little girl whispering

It has been said that “silence is golden”. While this maxum rings true in many circumstances, when it comes to blogging, silence is just… well, quiet.

Unfortunately the iHistory WW2 blog has been silent for a while now. But, there is good news!

We are up and running once again. Soon, we’ll begin posting updates for iHistory WW2, stories from World War Two, and ways you can become involved!

Keep an eye out on the blog for new posts, and join us on Facebook and Twitter to follow our conversation there, too!

Ps. We just joined Pinterest- so be sure to follow us there, too!

Stop.  Think about those from whom the American dream was often, possibly even universally withheld; those whose heritage disenfranchised them from the words “all men are created equal.”  Among them was a young Navajo, Jack Jones.   His culture, even his name, was taken from him in the U.S. government’s drive to erase the Native Americans’ ways of life.

Jack could have said this wasn’t his fight.  His was a hard life.  As a child he was sent to boarding school where he was taught his native language, and all that made him Navajo, was bad.  He ran away from home and from boarding school.    He rode the rails, accepting the transient life of a hobo to that which awaited him on the reservation.  Are you angry, yet?  Are you ready to say,  ”Jack, don’t go?” His response will surprise you!

Jack, and many other young men of the Navajo nation, answered a very special call to arms.  Their language, once reviled, became a secret military code never broken by the enemy.  The Code Talkers, as they were known, coordinated combat operations, calling in air strikes and providing other essential battlefield communications.    Jack felt honored, even grateful for the chance to help his native language endure and to be an asset to the defense of the country.  He held no grudge.  He took solace in saving American lives, though he never rejoiced in killing.

History is witness to the Code Talkers’ contributions.  Jack Jones’ vision is realized.  Oppression was stopped.  The Navajo culture and its language continues, now living in a special place of honor and respect.

I hope you will support me (and hundreds of World War 2 enthusiasts and volunteers around the world) in challenging American teens across America, who are interested in military history, to participate in the iHistory Project-WW2.  We are committed to preserving these great World War 2 stories and memories and to bringing them to life so future generations will understand and appreciate the events of this conflict and how they shaped our world.

For more information, visit the iHistory Project-WW2 or contact me directly at jeff@ihistoryproject.org.

Bob Eamello grew up in the Great Depression.  He, like so many in his generation, already knew deprivation and personal sacrifice.  As a boy, he recalled, he would climb cherry trees and apple trees to find food and a meal of rabbit, squirrel and even an occasional blackbird was welcomed fare.  Maybe the hardships of youth prepared him for what was ahead.

Preparations ended for Bob Eamello shortly after the D-Day landings on the Normandy beaches.  The following month he and his comrades blazed a mechanized trail across Europe that ultimately brought him face to face with George Patton, himself.  Along the way Bob ran headlong into fighting against some of the fiercest fighters of the war, the famed and feared Panzer Armies.  When he recalled his meetings with Patton, Bob recalled that the only words any soldier needed, when addressing the general, was “Yes Sir!”  Bob and his brothers in arms marched with Patton to Bastogne, relieving the beleaguered 101st Airborne and helping to secure the Allied victory in the Battle of The Bulge.

The March to victory for Bob Eamello and the 4th Armored Division was never easy.  They helped liberate the Buchenwald death camp; looking into the faces of those who suffered at the hands of absolute evil.  They endured the bitter winter of 1944-1945 and they felt the loss of all who perished in freedom’s name.  Recalling the last day of the war, Bob said it was the day the men of the 4th Armored Division met their Russian and Czech allies.  “The captain yelled “quit fighting.”  It was over.  Speaking with a voice that still reverberates with profound relief, Bob said: “It was the best day of the war.”

Bob Eamello’s story is his own.  Each serviceman and every servicewoman has a story that is shared with others but is still personal and unique.  In their own personal stories, they all said “Yes Sir” just as Bob did when he stood toe to toe with General George S. Patton, Jr.

I hope you will support me (and hundreds of World War 2 enthusiasts and volunteers around the world) in challenging American teens across America, who are interested in military history, to participate in the iHistory Project-WW2.  We are committed to preserving these great World War 2 stories and memories and to bringing them to life so future generations will understand and appreciate the events of this conflict and how they shaped our world.

For more information, visit the I-History Project-WW2 or contact me directly at jeff@ihistoryproject.org

Camp O’Donnell was a U.S. military installation.  There is nothing in the name that makes it stand out but what happened there is quite remarkable.  On April, 1942, when the United States and its allies surrendered the Bataan peninsula to the forces of the Japanese Empire, the Death March of Bataan began and thousands of Americans and their Filipino allies either perished, or spent the next three years in unimaginably horrific conditions.  Ralph Rodriguez survived and he is adamant that clinging tightly to hope was the difference between life and death.  “I made it my mission to come home,” he recalls and it was that dogged determination that was his strength throughout the years of misery.

The atrocities started along the march.  “As soon as you fell,” Ralph told me, “the Japs butchered you…They killed people right and left for little or no reason.” He recounts instances in which soldiers were bayoneted for being as little as one or two steps behind on the tortuous sixty mile march.   The Red Cross insignia he wore, he added, may have helped him escape the onslaught of Japanese bullets and bayonets to which so many innocents fell.  Ralph made it, despite eight episodes of Malaria, a disease that often kills its victims in the first round, despite the malnutrition and the inhumanity of his captors.  “I made it my mission to come home, he said, and emphasized that only hope could save the men destined to endure the ordeal.  Even a perfectly healthy man who gave up hope would die within a day, he added.  One thousand in his camp never did get home.  There was no escape, just a constant struggle to stay alive.

Days turned to into months and then into years.  Finally, in late January, 1945, units of the Sixth U.S. Army Rangers, in a daring covert operation 20 miles behind enemy lines, rescued Ralph Rodriguez and his comrades, the men of Camp O’Donnell.  Ralph remembered the day vividly:

“The Rangers came in and started shooting…  All Hell broke loose…Within fifteen or twenty minutes it was all over.”

The men started off on another march.  This time it was a march not to enslavement, but into freedom. Elements of the 6th Army Rangers made sure the pursuing Japanese forces never again took these men prisoner.  The Rangers accomplished their mission of liberation and Ralph Rodriguez accomplished his, to never give up hope and to make it home!

I hope you will support me (and hundreds of World War 2 enthusiasts and volunteers around the world) in challenging American teens across America, who are interested in military history, to participate in the iHistory Project-WW2.  We are committed to preserving these great World War 2 stories and memories and to bringing them to life so future generations will understand and appreciate the events of this conflict and how they shaped our world.

For more information, visit the I-History Project-WW2 or contact me directly at jeff@ihistoryproject.org

The iHistory Project is an exciting opportunity to bridge the widening generational gap between today’s youth and World War II veterans.  Help us spread the word about the project to teachers, parents,  Junior high and high school students!  Please share this blog and iHistoryProjectWW2 with your friends and family!  Remember to look us up on Facebook as well!

One day after the Empire of Japan’s attack on Hawaii and Pearl Harbor, the United States President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, delivered this speech to a Joint Session of Congress.  The speech is best known for the line “December 7, 1941… a date which will live in infamy.” Unfortunately many students today do not know what happened at Pearl Harbor that day.

But there is something you can do to help educate today’s teens by getting them to learn out nations history from the people who were there… before it is too late. Roughly a 1,000 World War II veterans die everyday. The New York Times said that by 2020 there won’t be any left at all.

Please visit http://www.ihistoryprojectww2.org to see how you can help in your community!

If you have any questions or need more information please visitor our website iHistory Project: WW2 or contact me directly at jeff@ihistoryproject.org

“We celebrate this Veterans Day for a very few minutes, a few seconds of silence and then this country’s life goes on.  But I think it most appropriate that we recall on this occasion, and on every other moment when we are faced with great responsibilities, the contribution and the sacrifice which so many men and their families have made in order to permit this country to now occupy its present position of responsibility and freedom, and in order to permit us to gather here together.” -John F. Kennedy (November 11, 1961)

The iHistory Project and the Worthington Foundation wish to thank all of our military service men and women, as well as those who are supporting them as they maintain the frontiers of freedom!

Hey Everyone!

I’m very happy to announce that we recently received our 501c3 non-profit status!  We, at the Worthington Foundation are very excited for what this means in the coming months!  Thank you for your support over the years.   We started the iHistory Project back in 2009 and it has been quite a journey.

When we started the iHistory Project, in the Fall of 2009, we looked to partner with other non-profit organizations in order to save the time of having to file to become 501(c)(3) ourselves, but because of the economic down turn, most organizations were not taking on new projects.  So in June 2010, we hired a paralegal, who came recommended and whom we had previously used to handle the process of forming our own 501(c)(3) organization.  Unfortunately, he led us on a wild goose chase for 18 months.  He took our money and, to the best of our knowledge, he is currently residing in Europe.  It was mid-2011 before we realized that he was not doing the work he had claimed.  This was confirmed a few months later when the IRS said that he had never contacted them on our behalf.  Needless to say, that was devastating news.

It took a few months for us to untangle the mess he left behind.  So, in January 2012, we again began the process of applying to become non-profit organization.  However, this time was with a reputable company, thus, we are glad to report that in October, 2012, we (the Worthington Foundation) finally received our 501(c)(3) non-profit status!

Preserve our World War II veterans’ history while bridging the generational gap with today’s youth.  Spread the word about the iHistory Project with your family, friends, and teachers, via Facebook, Twitter, etc.  Remember to download our flyer (Click Here)!

For more details on how to get your teens involved with our iHistory Project, go to our website: www.Heroes-WW2.org

Talk again soon.

Jeffrey Worthington

Worthington Foundation

Project Director (iHistory Project)

4th of July fireworks celebrating our nation’s freedoms!

Growing up as a young child I remember the 4th of July as a time that meant spending time at with grandparents, parades, music, people, watermelons, new adventures, and of course, fireworks!  The very first time I saw fireworks I think I cried from the loud bangs, but, as most young boys, I soon came to love the annual pyrotechnic shows.  I even studied them and learned the names of the different types of fireworks (yes, I was a nerd growing up).

This view of the 4th of July started changing, however, when I began interviewing World War II veterans for my documentary, For the Love of Freedom, when I was 20 years old.  Listening to them recount stories of how they stormed beaches in the South Pacific, flew bombing raids over Berlin, or held a dieing friend in their arms, I started appreciating the freedoms I have as an American.

A Japanese American who served in the US Army during WWII once told me, “I think too many people expect that freedom is their right. It’s not a right, it’s a privilege.”

This weekend Americans will be enjoying cookouts, family & friends, fun with the kids on Slip-’n-Slides, outdoor concerts, parades, and fireworks.  But let’s not forget what we are celebrating and remember to teach our children the history of those who 65+ years ago fought on foreign soil to protect our freedoms.  Please help the iHistory Project in our efforts to do this by sharing our website (iHistory Project: WW2) with your family, friends, and local teachers via Facebook and e-mail!

If you have any questions or need more information please visitor our website iHistory Project: WW2 or contact me directly at jeff@ihistoryproject.org

“They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest—until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men’s souls will be shaken with the violence’s of war.”

Paratroopers reenacting the D-day jump on location just outside of Saint Mere Eglise, France (2010).

“For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and goodwill among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.”  – President Franklin D. Roosevelt — June 6, 1944

Remember to thank a veteran… they’re often disguised as a Wal-Mart greeters, volunteers, and grandparents.  For more information, visit the iHistory Project-WW2 or contact me directly at jeff@ihistoryproject.org