"The night before, when we got the final word, there were a few men who made their way to the chapel, myself included." These are the words of a World War II Veteran as he begins to reflect on his experiences the night before the Normandy Invasion, June 6, 1944. He is one of hundreds of WWII vets whose personal narratives have been preserved in the video series, Lest They Be Forgotten. Larry Cappetto is the producer, director, interviewer, and host who has pieced together this invaluable oral history in an effort to preserve forever stories from World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, before those who experienced them personally are gone.
"Some of the troops-this was their first time in combat-had volunteered and had no idea what they were getting themselves into," says one man. "I think that's why they had so many of the young guys go in first. An 18-year old don't think about life the way a 40 year old man does," says another, in what is a series of interview excerpts edited into a chronological account of the events of D-Day, 67 years ago.
Cappetto, a filmmaker, writer and musician from Grand Junction, Colorado has, since 2002, dedicated his time, talents and personal resources to the cause of archiving personal accounts from men and women who served during WWII. He has pursued this aging and dying population of veterans for years, traveling to all parts of the United States, as well as overseas, in his crusade. The videotaped reports chronicled in his series are often humorous, sometimes heart-wrenching, but always human; the real perspectives of fighting men who lived through the unimaginable distress of war. "We didn't care if we got hit or killed or whatever. We were just so miserably seasick that we wanted off the boat," says one veteran of his experience landing on the beach at Normandy. Says another, "I saw machine-gun fire and it looked like rain." And another, "I saw the boat blew completely out of the water. All these boys-their arms flying, their bodies flying all over the place."
Article comments