A man, a war, and an incredible story

I recently had the privilege of interviewing a man who lived through World War II in occupied Holland.

We split up his story into two days of recording - the first day was his history of growing up, emigrating to the US, World War II, and the Korean War. Day two was his love story, and we convinced his sweet wife to join us.

Pieces of his World War II story are heartbreaking, but he lived through hunger, cold, and lack of power and came out a stronger person. After the war, he emigrated to the United States with his two older brothers. He returned to Holland to serve three different times and served as infantry in the Korean War. His love story was sweet and simple, but his marriage endured the loss of a teenage child. He built their first 3 homes himself with skills he had learned in Holland, and finished his career in technology.

After recording his story, I spent most of the drive home in awe, realizing that he’s part of a generation that we’ve lost most of. He lived through hunger, war, and the rapid expansion of technology use across the world. You could see in his wife’s and his eyes the maturity that comes from a long life lived together.

Not all stories have the “eye catchiness” of theirs, but all stories are amazing and deserve to be told.

Now, back to editing this man’s story.