The Last World War Two Veterans Will Soon Be Gone
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ก.ย. 2024
- Mr. Beat hangs out with World War Two veterans. This is a collaboration with the fine folks at @MemoirsofWWII. Please subscribe to their channel.
Thanks to Hudson Louie, Joshua Scott, and Heather Scott, for helping me make this video. Please check out www.memoirsofw... for resources on how to reach or find out about surviving World War Two veterans. Additional video and images by @MemoirsofWWII or found in the public domain.
Produced by Matt Beat. Filmed by Matt Beat, Shannon Beat, and Hudson Louie. Music by Esther Abrami, Freedom Trail Studio, and Slenderbeats.
Sources/further reading:
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www.statista.c...
www.nationalww...
www.pewresearc...
www.data.va.go...
Here's an annotated script with footnotes: docs.google.co...
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Often, we learn history directly from those who experienced it firsthand. But the vast majority of folks who experienced World War Two, firsthand, are now dead. Around 70 million people fought in World War Two. Less than 75,000 of them are still around today. The youngest World War Two veterans today are in their late 90s.
Based on current estimates, nearly all of them will be dead by the year 2040.
I was extremely fortunate to spend some time with two of them.
Wilbur Grisham served as a medic in the Pacific Theater of the war.
Marvin Blakeman served with the 83rd Infantry Division in the European Theater of the war. He landed at Normandy and saw combat as he marched through France, eventually fighting in the Battle of the Bulge.
I also was extremely fortunate to spend the day with Hudson, who works with the channel Memoirs of World War Two. The folks at the channel travel to as many places as they can to interview and honor the few surviving World War Two veterans left. These veterans have not only important stories to share, but fascinating stories. And because they are PERSONAL stories, they capture what history books often can’t. And the videos are incredibly well produced. The channel is a gem. Check it out.
#wwii #wwiiveterans #ww2veteran
If you are lucky enough to know or to have met a World War Two veteran, what was the biggest lesson you learned from them?
I met probably the last surviving original Seabee in a grocery store. I couldn’t understand him very well due to a speech impediment he had, but he was very happy to have someone to talk to. It’s the lesson of check on your neighbor and fellow human, see how they’re feeling.
I met a WW2 pilot that served in the Pacific theater. He didn’t give me words if wisdom, only the fact that he was a pilot in the war against Japan.
My Grandfather was born in 1921, he didn't join the army - I doubt he even would be allowed to, since he was an Italian Immigrant to the UK - but he did work as a firefighter when the Germans bombed Portsmouth. He's still alive today and in pretty good shape.
I've only met 2 veterans (one was Ken Potts the penultimate USS Arizona survivor) but I'm impressed by their charisma and hopefulness in life even with all they went through in that time. It helps me know that even when given bad cards in life there can be joy found regardless. Thanks Mr. Beat for helping preserve these stories and history
My granddad just missed out on the draft, but he was conscripted into the coal mines for the post war recovery once he came of age in 1946.
He was one of the Bevin Boys.
We’re the last generation alive to talk with these legends…
Yes we are
I’ve had the golden opportunity to meet a WW2 pilot veteran at a military museum.
legends? my german grandfather was a nazi!
It's ironic just 80 years ago when these guys were in their 20s or 30s, there were still Civil War Veterans but very few left.
we are only 5 people away from columbus
it wasn't too long ago since we were saying goodbye to the last of the World War One veterans. truly will be the end of an era.
I was a very young kid when I happened to be at the funeral of Frank Buckles (1901-2011). I don’t know why I was there in Arlington National Cemetery (we lived in Alexandria and my father was stationed in the area at the time), but I remember the ceremonial gunfire terrifying me, and practically nothing else.
I come to find years later that he was the last surviving American to serve in WWI, and was one hundred and ten years old when he passed.
@@DiamondKingStudios wow. Why were you there? Was he a family friend, or a relative?
He said his dad was stationed in the area, so it was probably a big military funeral with thousands of people attending.
Oh yeah
The last known World War I veteran, American soldier Frank Buckles, died on February 27, 2011 at the age of 110.
That first 100 year old guy looks like he's no older than 65 wow!
Is day like 80-85 but still
He still drives around like it ain't no thing, too.
I hope I look this good if I make it to 100
He looks good but I don’t know what 65 year olds you are around that look that old
He looks 75
Damn that 101 year old is doing amazing! Unbelievable
And he still drives!
101 and can remember thats astonishing
My grandfather is 101
@@iammrbeatholy cow. That’s amazing.
@@arlonfoster9997 Is it really? This is dangerous..
2:40 I can only hope to not only LIVE to 100 but be as lucid and familiar with my experiences as that man
Yeah, no doubt! If I didn’t know any better, I would honestly think he was only about 80 years old
I mean it *WAS* WW2, I doubt that if you have an atleast decent memory you could remember what you felt
@@mono-no-aware.Lem. my great grandmother lived to be 103 years and was sharp as a tack until about a month before her death. She made the local news for being able to play her gospel songs on the harmonica at that age. Very sweet lady, truly the greatest generation.
And also age as well! One whole century on the planet and he looks like someone who I would mistake as 80. In reality, an 80-year-old could be his son!
My great grandfather proudly fought in WW2 and passed on in April ~20 days before his 100th birthday. I’m proud of his service to the nation and to his family.
Time’s passed so much, it’s hard to imagine that by 2040, most of the Vietnam war vets are probably gonna be gone, too. Just realizing it is sad to see 😢
Thanks for sharing this. I hope you got to spend some quality time with your great grandfather before he passed.
was he a nazi?
The loss of the character of this generation will be a tragedy
@@iammrbeat Thank you, you are one of my favorite youtubers and it means much for you to comment ❤️
@@blurredlights5235 Indeed
Here in El Paso there is a local WW2 vet named Eliseo Fernandez who turned 100 years old the other day. It's always neat to hear their lifestories. He's lived long enough to now be a great great grandfather
Do you know his story? I’m interested
@austinwhite6685 just from a social media post made about him. He was born in Colorado in 1924 before moving to El Paso in the 30s. When the war began he enlisted in the military as an infantryman and saw combat in the Burma campaign where he was injured and recieved the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. And after the war he returned to El Paso and raised his big family
@@Spongebrain97 That’s pretty awesome! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Great, GREAT grandfather? That's insane to me! When I hear the term great great grandfather, I think of someone who would've lived in the 1800s, but it's crazy that there are people living right now who are old enough to be a great great grandfather.
When I was a Sophomore in 2001 my history teacher gave an assignment for each of us to interview someone who fought in World War 2. (Or was otherwise involved in some way like with the Home Front). It was such a universal thing at the time to have a grandfather or great uncle that was a WW2 veteran that nobody in class had trouble finding someone to interview. It's sad that my own kids will not be able to do the same thing when they reach high school. But such is the passage of time. We need to celebrate these veterans while they are still here.
They are now doing the same thing but with people who lived through 9/11. Prepare to feel old
@@MSterling27 Technically I lived through 9/11. I was 9 months old and can't remember a second of it but I lived through it.
Even in 2001 they were already in their 80s and 90s. I remember going to the parade in the 70s seeing a huge number of ww1 vets almost as many as ww2
My APUSH teacher use to do a similar thing regarding memories of the JFK assassination. However, that ended by the time I had her in 2008.
@@mike04574yeah even back then they were old.
My Great Grandpa fought on the Western front. He fought from D-Day until being injured during the Battle of the Bulge. Unfortunately I never got to meet him because he died in 2009 one year after I was born but I’ll never forget the stories I’ve been told about him. There is one story my mom said he would always tell people when they asked about the war. He would say that he was clearing houses in Normandy when he busted down a door and saw a man pointing a gun right back at him. Though when he shot the man he said that he exploded into a million pieces. Because there was no man… he had shot a mirror.
Thank you Mr. Beat for talking about this. I wish my Great Grandpa was still around so I could ask him about his experiences.
I wish he was around, too. Thanks for the kind words and for sharing that.
Whoa that was a genuinely great plot twist!
Man I’m old
That was funny
@@iammrbeatMy friends great grandpa was in the navy in WWII, hes the oldest living veteran in my state at 107
Thank you for talking about this Mr. Beat.
It's my pleasure
@@iammrbeat When will you make a response video to Dawson and Weddle?
@@ecclesiasticman4417 This is not mrbeast. Lol.
@@ElizabetFlores-qg4kk They have to be joking, right? No one is that braindead. lol
@TitaniumTurbine Fr. How can someone get confused with Mr.beat with Mrbeast. Besides, Mrbeast doesn't do this content, and I hope the person is actually joking.
There was a triple dipper (World War Two, Korean War, Vietnam War) in my VFW district who died just shy of his 100th birthday. He was soft spoken, but had a youthful personality even at 96 when I last saw him.
As a kid, no more than 10, I had my picture taken with Lieutenant Colonel Edward Saylor, one of the last living Doolittle Raiders at the time.
@@babyinuyasha my great grandpa also served in WW2, Vietnam, and Korea, as well as being involved in covert intelligence missions during the Cold War. Unfortunately he passed in 2015, but I was at least old enough to have been blessed to know him for as long as I did.
@@Garlic_Bread_FTW my great grandfather fought in World War Two
@@babyinuyashayour great grandfather was an incredibly lucky man who survived the biggest war in history and two other wars that were almost as significant, you are lucky to have met him just in time
"It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather, we should thank God that such men lived." -George S. Patton
"We defeated the wrong enemy" - George S. Patton
@@quentinsummers2531That quote was not him defending the Nazis. That quote was him saying that the Soviet Union was of a higher priority. Don't manipulate the man's words.
@@colonelcorn9500 "I had never heard that we fought to de-Nazify Germany- live and learn. What we are doing is to utterly destroy the only semi- modern state in Europe so that Russia can swallow the whole." - Patton in a letter to his wife, September 14, 1945
He also developed a resistance to removing Nazi Party members from power.
I have many more quotes that show this. I can post a few more if you want.
@@DarkElfDiva Patton also saw American POWS and said some shit like you're a disgrace to the us for being captured
@@quentinsummers2531 thats crazy
i interviewed my greatuncle when i was 16 for my school exams and filmed it .He had been an aircraft mechanic in the german airforce.He was 96 at the time.He survived numerous encirclements bombattacks and saw the ruins of dresden after the horrible bombing attack.
3 months later i visited him in the hospice where he would lay in agony and pain all over the body screaming for someone to shoot him already.Im not ashamed to say i balled my eyes out when i left that place.
he had gotten a simple cough that developed into a lung infection and he passed soon after.
That man is my hero, he never hurt anyone and was well respected in our village.A kind hearted man, with a handshake so strong that it rivaled the one of healthy 20 year olds.
listen to your freaking grandparents guys , if we dont we will be the generation to sit in a trench again !
bit of a fun fact as well but...James Robinson, was an African American soldier, born in 1753. he was a veteran of the revolutionary war as well as the war of 1812 and lived to the remarkable age of 115. he died on March 27, 1868. Robinson's enslaver had him enlist at age 24 and fight in a Virginia Light Infantry Regiment with the promise that he could earn his freedom.
Considering that the earliest person I know to hold the record of longest-lived man was a Danish-American who died in 1998 at the age of 115, any claim before that would probably be hard to verify due to the scant records of the time (especially in Robinson’s case). I don’t doubt for a moment that it could have happened (probably more likely than not did), but it probably took at least a century after we developed sophisticated birth registries for any record-keeping of longevity could be properly conducted.
But had he lived to 115, he would have been the oldest man to ever live up to that time in recorded history.
@@DiamondKingStudios fair, we don't know for sure. also, Margret Anne neave was a lady born in 1792. she lived until 1903. so, while we dont know 100%, there were cases of longevity that existed in the 19th century.
@@PhantomOfDarkness The conventionally accepted longest-lived person ever lived from 1875 to 1997. Considering she was able to live through the conditions of the late 19th and early 20th centuries (from which we have since improved greatly in medicine and public safety), there were almost certainly supercentenarians born in the late 18th century.
Sir Moses Montefiore, a prominent British Jewish activist, lived from 1784 to 1885. Longevity’s been around quite a while.
@@DiamondKingStudiosthere's a radical difference between 101 and 115
@@jakefromstatefarm6969 Even then I’d be lucky to get to either age.
My grandmother married a WWII vet, and she unfortunately passed this January, right before her 100th birthday. I regret that I never asked to hear some stories.
It's an honor to listen to these heroes. It's impressive how coherent they are. Thank you so much for sharing this project.
You are one lucky man, Mr. Beat!
I was lucky, indeed. They were awesome to talk to.
@@iammrbeat
sorry but no, did you ever learn about ww1?
the uk was evil
nazis were heroes?
These dudes look 25 years younger than you think they would. Thank you for doing your part in saving the world.
@@adriancarroll2926 meanwhile gen z nowadays look like they're in their 50s
My great grandfather was a american soldier who died of in 1992. It’s shocking that men alive at the same time as him are still alive and so well spoken.
I'm not ashamed to say that I have spent almost an entire day on You Tube watching videos of these veterans tell their stories. I feel that I owe it to them to listen.
I just lost my grandfather a few months ago, he was a prison guard during WW2 and he had so many stories of Germans who spoke English telling him about how unwilling they were to be a part of Hitler's regime. It's heartbreaking knowing how many good people got thrown into this by the powers that be. He made it to 97. Thank you for this video Mr. Beat and sharing the stories of these others
Not an American, but Dutch. My great-grandmother is still alive at age 95. She was a teenager during the war and the German occupation of the Netherlands and told me about her experiences during the was when i was a teenager myself. Wrote down a couple of pages of her stories.
She claimed that her father was in the resistance later in the war and got caught and send to work in the factories in Germany, while she herself sometimes drove around on a bicycle delivering secrer resistance newspapers. Also during the hunger winter of 1944-1945 she had to go out on her own to the countryside to beg for food and almost got arrested once.
Always was proud of her and her father's deeds but now i am sad i never recorded any of it. While she luckily is still alive she unfortunately has at least some stage of mental decline and while she can talk about the past now, it's basically a coin flip is she is telling true stories or complete nonsense... :(
Also in a darker twist a few years back i read my writings on her stories again and did some research based on those stories and found out the "department" her father worked at before he "got arrested" was actually a german controlled government body so there is a non-zero chance she either lied to me or that her father lied to HER as a kid telling her he was in the resistance while in truth he was a collaborator that just went into hiding at the last stages of the war....
to be honest, i won't blame your grandfather for it, vast majority of people just wanted to survive at that point, he definitely wasn't a hero, but he definitely wasn't a villain either, just a man who wants the best for his family and himself.
as an Indonesian, i just hope that none of your families are being shipped to supress Indonesia's Revolutionary war during the post war period.
@@briantarigan7685 sounds like they weren’t in the best shape so probably not.
Hard to see these old guys pass on but I'm glad that we live in a time where technology is allowing us to capture their stories. Sidenote: the gentleman who was with the 83rd Division would have seen vicious combat. They were in the Hurtgen Forest and later liberated one of the subcamps of Buchenwald. Hard to imagine what these guys experienced. Appreciate you sharing it.
I lost my great grandfather, Billy J Morgan, on December 14, 2019, 6 months after his 100th birthday. He served during the Pacific War, and was at Okinawa.
I miss him dearly every day, and im so blessed to have been able to talk to him and hear his stories. I wish i still had my video interview of him i made for a high school project.
I miss him a lot, so so much. If it werent for him, i wouldnt be the man i am today.
My moms grandfather was also in the Pacific War, he told my father a story about how he fought in the war and told him he'd tell him more but then a few weeks later he passed, this was all a few months before I was born.
Beautiful video, Mr. Beat, personally I believe this is one of your best. It’s a tragedy that this is the last generation we will talk to these men and women who helped save the world.
Thanks so much. It's a tragedy, indeed.
@@iammrbeat I met a veteran at the memorial for d day in my town, the first time i had ever met a veteran
I didn't get a chance to talk to him because the guy running for power in my town wouldn't shut up about convincing me to vote
By the way, for him, NEVER
This makes me miss my grandpa. He was the most decent man I ever knew - never heard a bad word out of him, he just went to work and loved his family.
I knew he served in the Pacific, but he never talked about it. I was playing the video game Close Combat once, and he just looked at it for a bit and walked away.
When he died, we went through his sock drawer and we found a Bronze Star. Never mentioned it once.
2:02 I can only wish I'll be that articulate at 100.
@@OrangeHarrisonRB3 exactly. Doesn't look a day over 80
My dad also said that he was honored to meet the WWI veterans in 70s and 80s and now he said all of them are gone, now our generation have to endure that the WWII veterans are slowly passing away from us.
Also when you think about it when WW2 was going on some civil war veterans were still alive. Some people in this video may have knew some.
My dad was one of the younger WWII vets, he would've been 98 this year. As a Boomer, I worked with many WWII vets in my younger years. Some wouldn't talk about it and some would. Many were only 18 and most had never been more than 50 miles from home and suddenly they were thousands of miles from home. I heard a lot of interesting and sad stories over the years. All those guy that I worked with are now gone.
I supported Memoirs of WWII for some time but had to stop for financial reasons. It is amazing that you are spreading their message, they are an inspiration to me. As are all these men who served. ❤
Thank you so much for all your support ❤️
I am a student medicine, now doing my internship in a hospital. I try to talk to as many of these people as I can, to hear their stories. I haven't talked to any soldiers yet, only civilians, but their stories are just as interesting to me. I find it very important that these stories are not forgotten, and I thank you and the guys over Memoirs of WWII for helping us remember.
Thanks for sharing your experience as well.
Great video, as always.
Thank you, Jennifer!
I was walking in Manhattan with my gf one evening, and she is French from Paris. I walked by a ww2 veteran and all I could do was smile as I saw him. I regret never asking him his name… he smiled back, and I wonder if he knew that what he did made it possible for me as an American, to date and love someone from France, a nation he helped to liberate… I really hope he is still around, and I really wish I could talk to him
Band of Brothers is my favorite mini series ever. It is sad to watch the series now since every single person from Easy Company are gone.
My Dad was born in 1920, had a College deferment, had to rush through College in 3 years instead of 4, entered the Navy, was attached to the Attack Cargo Ship AKA-81 USS Valencia. The Valencia participated in the battle of Okinawa. It was probably against regulations, but Dad kept a little black diary that I still have, that notated the ship’s activities from shakedown cruise to returning to the US. The Valencia’s Wikipedia site could learn a few things from that little diary! Dad served from 44-46. He passed in 2004 at age 84 from cancer, just before a Valencia reunion. He never talked about the war much, but he brought home a few souvenirs which I cherish. Miss you Dad.
My dad had 2 purple hearts in the pacific theater. My dad has been gone now 40 years. I love you Dad.
You should find some library, museum, or historical society and get them to scan that diary and put it online.
@@pkobalt The Wikipedia site had 98% of it. The 2% are personal to individuals, if you get my drift. Plus, congrats to Wikipedia for all the history of Valencia
AFTER the War. It was a cargo ship for I believe 2 companies and not scrapped until 1970 I believe. Roughly 100 or so AKAs were built. They all have a Wikipedia page!
If he had a college degree was he an officer. I here you can join the milltary as an officer if you graduate college.
@@KentPetersonmoney I knew this might come up. The story is that he blew a curfew with some friends and got bounced from Officer Training School.
He spoke to me about this episode in his life exactly once.
One of the most important things I’ve learned from studying History is the importance of remembering. And forgetting.
As those who directly witness a past event die, we lose that personal connection to the Past.
New memories take over, including new worries. Also new sorrows and outrages.
Lessons are forgotten.
That is why the stories we choose to tell matter.
That is why this story matters.
Aloha 🙏🏼🤙🏼
@@malafunkshun8086 well said my friend, well said. You’re not wrong.
My grandfather grew up poor like most in the depression and lied about his age to enlist in the army cause he figured it couldn’t get much worse. He was a paratrooper in Operation Varsity and later served in Korea and Vietnam. He miraculously pushed through it all and lovingly fathered 10 kids. Despite his military discipline he was a gentle and huggable person and didn’t want his kids to have to do what he experienced. Harold was a man I deeply admire despite me being too young to remember him.
There’s a video of a WW2 veteran that met a civil war veteran who fought at Gettysburg. It’s crazy that he was able to pass on the stories that he heard to us all these years later. I wonder what stories we will pass on to future generations.
This is incredible! I've been interviewing WW2 Veterans for the last 3 years, been able to meet over 50 Veterans from 8 different countries. The oldest WW2 Vet I interviewed yesterday in Fort Erie Ontario, Canada is 109 Year Old! Great video Mr.Beat, Josh and his team from Memoirs of WW2 do amazing work as well!
I had the amazing opportunity to interact with many WWII veterans when I was a boy scout about 15-20 years ago. I would usually serve them during our towns annual Memorial Day pancake breakfast for veterans. Many of them were WWII guys and they would always tell me to be optimistic despite whatever the country was going through, as this was during the lead up and beginning of the 2007 Recession. My Great Grandfather served in the US Army during WWII and he passed away in 1973, so I never had the chance to have those real personal WWII connections that many other people had in their lives. These guys would always tell me amazing stories.
A 90 year old D-Day radio tech came in for our history class in my second to last year of high school. I’m sure he’s passed on by now. It was such an honor to speak with him, although I didn’t have very many questions, I only wanted to listen. What sticks out the most in my memory is “ thank God I didn’t have to kill anybody, but I’ve never forgotten the face of that dead German boy I had to sleep beside the first night on the beach.”
My grandfather served during WWII. He was a healthy 94 when he passed. He was an only child and said his mother cried when he was drafted. He only made it as far as Colorado, serving as an orderly but Imwas very proud to know him.
Great video, I'd be interested to see a video on the last surviving veterans (and spouses) of wars America fought in.
Rest in peace god bless
Ive spoken to survivors of the Holocaust before but never a WW2 veteran. Its really important that young people hear these stories so we don't forget tragedy. Thank you Mr Beat, been a fan for the last 7 years
Bro is talking to imaginary people 😂💀
If you told me these guys were Vietnam vets, I'd believe you. Astounding the shape they are in. Forever grateful for their service!!!
I can’t imagine anyone disrespecting these awesome veterans that fought for our country…
Only a really terrible person would think of disrespecting veterans
My Great Grandpa was a WWII Purple Heart Veteran in the Pacific, lived up to 99, glad I got to talked to him before his death.
My paw paw served in the navy in Iwo Jima and Okinawa he died in 2020 and I miss him a lot, he was a legend and the stories of the war he had were something else, I wish I could tell him how much I appreciate what he did for the country
Memoirs of WWII is such a gem of a channel doing something so important. I immediately recognized Josh’s voice when the video cut to the initial interview with him. I’m so happy to see these two channels connect.
My grandfather is still alive, he's 98. Was a bombadier in WW2 in the Pacific. He was about to be deployed before the bombs we're dropped. But he still has many stories from camp, training and his brother/friends.
1:18 with Joe Biden and Jimmy Carter: are we jokes to you? (Biden was born during the WW2, and Carter's birth is even closer to the start of WW1 than the start of WW2)
My grandfather joined the Navy twords end of WW2. He grew up on a farm and had never seen the ocean. He knew that he was going to be drafted so he chose the Navy. He was finishing training when Japan surrendered. My grandfather was embarrassed that the war ended before he ever stepped on a ship. The people that he grew up with had experienced so much and he didn't. He felt like he let them down and didn't do his part. From our conversations I got the feeling that he had survivors guilt. A lot of people that he knew never came home and he did.
Survivors guilt is so real. I got that feeling from talking to some vets myself.
I had the privilege, in my sophomore year of high school, of interviewing a surviving veteran who served in World War II as part of my Living History project. He even attended the luncheon that came at the end of the project, as did all of the other interviewed veterans from other students.
With the exception of one. One veteran unfortunately passed away the day before the luncheon after a long battle with chronic illness.
These heroes are still humans. And humans are more frail than we realize. Appreciate the ones we have while they're still here, and honor their legacies after they're gone.
The fact I'm seeing this today (Monday, 9/16) and they were honored at the Houston Texans game last night in person and I was there in crazy! They got the loudest standing ovation I've ever heard in my life at a sports event honoring veterans.
Growing up, we always had veterans come speak during school assemblies on Veterans Day. I remember most being ww2 veterans, including my grandfather who served in the pacific from 44-46.
Fast forward to last year, as a younger Marine Corps veteran, my old school asked me to come speak on Veterans day. Not one ww2 vet was left.
If you get the chance to talk with any of these men, do yourself a favor and take as much time as they're willing to give and hear their stories. I lost my grandfather in 2016 and I still kick myself for the things I never got to ask.
Thank you for this Mr. Beat, it’s been an honor watching countless of your videos since history class in 10th grade. Thank you to all WWII service members, and all US service members active or veteran.
I had a great grandmother that passed away when i was 12, she was 97. Born 1900 and i loved listening to her stories! She grew up in harlem when it was a predominantly white neighborhood, was a flapper girl, survived the spanish flu, remembered when the titanic sank, though, that one wasn't all that big of a deal to most people as it was only romantocized long after it happened. Remembered WW1 like it was yesterday.
My parents wpupd beg me to leave her alone but i couldnt help it, the stories were always just so fascinating.!!
And here you are all these years later still learning history. The world needs more folks like you, frankly. :)
@@iammrbeat her husband, my great grandfather, was actually on the original team that was developing the microwave but they lost out on the patent because another team figured it out sooner. She said she refused to ever have a microwave in her house because because she was incredibly afraid of it.
What a fantastic video. Everyone involved in the production of it has done history quite an honor by telling the stories of those who we might not have heard from otherwise.
Thank you
When I was 16, I was visiting my late great-grandmother who had recently moved into her new room at a Maryland nursing home. I briefly stepped outside the front entrance to catch some fresh air and ended up running into a 90 year-old man who was sitting quietly on his walker, but rather somberly. I asked if he was alright and he mentioned that he was depressed; he had lost his wife of nearly 65 years the previous Christmas and did not have immediate family that had visited him frequently. Turns out his late wife had lived in the same room that my family had moved my great-grandmother into and he lived next door to her. His name was Irwin Decker.
I sat with Irwin as he recalled his life and learned that he served in the Navy as a signalman out of both Savannah, GA and the Pacific Theater during the war. He recalled that he originally wanted to join the Marines, but the convention in New York City that he went to in 1942 had only the Navy. Irwin was just 17 and ended up serving for over 30 years. He showed me his submarine that he was stationed to in Savannah, recalling having to go out in the swamps to rescue new pilots who crashed when flight-training. Post-war, he joined the DC Police Department and served for over 20 years (the last ten of them as a Capitol Police Officer). While there, Irwin got to met Presidents Johnson, Nixon, and Ford in person. He recalled the Kennedy brothers (John F. and Robert) getting more death threats to his office than any senator at the time and that the two of them often broke rules in the Senate.😂
Less than four months after I met and befriended him, Irwin died of a stroke on Veterans Day, 2015. I was devastated when I found out; I was about to become an Eagle Scout around that time and had planned to invite him to my Court of Honor (he had received his badge in 1940-41). I found Irwin's grave in Frederick, MD just two years ago and every time I am up in the region, I pay my respects to him. Irwin definitely taught me that, even though that most service members don't die in combat, those that live still sacrifice a lot, like time away from their families and putting off their own interests and hobbies.
A lot to learn from a guy who I knew for only four months.
These men and their stories are so extremely important..
We need more of this as anyone under 85 has no idea of the ravages of a world war. We have become complacent and I'm terrified and have legit nightmares about world war 3 because most of us don't understand the hell it was and how it is unacceptable.
Bless those men you interviewed and I hope they have amazing remaining lives.
WWII was truly one of humanity's darkest hours. I have nothing but respect for those men who stepped up when needed
Nah. Today is 10x worse 💀
@@akfkodmyeah, today’s issues are so much worse than a war where at the lowest estimates killed 60 million.
@akfkodm how tf is it worse
I had the honor of interviewing a WW2 vet last spring. He signed up in 1946 as an army mp whose objective was to prevent uprisings and more conflict that was brewing just after the wars end that could have caused another war( WW2 vets are classified from 1940 to 46') I got the whole interview on video. It was a truly amazing thing to talk to him. These men are wells of knowledge and the fact that we will lose them all soon is a truly sad prospect.
I remember an article in 2003 about how the “Millennials” will be the last generation to see and work with WW2 veterans. They lived into Gen Z, and my own grandfather was a WW2 veteran, but it’s still sad to hear that hearing the voices of WW2 will be reduced to documentaries.
The fact the last WW2 Veterans will be leaving us soon weighs heavy on my heart and I was fortunate enough to know one of them. I always wanted to ask him about the war but it would've just stressed him out to talk about it as he had PTSD about being in a foxhole and having the germans shooting at him.
It’s gonna be sad when Jimmy Carter may pass away.
Definitely
@@iammrbeat let’s pray he shall live to be 100 but we’ll see
@@matthewhedrichjr.5445Only 3 more weeks
Fingers crossed, he hasn’t got long before his birthday.
Incidentally, I share a birthday with him. History’s greatest monster.
@@matthewhedrichjr.5445There are three weeks until he turns 100
Thank you for sharing this channel with me. My home town has a bunch of WWII vets that come to our Memorial Day ceremony in our park. This past year, a hero who was a D-Day paratrooper and a battle of the bulge survivor passed away. It is hard saying goodbye to such remarkable people. Both of my grandfathers were in the Air Force in the years following WWII and my great grandfather was stationed on a supply and troop ship during WWI that was a retrofitted German ship that was docked in a U.S. port when the war broke out. The USS Leviathan. I really appreciate anyone talking about history of anyone that is fading out of the collective consciousness of newer generations. Keep up the good work!❤
Mr. Beat is a TH-cam legend
You can understand why these men are so well spoken, I have the utter most respect for them. 🙏🙏
I had a neighbor who moved out recently. When he was a child, maybe 3, the Nazis began their invasion of Yugoslavia. A Nazi bomb landed on his house, destroying it, & deafening him in his (right I think?) ear.
My Grandfather is a Marine who fought in the Vietnam war, he was a machine gunner on front lines.
I was lucky enough to interview my own grandfather in a very similar setting to create a documentary for a class at my school called Vet Project and i learned absolutely so much from my grandpas experience, what he learned, less of what he saw, and more of how he felt. It brought me closer to him too.
Each of your videos is a small masterpiece that is amazing in its beauty and depth. Keep inspiring and surprising us!🧬🎼🍄
Cspan also has a great collection of video interviews with World War II vets. Thanks for your work, Mr. Beat, Josh and Heather.
I met 3 83rd ID WW2 vets on my 22nd birthday in Aug 2022. One guy was at the Bulge and was a POW. Another one was 107 years old! One month later, I met 3 more vets from WW2. One guy was in the Navy, one guy who was 105 served in the Army in Italy and the 3rd guy was at Iwo Jima as a tanker. I also have a grandfather who was in the war who turns 99 this October.
My grandfather served in the Royal Navy in WW2, he wasn't initially old enough to fight, he was 15 when war broke out in 1939, but he was clearly proud of what he had contributed to. His Navy issue tattoo, while faded, was still discernible even up to his passing aged 91 in May 2016, 2 months short of his 92nd birthday. Whenever I had homework at school to do with Civilian life in Britain during the war, he was a treasure trove of information, including his experience sheltering from Luftwaffe bombing raids in his local London Underground station, Shepherds Bush. One thing about him that I didn't find out about his Navy career until after his passing was to do with a very famous date in the war. On June 6th 1944, aka D-Day, my grandfather was serving on a River Class Frigate, HMS Chelmer, supporting the landings in Normandy. It makes me wonder what horrors he must have seen that day.
Not only was I a pallbearer at his funeral, but I read a speech about him, including a particular recollection of how he was able to not only engage with children, but hold a serious conversation with adults.
Every Memorial ceremony, while he was able to, he always laid a wreath for his brother, who was killed in action in Madagascar in 1942
Probably one of your greatest videos
Talk to them. Get to know them while you still can
Absolutely
To all of our military veterans, thank you for your service. 🫡❤🫂
Thank You, Mr. Beat. That was excellent.
This hits so close to home. My Papa (dad’s dad) joined the Marines in 1944 because all four of his older brothers and his sister-in-law were in the military, and he served in Okinawa a year later with his immediate brother Jack. I think Uncle Jack was a radio operator offshore on one of the Navy battleships and Papa was a BAR gunner on the front lines, neither one knew they fought in the same battle until after the war ended. After a few weeks in battle Papa’s CO put him on mortar duty further away from the action and that order quite literally saved his life. He was one of only seven in his unit of 200 to survive to the end of the war. When he came back to Pearl Harbor to serve the rest of his tour after the war ended he met my Nana, who was a native Hawaiian, and they were married on the fifth anniversary of the attack. She died in late March 2007, Uncle Jack died in mid 2015, and Papa died in late March 2022, 15 years after Nana almost to the day. The nurses said right up until he passed away he was still calling out to her and his brother Jack. I still miss them all very dearly. ❤️🇺🇸🪖🤙🏼🌺
My Grandpa was a combat engineer in the ETO. I was too young to document much of his story and sadly wasn’t able to get much before he passed. These people do important work. Thank you for your important work all of you
0:57 ...so far
Ww3 will probably be the closest that humanity can get to nearing extinction
While most content creators get big they interview celebs and viral people.
You literally are preserving information while spreading what other people are doing to preserve our history.
Sharing these video’s whenever I get the opportunity to.
Thank y’all
Knew WWII vets from church who served in the Pacific, and had the honor of meeting three Tuskagee Airmen at a Flag Day event in 2015:
Dabney Montgomery (ground crewman attached to the 332nd Air Fighter Group, was a bodyguard for MLK in the Selma March, died 2016).
Wilfred DeFour (366th Air Service Squadron, reached 100, and died in 2018).
Audley Coulthurst (member of the B-25 bomber group, and one of the first black CPAs in the country, died 2016).
In June 2021, I was stationed with the 101st Airborne Division at the time. We had our annual "Week of the Eagles". We had the pleasure of a World War II paratrooper from 101st Airborne Division named Sergeant Dan McBride attend as a VIP for the ceremony.
Sergeant McBride got to ride with our Commanding General at the time to inspect the troops. He told our CG that he could see his friends amongst the ranks of the current Soldiers. That was a statement that made me cry a little.
Later in that week, I had the honor to meet Sergeant Division in person and ask him what his unit were fed the day before the D-Day landings. He said they were fed finer foods such as sreak during the days leading up to the scheduled landings (June 5th, 1944). But since the landings were delayed by one day to June 6th, they were fed Bologna Sandwiches the very day before the actual D-Day landings.
Sergeant McBride passed away less than a year later on February 16th, 2022. I was so glad he got to have his moment as the guest of honor at the 101st Airborne Division almost right before his passing. He had a good life, and I'm forever thankful for his service and sacrifice.
Both my parents were WWII veterans, born in 1922 and 1924. My father was a combat veteran, but never really spoke of it, aside from mentioning the food was so bad he lost twenty odd pounds in New Guinea and Leyte.
So many untold stories, thank you for showing our heroes theirs for the whole world 🙏🏼
They're probably disgusted to see what the country is right now.
My Great Uncle fought in WW2 and he is the reason i love history so much.
He saw Combat in the Invasion of Crete, North Africa, France especially in Villers Bocage and in Hamburg at the end of the war.
He wss part of the desert rats as well.
Even though i was 7 he made sure to tell me every single story about the war he could and i made sure i remembered all of them so much so he would write all of them in his diary for the family.
He died in 2015 at the age of 94 and he is my personal hero especially the stories he gave.
He had kept some souvenirs however and after he died the police found the one thing that he told me to keep secret.
He had showed me it only once and i fought it was a metal toy (I was only 6).
The next owners found a working Bren Machine Gun in his old house that has the note "Use in case of Communist takeover."
Rest in Peace Johnny Kieg, a legend to the end.
Thank you Mr. Beat for making this video and thank you for sharing the Memoirs of WWII channel to us.
I always get teary-eyed thinking about this, about how we are the last people to speak with these brave men, about how we are slowly forgetting their warnings.
But that last line of how it is our duty to keep the Greatest generation's memories alive for generations to come and knowing that there are people out there trying to document every veteran's experience gives me hope that we will not forget.
3:07 umm... which side of the war did this guy fight on? 😂😂
@@JJohnston4Life it looks like stuff he got as war spoils like stuff he took off of Germans as trophies
@@jmpmp_505 Ahh... I didn't know that was thing
@@JJohnston4Life that’s the main way we got German weapons into the U.S. some guys just took an mp40 home with them
@@JJohnston4Life I think it's been a thing in most wars throughout history.
I did find myself wondering, given life expectancies of different countries, how there is a good chance the last WWII vet will be someone who fought for the Japanese. Although Frenchman have a high life expectancy so maybe it could be Free French. Or who knows.
“That was rather hard to see” is just heartbreaking, I’m sure at some point these men hated what they were doing but yet they stuck around and fought for us, massive respect ❤️
Im so glad many of the veterans fought and died for trans rights for children and the greater LGBTQIAP+ movement and blm
Troll
It's stuff like this that brings me back to reality. That makes me realize the life I live today is a one everyone deserves, but not everyone had. Thank you for interviewing them and being respectful about things while you still can. The more we know about history the further time we can use to prevent history from rhyming with itself.
Cheery…
Also, damn some of these guys are looking great for their age.
Uh...
Thank you for using your platform to share this with us. I just subscribed to their channel.
No way, it's mr beast
My great grandpa fought in ww2. He was in D-day. He came back, met my great grandma who I wasn’t around to meet, had my grandma, she had my dad, and now I’m here. I love my country. All veterans and active duty members are the pillars that brought this beautiful nation to the top where it is now.
My grandfather was a WW2 veteran and was a kid during the Great Depression. He died in 2015, and some of my best memories of him were his stories fighting the war and the aftermath of occupation of Japan.
Respect for these men, I hope their history shall not be forgotten. They are truly heroes.
It's really unfortunate because these people are some of the sweetest people you will ever meet from my experience. I always loved hanging out with my Great Grandmother as a kid, and I miss her a lot to this day and I wish I could talk to her again now that I'm more grown and mature. She was in the Navy during WW2 and must've went through a lot of scary stuff.
Thanks Mr Beat, this topic is probably one of the most important to me