The veterans came to Hinsdale Middle School recently to tell war stories that made history come alive.
Eleven men and women, all nearing 80 years old and some of whom served in the Army, Navy and Army Air Forces during World War II, reached back into their memories for the days when they were in their early 20s.
“This is oral history and they are a breed that is vanishing,” said Thomas Burken, a Hinsdale Middle School teacher. “Students are getting firsthand knowledge of what contributions these veterans made.”
Robert Van Ausdall of the Army Air Corps told tales of flying P-40 fighters out of airbases in China.
“I loved to fly,” Van Ausdall told the 8th graders. “I didn’t think of war as hell. We would fly 250 miles on a mission and go home at night and sleep in a warm bed.”
A highlight was in September 1944 when he led 16 planes in strafing a Japanese-held airfield in China to knock out 30 enemy fighters.
Van Ausdall said World War II heightened a sense of patriotism for the United States.
“I am a real advocate of flying the flag,” he said, noting that the Stars and Stripes is on the flagpole in front of his Clarendon Hills home.
From Ken Thompson’s viewpoint, World War II was a continuing horror. Although not a veteran, he is a collector of war memorabilia and a historian focusing on the 82nd Airborne Division of paratroopers.
They risked being shot from the ground by German soldiers after jumping out of airplanes behind enemy lines.
Describing a soldier’s day, Thompson said, “You live in a foxhole, get up, walk all day, get shot at a few times and dig another hole for the next night. You are in combat for 30 to 45 days at a time and never change clothes. You are in rain and snow. That’s what it takes to win a war.”
Thompson displayed World War II rifles, pistols, helmets, bazookas, walkie-talkies, bayonets and gas masks while giving his talk wearing a paratroopers uniform. Outside the school he parked two Jeeps and a howitzer.
Peter Van der Linden told his war stories as a Navy pilot flying off the aircraft carriers Bunker Hill and Lexington. He courted his sweetheart by mail and, between tours of duty, married her in the U.S. on three-day notice, stunning Hinsdale kids accustomed to months of wedding planning in their families.
Van der Linden delighted the pupils with his version of show-and-tell–displaying the actual bill of $188.26 for the complete cost of his wedding. “That was the best 188 bucks I ever spent,” he said.