Welcome to the second episode of Voices of Our People: WWII.

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, young people flood recruitment offices across the nation, ready to join the fight. As the United States begins shifting its massive economy to a wartime footing, our military experiences growing pains from the sudden influx.

 

Host Bill Ellison will be your guide as  Dr. Andrew Wiest of the Dale Center details the challenges faced by U. S. Forces in terms of training, equipping, and providing logistics for over eight million men and women.

 

And we hear stories from over a dozen veterans of how they selected the branch of the armed forces they would serve in, the trials of boot camp, and the often perilous journey to the front lines. Our storytellers: Johnny Balser of McComb, Bill Barnes of Jackson, James Bass of Laurel, Brig. Gen. Elmo Bell of Wiggins, Rip Bounds of Hattiesburg, C. R. Cadenhead of Greenville, Thurman Clark of Laurel, Jerry Clower of the East Fork community, A. J. Jones of Hattiesburg, LaMont Martin of Gulfport, Charlie Odom of Gulfport, Herbert Sasaki of San Francisco, and Lt. Gen. Mickey Walker of Abbott, MS.

 

Special thanks to the Mississippi Humanities Council for their decades of support of the Center for Oral History & Cultural Heritage. The Humanities are for Everyone!

 

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