World War II Writing Prompts

Have you taken time to record the stories of your World War II ancestors and families? One way to get started is to use the Military Memories Writing Prompts to jump start your research and writing.  as we explore life on the U.S. home front, women in service, and the lives of all veterans.

These prompts were written with the World War II era in mind, but most can be used for any war. They were originally used in May 2014 and are not grouped by category. Since May 2014 I expanded these 31 prompts into over 500. Are you looking for more writing prompts to help you tell the stories of war from a U.S. or European perspective? See my Stories from the World War II Battlefield Volume 3: Writing the Stories of War, for over 500 writing prompts for U.S. and European writing.

Prompt 21: Race and Ethnicity. Is your family Jewish? What was their WWII experience? Do or did they share their stories? How did their experience shape your life? If they left Europe before the war, what happened to their families? What did they endure in the U.S. while the war was fought in Europe? If they remained in Europe – what was their story?

Please share your prompts and responses on your blog and tag them with #militarymemories.

Do you need help learning how to do World War II research or need to hire a researcher to help you? Please feel free to contact me for more details.

© 2016 Jennifer Holik

Have you taken time to record the stories of your World War II ancestors and families? One way to get started is to use the Military Memories Writing Prompts to jump start your research and writing.  as we explore life on the U.S. home front, women in service, and the lives of all veterans.

These prompts were written with the World War II era in mind, but most can be used for any war. They were originally used in May 2014 and are not grouped by category. Since May 2014 I expanded these 31 prompts into over 500. Are you looking for more writing prompts to help you tell the stories of war from a U.S. or European perspective? See my Stories from the World War II Battlefield Volume 3: Writing the Stories of War, for over 500 writing prompts for U.S. and European writing.

Prompt 20: Holidays and Celebrations. How did your family celebrate holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries during the war years? Items on the home front were rationed and on the battlefield, soldiers were lucky to have a hot meal on a major holiday. Do you have any letters from soldiers that talk about the holidays? Do you have photographs of family holidays at home?

Please share your prompts and responses on your blog and tag them with #militarymemories.

Do you need help learning how to do World War II research or need to hire a researcher to help you? Please feel free to contact me for more details.

© 2016 Jennifer Holik

Have you taken time to record the stories of your World War II ancestors and families? One way to get started is to use the Military Memories Writing Prompts to jump start your research and writing.  as we explore life on the U.S. home front, women in service, and the lives of all veterans.

These prompts were written with the World War II era in mind, but most can be used for any war. They were originally used in May 2014 and are not grouped by category. Since May 2014 I expanded these 31 prompts into over 500. Are you looking for more writing prompts to help you tell the stories of war from a U.S. or European perspective? See my Stories from the World War II Battlefield Volume 3: Writing the Stories of War, for over 500 writing prompts for U.S. and European writing.

Prompt 19: The Home Front. Did any of your female ancestors lose a husband? How did that affect the family? When we think about the word ‘lose’ consider those men and women that came back from the war changed in some way either mentally or physically. Did any of your family’s soldiers live in a Veterans Hospital after the war? How did that affect the family?

Please share your prompts and responses on your blog and tag them with #militarymemories.

Do you need help learning how to do World War II research or need to hire a researcher to help you? Please feel free to contact me for more details.

© 2016 Jennifer Holik

Have you taken time to record the stories of your World War II ancestors and families? One way to get started is to use the Military Memories Writing Prompts to jump start your research and writing.  as we explore life on the U.S. home front, women in service, and the lives of all veterans.

These prompts were written with the World War II era in mind, but most can be used for any war. They were originally used in May 2014 and are not grouped by category. Since May 2014 I expanded these 31 prompts into over 500. Are you looking for more writing prompts to help you tell the stories of war from a U.S. or European perspective? See my Stories from the World War II Battlefield Volume 3: Writing the Stories of War, for over 500 writing prompts for U.S. and European writing.

Prompt 18: Communication. Newspapers can add a lot of details to a soldier’s story beyond that of his service. Think about the battles fought, the terrain, the enemy, and the weather. Use newspapers for facts that add depth to a story. Did your soldier fight on D-Day or in the Battle of the Bulge? Perhaps in the Pacific? Locate stories about the weather for major battles in which your soldier fought. Write a scene using the weather to tell a battle story.

Please share your prompts and responses on your blog and tag them with #militarymemories.

Do you need help learning how to do World War II research or need to hire a researcher to help you? Please feel free to contact me for more details.

© 2016 Jennifer Holik

Have you taken time to record the stories of your World War II ancestors and families? One way to get started is to use the Military Memories Writing Prompts to jump start your research and writing.  as we explore life on the U.S. home front, women in service, and the lives of all veterans.

These prompts were written with the World War II era in mind, but most can be used for any war. They were originally used in May 2014 and are not grouped by category. Since May 2014 I expanded these 31 prompts into over 500. Are you looking for more writing prompts to help you tell the stories of war from a U.S. or European perspective? See my Stories from the World War II Battlefield Volume 3: Writing the Stories of War, for over 500 writing prompts for U.S. and European writing.

Prompt 17: Communication. During World War I and II, word traveled by mail, telegram, and on the battlefield, telephone. It took weeks before families were notified of wounds, Prisoner of War, Missing in Action or Killed in Action statuses. Today the communication is almost instantaneous because of cell phones and the internet. Write about communication during the war in which your soldier fought and compare that to today’s communication.

Please share your prompts and responses on your blog and tag them with #militarymemories.

Do you need help learning how to do World War II research or need to hire a researcher to help you? Please feel free to contact me for more details.

© 2016 Jennifer Holik

Have you taken time to record the stories of your World War II ancestors and families? One way to get started is to use the Military Memories Writing Prompts to jump start your research and writing.  as we explore life on the U.S. home front, women in service, and the lives of all veterans.

These prompts were written with the World War II era in mind, but most can be used for any war. They were originally used in May 2014 and are not grouped by category. Since May 2014 I expanded these 31 prompts into over 500. Are you looking for more writing prompts to help you tell the stories of war from a U.S. or European perspective? See my Stories from the World War II Battlefield Volume 3: Writing the Stories of War, for over 500 writing prompts for U.S. and European writing.

Prompt 16: Overseas Service. Were any of your ancestors taken as a Prisoner of War? What was their experience?

Please share your prompts and responses on your blog and tag them with #militarymemories.

Do you need help learning how to do World War II research or need to hire a researcher to help you? Please feel free to contact me for more details.

© 2016 Jennifer Holik

Have you taken time to record the stories of your World War II ancestors and families? One way to get started is to use the Military Memories Writing Prompts to jump start your research and writing.  as we explore life on the U.S. home front, women in service, and the lives of all veterans.

These prompts were written with the World War II era in mind, but most can be used for any war. They were originally used in May 2014 and are not grouped by category. Since May 2014 I expanded these 31 prompts into over 500. Are you looking for more writing prompts to help you tell the stories of war from a U.S. or European perspective? See my Stories from the World War II Battlefield Volume 3: Writing the Stories of War, for over 500 writing prompts for U.S. and European writing.

Prompt 15: The Home Front. On the home front, the view was that men should go off to fight. There were some with statuses that prevented them from serving. Did any men in your family not go off to fight and if so, why? What was his part of the war effort if he did not serve in the military?

Please share your prompts and responses on your blog and tag them with #militarymemories.

Do you need help learning how to do World War II research or need to hire a researcher to help you? Please feel free to contact me for more details.

© 2016 Jennifer Holik

Have you taken time to record the stories of your World War II ancestors and families? One way to get started is to use the Military Memories Writing Prompts to jump start your research and writing.  as we explore life on the U.S. home front, women in service, and the lives of all veterans.

These prompts were written with the World War II era in mind, but most can be used for any war. They were originally used in May 2014 and are not grouped by category. Since May 2014 I expanded these 31 prompts into over 500. Are you looking for more writing prompts to help you tell the stories of war from a U.S. or European perspective? See my Stories from the World War II Battlefield Volume 3: Writing the Stories of War, for over 500 writing prompts for U.S. and European writing.

Prompt 14: Soldier Stories. Have you ever used word play to help you write? Sometimes trying our hand at something different helps grow our writing skills. We have all seen movies about war. Use any or all of these words to tell the story of a soldier.

beach

death

shock

guns

noise

enemy roar and smoke

pray

courage

fear

blood stained beaches

absolute terror

explosion

thunderous noise

convoy

Please share your prompts and responses on your blog and tag them with #militarymemories.

Do you need help learning how to do World War II research or need to hire a researcher to help you? Please feel free to contact me for more details.

© 2016 Jennifer Holik

Have you taken time to record the stories of your World War II ancestors and families? One way to get started is to use the Military Memories Writing Prompts to jump start your research and writing.  as we explore life on the U.S. home front, women in service, and the lives of all veterans.

These prompts were written with the World War II era in mind, but most can be used for any war. They were originally used in May 2014 and are not grouped by category. Since May 2014 I expanded these 31 prompts into over 500. Are you looking for more writing prompts to help you tell the stories of war from a U.S. or European perspective? See my Stories from the World War II Battlefield Volume 3: Writing the Stories of War, for over 500 writing prompts for U.S. and European writing.

Prompt 13: Women in the War. A lot is written about men in World War II but have you considered women were just as powerful as men during WWII? Write a brief piece on how you viewed your female ancestors as powerful during WWII.

Please share your prompts and responses on your blog and tag them with #militarymemories.

Do you need help learning how to do World War II research or need to hire a researcher to help you? Please feel free to contact me for more details.

© 2016 Jennifer Holik

Have you taken time to record the stories of your World War II ancestors and families? One way to get started is to use the Military Memories Writing Prompts to jump start your research and writing.  as we explore life on the U.S. home front, women in service, and the lives of all veterans.

These prompts were written with the World War II era in mind, but most can be used for any war. They were originally used in May 2014 and are not grouped by category. Since May 2014 I expanded these 31 prompts into over 500. Are you looking for more writing prompts to help you tell the stories of war from a U.S. or European perspective? See my Stories from the World War II Battlefield Volume 3: Writing the Stories of War, for over 500 writing prompts for U.S. and European writing.

Prompt 12: Overseas Service. Describe the living conditions of your ancestor during their military service. Did he or she sleep in a tent; barracks; bombed out buildings; on the frozen ground? How often did they get a hot meal or a shower?

Please share your prompts and responses on your blog and tag them with #militarymemories.

Do you need help learning how to do World War II research or need to hire a researcher to help you? Please feel free to contact me for more details.

© 2016 Jennifer Holik