World War II: Pennsylvania's Patriots

On Demand
View their stories below

Walter Helinsky. Jack Durkin. Evangeline Coeyman. These are just a few of the people who appear in WORLD WAR II: PENNSYLVANIA’s PATRIOTS -- a one-hour special giving voice to the veterans in our region who served in the war and played a role in thwarting the march of fascism and dictatorship across Europe and the South Pacific. We hear their words, feel their emotions, and see just a bit of what they did as infantry, medics, nurses, pilots, gunners, and more. We learn what it was like to go as young men and women from towns such as Allentown, Bethlehem, Willow Grove, Warminster and other Pennsylvania locales to a theater of war from which they and their comrades might never return. While these are some of the lucky one’s who did return, they’ve never forgotten their journey and believe it’s important to share their stories with you. The program airs only on PBS 39 September 27 at 8:00pm and October 5 at 10:00pm To order a DVD copy of the entire program, (approx. 60 min) click here or call Member Services at 610-984-8100. Special price:$25.00
Every year, members of the 101^st Airborne Division and other veterans come to Ft. Indiantown gap to remember how they fought the Germans and the cold at the Battle of the Bulge. (RT: 04:15)		To play video, click appropriate link. High speed connections (broadband or DSL) best. > Windows Media > Quicktime
Jack Durkin spent the war in a room with a view as a ball gunner in a b-17 bomber over Europe—a long way from Philadelphia. Sylvester “Lap” Lapkiewcz of Willow Grove flew the unfriendly skies over places such as Okinawa and Iwo Jima as a marine fighter pilot. Ralph Bud Galow came down out of the Poconos to join the navy and help direct the big guns of the U.S.S. TENNESSEE—a battleship with battle scars from action throughout the Pacific. (RT: 05:24)		> Windows Media > Quicktime
Dwight Rist, a supply sergeant with Pennsylvania’s 28^th division was told to prepare for front-line fighting in Bastogne. (RT: 06:15)		> Windows Media > Quicktime
At the age of nineteen, Walter Helinsky traded Bethlehem for the enemy-infested jungles of New Guinea. (RT: 05:27)		> Windows Media > Quicktime
	More stories will be added at a later date. Please check back with us.