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Stirring World War II Programs Coming in May

April 22, 2004

For More Information:

Moira Harrington, publicist, (608) 265-3853

David Hestad, 'Home Front' producer, (608) 262-6825

Mik Derks, 'Pacific' producer, derks@wpt.org

In early May, Wisconsin Public Television (WPT) offers the concluding chapters in its stirring series about the role of Wisconsin families and individuals in the struggle for freedom and reclamation of democracy around the world -- World War II.

The project is a partnership between WPT and the Wisconsin Historical Society, in association with the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs.

Wisconsin World War II Stories 'Home Front' airs at 8 p.m. Monday, May 3. Airing the following night, 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 4, is Wisconsin World War II Stories 'Pacific.'

WMVS-TV in Milwaukee airs the programs at the same times as WPT. The programs encore on Memorial Day weekend, Sunday May 30, along with the other two offerings in the series. The 60-minute programs in the Wisconsin World War II Stories series air sequentially, beginning at 3 p.m. The order is: 'Struggle,' 'Europe,' 'Home Front' and 'Pacific.'

The new 'Home Front' documentary includes stories of Wisconsin's contributions to the Allied War effort. These are the stories of the people who served on the home front, the ones who worked in the munitions plants, built submarines, canned food supplies, went without and waited for the soldiers to come home.

These, too, were the people who received the devastating telegrams, a demonstration of bravery and loss not just on the battlefields, but also on the home front.

During the war, Rae Todd Kinn of Oconomowoc was living with her sister, toddler son and young nephew. Todd Kinn explains simply that her sister's husband came home, but hers did not. 'I got a telegram, as you see in the movies. This was not delivered by a military person; it was a little man on a bicycle. He came and rang the doorbell and handed me the telegram.'

Through it all, patriotism and forbearance ran deep. There were shortages, but also victory gardens, scrap metal drives and War Bonds.

Hardworking welders and engineers in Manitowoc, both men and women, built 28 stealthy submarines that cut through the waters to damage Japanese warships.

Milwaukee's mighty manufacturing centers worked around the clock, turning out machinery and weapons to serve the war effort.

Wisconsin's traditionally high-quality and copious agricultural bounty fed the troops. There was a manpower shortage in the fields and the canning companies, so women, children and even German prisoners of war were enlisted for the work.

The program will introduce viewers to Henry Hetz, a prisoner who later returned to the Midwest as a free man.

He recalls a day in a sauerkraut factory with a woman whose two sons were in the infantry. She expressed her disbelief at how recently he had been in Europe trying to kill her sons. But she was sympathetic to the necessities of war, working with him in the safety of that canning company. Hetz says, tears welling in his eyes, 'People were so kind and so decent.'

'Pacific' has a format that will be familiar to those who have experienced the first two in the trilogy of veterans' recollections.

The brave men and women who served so long ago recall their triumphs and their horrors, many for the first time since returning home. For them, these are among the greatest stories of their lives and they tell them with unfailing modesty, a display of true heroism.

'Pacific' captures the stories of tremendous battles -- above, below and on the waters of the vast Pacific Ocean.

Madison's Jerry Hansen served on the USS Bunker Hill, which suffered a kamikaze attack, killing nearly 500. 'I had nightmares for about 20 years,' he says.

The atomic bomb played a direct role for many in the documentary. A common reaction was that of Wesley Scott of Milwaukee who says he wishes another way could have been found, but he believes by using the new weapon thousands of ground troops, pilots and sailors -- Japanese and American -- were spared. Scott had been in an anti-aircraft unit preparing for the invasion of Japan.

Mel Jacob, Lorna Richards and Harry Whitehorse also had a connection to the awesome bomb. Jacob's ship, the USS Indianapolis, carried the bomb to Tinian. Jacob and his shipmates were later torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese sub. Nurse Lorna Richards was with the Enola Gay crew on the eve of the fateful flight. Whitehorse, aboard his ship off the coast of Japan, saw the light of the bomb at its unleashing.

Funding for Wisconsin WWII Stories is provided, in part, by the Ho-Chunk Nation, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, an advised fund of the Community Foundation of Southern Wisconsin, Phil and Elizabeth Hendrickson, the Boldt Co., Demco, John E. Wall family, Duard and Dorthea Walker and the Krause Foundation.

Go to the award-winning Web site for more information, www.wisconsinstories.org

In 2004, WPT celebrates 50 years of service to Wisconsin individuals and families. WHA-TV, Madison, signed on the air on May 3, 1954.

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

Wisconsin Public Television 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.

Editors Note: J-pegs of program and related images are available