Local author working on oral history projectBy Robert Behre (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Saturday, September 6, 2008
A new oral history project at The Citadel aims to record the stories of its alumni who fought in World War II. Author and southern political expert Jack Bass will lead the effort, which has a personal element to him. One of his older brothers graduated from The Citadel and enlisted just before the start of the war. Herbert Bass became a Marine dive bomber and was killed in the battle of Guadalcanal. The Citadel has hundreds of World War II veterans still living, and Bass said his challenge will be deciding who to interview first. “My initial focus will probably be on those who served in combat, only because I think they’ll have more dramatic stories and deserve special recognition,” he said. “There will be a lot of strong candidates.” Bass initially plans to record the stories of Dr. R.L. Cockfield of Lake City, whose combat unit was decimated on Iwo Jima; former Sen. Fritz Hollings, and Alvah Chapman, who later served as chairman of the newspaper chain Knight-Ridder. He hopes to interview 20 to 25 veterans by the end of the year and may do more next year. “There is no specific end point, I’ll put it that way,” he said. |
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This article has 1 comment(s)
Posted by STREETLAW on September 6, 2008 at 7:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Worthwhile project. So much of WW II never really got told. The Marines have a motto, Semper Fi. As I understand it, the Citadel has no official motto.
These WW II vets deserve the honor of creating one.