International WWII historian, speaker, and author Jennifer Holik, will be presenting Stories of War at the CRASH Air War and Resistance Museum ’40-’45 on Saturday 25 February at 13.00. Her program will be a combination of WWII research and tips on writing the stories.
During 1944 and 1945, thousands of men and women serving in the U.S. Army, Army Air Forces and Navy, fought to defeat Germany and liberate Europe. Their stories are those of life and death, hope, friendship, love, memories of those left behind, and dreams of the future.
Many questions surround the service history of these men and women. How does one conduct research from Europe? What records are available and how can they be accessed? How can individuals connect with families of the fallen, the sweethearts, or who shared their homes during the war? And finally, how can we preserve their stories? In this engaging and informative presentation, Jennifer shares:
- A trip through time, exploring the service history of several Army and Army Air Forces personnel.
- Resources to search prior to obtaining military records.
- Information on obtaining Official Military Personnel File and the Individual Deceased Personnel File.
- How to reconstruct service history.
- Resources for the Prisoners, the Missing, and the Dead.
- Tips on weaving military, genealogical, family, and historical records together to create a story.
- A formula for writing a military story.
- Writing prompts to get your writing flowing.
Would you like to learn more about WWII research? Pre-order a copy of Faces of War: Researching Your Adopted Soldier by 20 January 2017, to pick up at the event, from the Foundation United Adopters American War Graves (Stichting Verenigde Adoptanten Amerikaanse Oorlogsgraven.) The foundation will bring pre-ordered books to the event and have a limited number books available that day for sale. The foundation will donate all proceeds to its The Faces of Margraten tribute at the Netherlands Cemetery.
Jennifer will have a limited number of copies of her writing book Stories from the World War II Battlefield Volume 3: Writing the Stories of War.
© 2016 World War II Research and Writing Center