Marvin Newman was on a ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Tony Kaye shuttled back and forth between London and the English countryside. Dick Davies helped air-raid supervisors in Chicago. Everyone who came to the New Canaan Librarys Memories of World War II gathering Thursday at the Lapham Community Center, had a different story to tell.
Its the only time that I know of in my lifetime that the whole United States was totally involved together in one purpose, Davies said. The closest thing I can think of was 9-11, when there were flags everywhere, and the whole country was united because we were attacked.
Newman told of his service in the Navy in the Pacific fleet. He still remembers the surprise he felt when he heard about the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the damage he saw after the U.S. invaded Japan. When I went to Tokyo, everything was burned to the ground, he said. It looked like Katrina in New Orleans.
Kaye was just a young child in Great Britain during the war, but remembers life in London during German air raids. Kaye, luckily, lived in the southwest corner of the city, and most of the bombing was to the East. Nevertheless, he remembers the damage. The city was just flattened, he said.
The library organized the conversation as part of It Happened In , its Summer Reading Series. Taking its name from Elizabeth Bettinas book, It Happened in Italy, the program features book readings, lectures and movie showings about World War II and the Holocaust.
The Lapham Center is hosting another session on July 29. The Library hopes to have high school volunteers record interviews for the librarys archives. We wanted to make sure we opened up a dialogue between generations, said assistant director Cynde Bloom Lahey. So young people didnt forget what happened in the war.
Click here to follow Daily Voice and receive free news updates.
