Where History and Heroes Meet
INDIANAPOLIS WORLD WAR II ROUNDTABLE - ERNIE PYLE CHAPTER
WWII Roundtable October Dinner Meeting
(In-Person Only)
Monday, October 24, 2022
Featured program:
"Richard Tregaskis Reporting Under Fire from Guadalcanal to Vietnam"
by Ray E. Boomhower, guest speaker & author
Monday, November 28th:
Featured program:
Pvt. Vinton W. Dove on Omaha Beach on D-Day
by Vinton Dove, guest speaker
"A seldom-told story about an amphibious engineer and his dangerous duties on Omaha Beach and beyond."
THOMAS GANTZ CASSADY
"A Hoosier for Lafayette and an American Patriot: Part 1 and Part 2"
by Bradley K. Damon
Click these links to view each entire slide presentation: Part 1, December 6, 2021 and Part 2, January 24, 2022
Josh Bleill, USMC veteran, author: "One Step at a Time"
US Marine Corporal Josh Bleill shares his inspiring story of his recovery from severe, life-changing war injury in Fallujah.
761st Tank Battalion stand by awaiting call to clean out scattered Nazi machine gun nests in Coburg, Germany. US Army photo
WWII Roundtable Hybrid Meeting (In-Person and via Zoom)
Monday, April 25, 2022
Doors open - 5 PM. Dinner - 6 PM. Program - 7 PM.
Northside Events & Social Club, 2100 E 71st Street, Indianapolis, Indiana
Pvt. Vinton W. Dove, USA
'Vinton Dove, a Vietnam War veteran and long-time World War II Roundtable member, tells his father's incredible D-Day war story. Vinton Dove made a pilgrimage to England, France, Germany and Austria in 2017 to follow his father's footsteps.' — Kathryn Lerch
Attn Zoom Attendees:
To sign-in to our scheduled Zoom meeting, please refer to your Zoom meeting ID, passcode and phone access information that we emailed to you on April 7: "WWII Roundtable - April 2022 Newsletter and Meeting Announcement."
Zoom sign-in date and early sign-in time: Monday, April 25, 2022, 06:45 PM Indiana (East). Program start time: 7:00 PM.
Monday, May 23, 2022
WWII Roundtable Monthly Dinner Meeting (In-Person Only)
Doors open - 5 PM. Dinner - 6 PM. Program - 7 PM.
Northside Events & Social Club, 2100 E 71st Street, Indianapolis, Indiana
6. Japanese attack on the USS Franklin and Purdue Connection: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9caGzuwHLZI
7. Two-part series on a virtual tour of Guadalcanal - Nov 19, 2021:
Virtual Tour Part 1: https://youtu.be/0N4dM4y3Aj0
Virtual Tour Part 2: https://youtu.be/fRyapIlXbOM
8. The Naval battles of Guadalcanal, Part 1 - YouTube
9. The Aleutian Islands Campaign 1942-1943
https://youtu.be/_uEvgpLAkfA
https://youtu.be/LZWQNNCF4vE - YouTube
"The Last Flight of Frank Luke, the 'Arizona Balloon Buster' in WWI"
Guest speaker, the author: Stephen Skinner
Featured program:
“Dear Stellie”
A Field Surgeon’s World War II Letters: Pierce W. Powers, 4th Auxiliary Surgical Group
by Kathryn Lerch, guest speaker
Ray E. Boomhower, author
WWII Roundtable November Dinner Meeting (In-Person Only)
This Pierce Powers wartime correspondence project took more than three years to complete - from scanning and transcribing hundreds of personal letters, to researching events, places, as well as family and personal connections.
Service records belonging to Major Pierce W. Powers indicate he served from Normandy to Czechoslovakia, where he “functioned in both field and evacuation hospitals, performing all types of general surgery. Awarded the Bronze Star Medal and [he was] authorized [to wear] the European Theater of Operations Ribbon with five Bronze Battle Stars and one Bronze Arrowhead for participation in the invasion of Normandy. Authorized to wear the Distinguished Unit Badge and while attached to the 261st Medical Battalion [and] the Croix de Guerre with Palm.” — US Army Separation Record for Pierce W. Powers
Links to the speaker's video and new book
https://youtu.be/P9SeUUY_hho This link takes you to the YouTube video of Kathryn Lerch's live talk given on Monday, June 27, 2022 at the WW2 Roundtable dinner meeting, when she presented a sneak peek into the heart of the book of (love) letters to Powers' new bride, "Dear Stellie," with an emphasis on D-Day to Patton’s October Pause.
The book "Dear Stellie" is now available to purchase. You may purchase it directly from the publisher (however no discount) at the following link: "Dear Stellie": A Field Surgeon's WWII Letters by Kathryn W. Lerch | Blurb Books.
Lt. Frank Luke, WWI pilot
March 2022 WWII Roundtable Hybrid Dinner Meeting
(In-Person and via Zoom), Northside Events & Social Club, Indianapolis, IN
Featured program:
“B-26 Tail Gunner in Europe”
344th Bomb Group, Ninth Air Force
England-France-Belgium
Featured guest:
Norman Farley, WWII Veteran
Interviewer and moderator:
Karl Kleinbub
Francis Gary Powers, Sr., U2 pilot who was shot down. (Photo source, Wikipedia)
"Francis Gary Powers, Sr., U-2 Flight & Spy Pilot"
Speaker: Francis Gary Powers, Jr.
(Left photo:) Book cover of Ray E. Boomhower's book about Richard Tregaskis. (Center photo:) English Wikipedia. An official U.S. Marine Corps photograph of Richard Tregaskis (left) with Major General Alexander A. Vandegrift, ca. 1942. (Tregaskis was 6'7" tall.) (Right photo) Ray E. Boomhower's Certificate of Recognition award ceremony with WWII Roundtable VP Kathryn Lerch, May 23, 2022.
Dorie Miller wearing his Navy Cross. US Navy photo
Our speaker is senior editor at the Indiana Historical Society Press, where he edits the popular history magazine Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History.
Boomhower’s riveting book is the first to tell Tregaskis’s gripping life story, concentrating on his intrepid reporting experiences during World War II and his fascination with war and its effect on the men who fought it.
U-2 aircraft similar to the one shot down. (Photo source, Wikipedia)
RSVP Deadline is Monday, May 16. Send your RSVP dinner reservations to Karl Kleinbub, knj1002@myninestar.net or phone (317) 607-6948.
Bring Exact Change. $11 to pay for your dinner. plus a few dollars extra for your tip and drawing tickets.
WWII Roundtable December Dinner Meeting
(In-person only)
Monday, December 5, 2022
WWII Roundtable Monthly Dinner Meeting (In-Person Only)
Monday, June 27, 2022
WWII Roundtable September Dinner Meeting (In-Person Only)
Monday, September 26, 2022
WWII Roundtable July Dinner Meeting
(In-Person Only)
Monday, July 25, 2022
Featuring a live speaker and a special drawing for a beautiful Christmas tree prize!
Soviet C-75 (SA-2) SAM launcher used to shoot down Gary Powers's U2, on display at the Air Defense Forces Museum in Balachinka district, Zarya village. (Source, Wikipedia)
WWII Roundtable August Dinner Meeting (In-Person Only)
Monday, August 22, 2022
THOMAS GANTZ CASSADY
"Air Ace and Allied Agent in WWII"
Speaker: Bradley K. Damon, WWII Roundtable board member
Learn more about Tom Cassaday, WWI air ace and WWII undercover agent.
February is Black History Month
WWII Roundtable Hybrid Meeting (In-Person and via Zoom)
Monday, February 28, 2022
Doors open - 5 PM. Dinner - 6 PM. Program - 7 PM.
Northside Events & Social Club
2100 E 71st Street, Indianapolis, Indiana
Powers' surgical team at unknown location in France 1944
Kathryn Lerch, World War II Roundtable board member, publisher, author and Director of Park Tudor School’s Legacy Initiative Project, which collects unpublished accounts depicting wartime experiences.
"U-2 "GRAND SLAM" flight plan on 1 May 1960, from CIA publication The Central Intelligence Agency and Overhead Reconnaissance; The U-2 And Oxcart Programs, 1954–1974, declassified 25 June 2013. (Source, Wikipedia)
January 24, 2022 WWII Roundtable Hybrid Dinner Meeting
(In-Person and via Zoom), Northside Events & Social Club, Indianapolis, IN
Featured Program: "WWII Private Snafu Films"
Speaker: Eric Grayson, Historic Film Conservationist
Eric Grayson's presentation of his extensive collection of historical 'Private Snafu' films. 'Private Snafu' was a favorite among the troops.
Program
7:00 - 7:15 pm
Trivia Report: William Ervin, WWII RT 1st vice president
"Identifying the Dead from D-Day & Normandy"
7:15 pm
Guest Speaker: Joe Lee, author
"Forgiveness: The Story of Eva Kor, Survivor of the Auschwitz Twin Experiments"
1. "Japanes Strategic War Objectives" - Jan 11, 2021
2. "First 24-Hours of the War in the Pacific" - Feb 8, 2021
3. "Battle for Wake and Guam”
4. "Land Battles of Guadalcanal" - (in five parts):
Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed1WasJB2oU
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0A8TQTZh80
Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46OBY_2Ji7o
Part 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN9tfONlNeQ
Part 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f23mKxOvp6c
5. Okinawa: The Last Battle
Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TtgZ2jF1vU
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugHGJIh2-Vk
Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FfFKfKJKuM
Part 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_ZuW8w51k0
Part 5: https://youtu.be/36w2AMOMdJc
Links to videos for a preview of our July featured program on D-Day:
"Omaha Beach, Normandy, France" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZUlTfLif5g
"D-Day Normandy Then and Now" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzC27v78DSg
Guest Speaker
Jerry Greenberg, WWII & Korean War
Merchant Marine Seaman tells his story
Interviewer: Karl Kleinbub, WWII RT executive board member
Learn about our men who risked their lives to deliver the goods.
This Christmas tree is a work of art and has many neat and unusual ornaments. It has been donated and all proceeds from the sale of tickets will go directly to our WWII Roundtable.
Tickets will be sold on Dec. 5, 2022 at our dinner meeting.
Ticket prices are: $5.00 for one (1) ticket, $20.00 for five (5) tickets.
The winning ticket will also be drawn at our December 5, 2022 meeting.
NOTE: TICKETS SOLD FOR A CHANCE ON THIS TREE WILL BE A DIFFERENT COLOR THAN THE NORMAL RED TICKETS WE SELL AT ALL OF OUR REGULAR MEETINGS. Be sure to keep any ticket you purchase for a chance on this tree. If the holder of the winning ticket is not present another ticket will be drawn.
If needed, I will deliver the tree within a 12 mile radius of our meeting site. Contact KARL KLEINBUB, 317-607-6948 if you need help getting the tree home.
A special drawing
Kathryn Lerch