Aaron Elson's Blog, page 4
January 12, 2021
Bastogne: 101st Airborne veteran Maurice Tydor, Part 1
Maurice Tydor, a radio operator with the 101st Airborne Division, went into Normandy on an LST, into Holland on a glider, and into Bastogne on a truck. In this interview, he talks about the siege of Bastogne. This interview and several others is included in my Oral History Audiobook "D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge," available at aaronelson.com and eBay.
My Father's Tank Battalion, the podcast
Bastogne: Maurice Tydor, Part 2
War As My Father's Tank Battalion is a podcast about the 712th Tank Battalion in particular and World War II in general. In part 2 of this 1994 interview, Maurice Tydor, a former neighbor of mine, was a radio operator in the 101st Airborne Division during the siege of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge.
Resources:
myfatherstankbattalion.com The official podcast site
aaronelson.com My author web site
Oral History Audiobooks A wide range of World War II oral history audiobooks on CD
mathewcaruso.com A tragic hero of the Korean War
January 4, 2021
Interview With a Tank Driver: Tony D'Arpino Part 2
C Company veterans, from left, John Zimmer, Cecil Brock, Buck Hardee, Ralph Tambaro and Tony D'Arpino
War As My Father's Tank Battalion Knew It is a podcast about the 712th Tank Battalion in particular and World War II in general, or maybe it's about General Patton in general and the Greatest Generation in particular. Whatever it's about, every episode is a piece in the ten thousand piece jigsaw of history, in the words and voices of the people who made it. In this and the previous episode, Tony D'Arpino of Milton, Massachusetts talks about driving a Sherman tank from Normandy to Czechoslovakia, seeing action in Normandy and Le Mans and Chambois and the Battle of the Bulge and the Siegfried Line.
This interview is included in "The Tanker Tapes," available at eBay
For more stories and interviews:
World War II Oral History Audiobooks
The Mathew Caruso Story A tragic hero of the Korean War
January 2, 2021
Interview With a Tank Driver: Tony D'Arpino Part 1
Tony D'Arpino
War As My Father's Tank Battalion Knew It is at a crossroads, perhaps not as complex as the intersection between time and space, but rather the intersection between stagnation and growth. Please give it a comment or a review wherever you listen to podcasts, be it spotify, gaana, audible, itunes or its host, libsyn. That will help attract new listeners and help the podcast grow.
Today's episode is excerpted from my interview with Tony D'Arpino. Tony was a tank driver in C Company, but he was way more than that. He was a husband, a father, a storyteller, and a fixture at reunions of the 712th. He is featured in my audiobook The Tanker Tapes, and also in Once Upon a Tank in the Battle of the Bulge.
For more information:
World War II Oral History Audiobooks
ebaystores.com/World-War-II-History
December 18, 2020
Five 101st Airborne Veterans Talking Bastogne (Part 2)
Aaron Elson sat in a lounge at West Point in 1994 with five veterans of the 101st Airborne Division as they reminisced about the siege of Bastogne. This episode concludes that conversation. For a transcript of the full conversation, please read the show notes for the previous episode (Episode 68).
Important resources:
December 9, 2020
Hitch Hiker Part 4: Conclusion
This episode concludes the John Sweren story. It's a departure from my father's tank battalion but is well worth a listen, as it covers many of the universal themes of World War II: The post traumatic stress, the brushes with fate, the concept of heroism, the uplifting moments of humor in the darkest of circumstances, the importance of family and home and a future to return to. John's story of growing up on a farm with 2,000 chickens in the throes of the Great Depression, and of traveling the world as a paper mill executive later in life, are as compelling as his experiences at 14,000 feet and on the march across Germany.
John at the dedication of the Hitch Hiker memorial
The memorial in Fierville-Bray, Normandy
For more information:
https://myfatherstankbattalion.com
https://oralhistoryaudiobooks.com
Facebook: OralHistoryAudiobooks
Twitter: @aaronelson1
December 8, 2020
Hitch Hiker Part 3: Close Encounter With a Buzz Bomb
John Sweren of Mesa, Arizona, was a tail gunner on a B-26 in World War II, and a former prisoner of war. In 2005, he attended a ceremony in the Normandy village of Fierville-Bray for the dedication of a memorial to Hitch Hiker, his plane, which was shot down over the village with the loss of three of its crew members while three survived.
John's story is a roller coaster of emotions. His memories are both unique -- as every flier had a different set of experiences and connections with family and friends -- and universal in the themes that run through his story: the loss of friends, the respite of alcohol, the camaraderie, the cruelty of captivity, the moments of humor in the darkest of times.
Special thanks to French historian Christian Levaufre, John's daughter Julie Denton, and Brett (Dallas) Schomacher for helping to bring John's amazing story to light.
John tells his story at the memorial dedication
For more information:
https://myfatherstankbattalion.com
https://oralhistoryaudiobooks.com
December 6, 2020
Hitch Hiker Part 2: Merry Christmas in July
John Sweren of Mesa, Arizona, was a tail gunner on a B-26 Marauder in World War II. On July 28, 1944, while on his 58th mission, his bomber took a direct hit of flak and the tail section broke off with John in it. He survived to become a POW.
John suggested the name Hitch Hiker for his B-26 and the crew approved. The nose art shows a woman modeled after Betty Grable with her thumb out and her skirt pulled up. On the ground is a suitcase with "TNT" painted on its side. Today there is a memorial to the Hitch Hiker in the village of Fierville-Bray in Normandy.
In this episode, John talks about some of his missions, the two German fighter planes he shot down, his experiences as a prisoner of war in Stalag Luft IV and the march across Germany in weather so cold that one night his eyelids froze shut.
I left out a portion of the interview between Part 1 and Part 2 and might add it later on or post it separately for anyone interested in hearing it. In it, John talks about growing up in the Great Depression, and about falling in love -- with a car.
My full interview with John is available at Amazon with the title "Merry Christmas in July" both in print and for Kindle. The full audio is available on eBay and in the online store at aaronelson.com along with two other POW interviews under the title "March Madness."
John Sweren and his wife, Bobbi, at the 2005 dedication of the Hitch Hiker monument in Fierville-Bray, France.
French historian Henri Levaufre, his son, Christian Levaufre, and Henri's wife, Jeanette with John.
Merry Christmas in July, available in print and for Kindle at Amazon
For more information:
War As My Father's Tank Battalion Knew It
December 5, 2020
Hitch Hiker: Part 1
When I launched War As My Father's Tank Battalion Knew It, I intended it to be mostly about tanks. But the title is misleading, and I'm the person who came up with it. About half of my work comprises interviews and conversations with veterans and families of my father's 712th Tank Battalion. , and I thought, well, there are a lot of people who are interested in tanks. But there are also people who are interested in D-Day, and prisoners of war, and Marines, and air battles, and Gold Star families, and World War II in general, and those interviews comprise the other half of my work.
This and the next couple of episodes are about a B-26 Marauder named Hitch Hiker, and its tail gunner, John Sweren. In 2010 Bob Levine called and invited me to breakfast. Bob, incidentally, is the subject of the episode "Good News, Bad News." He and his wife, Edith, both had covid-19 and both survived. (Edith has since passed away.) The French historian Christian Levaufre was visiting Bob on his way to the 90th Infantry Division reunion, besides which, Edith was a cook right out of Bon Appetit, so how could I refuse?
During the breakfast, Christian remarked that he had some pieces of an airplane in his suitcase.
I was like what?
Pieces of a B-26 that crashed in France during World War II, Christian explained, and during his visit he was going to deliver them to family members of some of the crew.
John Sweren of Mesa, Arizona, was the tail gunner on that crew. On July 28, 1944, the plane took a direct hit from flak and the tail section broke off with John in it. It was his 58th mission. Three of the six crew members were killed and three survived. Christian had a copy of an interview with John done by Brett Schomacher, who sat beside John on a plane and was fascinated by his story. When I read Schomacher's interview, I wanted to interview John as well. I planned a trip to Mesa, Arizona, in conjunction with a visit to my mother's cousin Janice Lahr in Tucson. Janice's late husband was Herb Lahr, whose father was Bert Lahr, the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz, but that's another story.
I interviewed John over two days, and eventually published the interview with the title "Merry Christmas in July" for Kindle and, thanks to the miracle of print-on-demand, in book form available at Amazon.
There is a lot more to come from my interviews with the 712th Tank Battalion, but I've decided to include more of my general work as well. I hope you'll subscribe to the podcast on your favorite platform, and subscribe to my email newsletter at myfatherstankbattalion.com. I'm Aaron Elson. Thank you for listening. And reading!
War As My Father's Tank Battalion Knew It
World War II Oral History Audiobooks
November 28, 2020
Thanksgiving in the Rain
Our nation spent Thanksgiving this year in the middle of a war that has claimed a quarter of a million lives. My father's tank battalion spent the Holidays in a different kind of war. Just as today, Thanksgiving was a special day.
