/vets-portal.html
http://www.dday.org/index.php?page=oralhistory
I wish I could go back 10 years and do this...

Google b-17 flights, there are several. You are from Michigan no?
http://yankeeairmuseum.org/historic-aircraft/book-a-ride.html
 
If you're going to make a 'memoir' for the family, don't worry about the flow or anything. Just get him talking like a normal conversation, and let HIM guide the conversation.

As far as getting a B-17/B-24 tour/flight, the Collings Foundation is bringing their B-17 AND B-24 to DuPage (KDPA) July 24-27, and they give flights. Not the cheapest things in the world at $425, but they may drop the price for a veteran. You can look up www.collingsfoundation.org and see if they're going to be touring a little closer to SW Michigan, but DuPage isn't THAT far away, especially if you fly him in yourself.
 
I have wanted to do the same thing with my grandfather. He served as a SeaBee in the Navy in the South Pacific. I have alway's thought that a casual conversation that you record would be the best approach. Let me know how it goes!
 
You're doing a very worthwhile project for your family and your wife's. I would try to formualte questions based on some of the stories that you already know. Just do it in a conversational manner. If he is the kind of guy who gets going with stories then let him go, but try to ask follow-up questions to keep it in some reasonable time sequence.

My brother and I did something similar with my father a few years before he passed away. He was a B-24 pilot in WWII and flew the Berlin Airlift. He also had some very good stories of growing up during the depression. We used a set of questions as the basis for our interview and then let him run with the stories. I'm very thankful that we did it as I know have something to show my children.

A good friend of mine flys the Collins B-17. Not sure if he'll be in Dupage or wherever is closest to you, but let me know and I see if they offer any special deals for veterans or if he can do something special.



Typhoonpilot
 
Thats an awesome project:rawk:

My grandparents care takers did something similiar. They also put my grandfathers diary entries into a book for the family to read. There are some great stories.:)
 
Couple of ideas for you as well. First, the SHOAH foundation has some ideas on how to do interviews from their experiences interviewing Holocaust victims (click on the PDF links):

http://college.usc.edu/vhi/theinterview.php

I used to do a radio talk show, and what I learned from that was to never ask a yes or no question as well as many other good interview techniques. More ideas regarding that can be found here:

http://home.comcast.net/~cmeyerson/InterviewTechniques.html

Finally, the NPR has been running a series for several years called story corps. Their website is helpful in regard to how to set up an interview.

http://www.storycorps.org/

Last but not least: it is a great thing that you are doing and I hope that your grandfather will be a committed participant. My wife's grandfather was the youngest commander in the US Navy during WWII and he refused to ever speak of it. So, all of his knowledge/lessons/history was lost. I know she and her mom regret the loss of those stories bitterly.

I think if old warriors were able to be made to feel comfortable to talk about their experiences, and we were willing to listen and learn, perhaps we would not have as many wars.
 
A friend of mine from film school got to work on a project where he went down to some florida retirement homes stock full of ww2 vets and shoot a documentary asking guys about their service. He said it was really cool to hear the stories but it was an absolute roller coaster ride of emotion hearing about all the stories. So be prepared to see him cry a lot and then be happy the next.

If you get the history channel watch it a lot, they do a ton of ww2 documentaries so you can get an idea of the style. Also rent band of brothers, since they have a lot of 1on1 interviews in there and you can see how its kinda done. I would imagine two seats facing each other and an OTS(over the shoulder (your shoulder) shot) seeing him. But it's certainly an amazing project idea and his family will cherish it.

I got to see a B-17 & B-24 come in once at an airport i was doing refueling at, and some vets came out. One guy had a b&w picture of his first crew before their first flight, it looked really awesome till he started pointing out which guys didn't make it back.
 
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