The most recent episode of War As My Father's Tank Battalion Knew It was about Bob Levine, who recently passed away at the age of 97. It was Bob who said to me, "If you want stories, you've got to interview prisoners of war," and that's what go

episode 103 bob levine

Aug 20th, 2022 1h

Bob Levine was among the first replacements in the 90th Infantry Division in Normandy. He was wounded and captured in the battle for Hill 122, and had a leg amputated by a German doctor. Decades later, with the help of historian Henri Levaufre

The Kassel Mission: George Noorigian

Jun 19th, 2022 1h 7m

George Noorigian is one of the fliers featured in my new book, "Up Above the Clouds to Die," about the most spectacular air battle you've probably never heard of. Read an excerpt from the book at aaronelson.com or check out the "Look Insi

Episode 101 Jack Prior

Mar 12th, 2022 1h 5m

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. I'm Aaron Elson. In 2005 I recorded this interview with Dr. Jack Prior, a battalion surgeon in the 10th Armored Div

A Marine on Tinian: Part 2

Feb 19th, 2022 51m 31s

Thank you for sticking with War As My Father's Tank Battalion Knew It for the past three months while I was rewriting and expanding my first book, Tanks for the Memories, now available at aaronelson.com, ebay and amazon. War As My Father's Tank

A Marine on Tinian

Nov 3rd, 2021 43m 35s

First off, I want to thank all of the listeners who stuck with Myfatherstankbattalion through a three month hiatus while I worked on the greatly expanded third edition of Tanks for the Memories, which is now available at Amazon in paperback, ha

World War II enemies meet again

Jul 31st, 2021 1h 11m

In this episode, we meet Ed Hays, a B17 tail gunner who in 1998 traveled to Germany to meet the German fighter pilot who shot his plane down and who, in turn, was shot down by Ed's crew. But first a couple of announcements. I'll be exhibitin

A "Guest" of the Emperor, Part 2

Jul 17th, 2021 1h 9m

War has a way a producing iconic sayings, from "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes" at Bunker Hill in the American Revolution, to "I've not yet begun to fight" in the War of 1812, to "Retreat Hell! We just got here" at Belleau Wo

A 'guest' of the emperor: WW2 POW Karnig Thomasian

Jul 14th, 2021 1h 7m

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. I'm Aaron Elson. Where I used to live in New Jersey there was a remarkable group of ex-prisoners of war. There was

Uphill Both Ways: The Great Depression

Jul 3rd, 2021 48m 49s

Thank you for listening to War As My Father's Tank Battalion Knew It, a podcast about the 712th Tank Battalion in particular and World War II in general. I'd like to give a shoutout to Naval Air Station Wildwood, which invited me to exhibit at

Tank commander Don Knapp, Part 2

Jun 25th, 2021 49m 52s

Part 2 of my 1994 interview with Don and Evelyn Knapp was quite a surprise, as it includes a discussion of my first book, Tanks for the Memories. Don passed away recently at 102 years of age. I found it interesting to hear me talking 27 years a

RIP Sgt. Don Knapp, 1919-2021

Jun 16th, 2021 1h 1m

Don Knapp passed away last week. He was 102 years old. "I was no hero," Don said when I interviewed him in 1994 at the Cincinnati reunion of the 712th Tank Battalion. More than a thousand people who posted reactions and comments in the Battle o

"So long kids, and if I never see you again, goodbye" Memorial Day 2021

May 26th, 2021 44m 27s

While crossing the Atlantic on his way to join my father's 712th Tank Battalion as a replacement, Billy Wolfe wrote in a letter to his mother and sisters, "The ocean is so blue it looks like I could dip my pen and write with it." Those words

Amputations, skin grafts, maggots, prostheses, medical treatment in WW2

May 21st, 2021 1h 1m

Distinguished Service Cross recipient Jim Flowers lost parts of both legs in Normandy. Pfc. Bob Levine, who was following one of Flowers' tanks when he was wounded and captured, had a leg amputated by a German surgeon. Lieutenant Jim Gifford wa

Omaha Beach Armageddon

May 9th, 2021 1h 5m

Combat engineer Chuck Hurlbut landed on Omaha Beach in the early morning hours of D-Day. His compelling interview is included in my Oral History Audiobook "The D-Day Tapes," along with six other interviews, available in my eBay store and at ora

Exercise Tiger: Angelo Crapanzano Part 2

Apr 26th, 2021 1h 2m

Faced with a choice of joining the Army, the Marines or the Navy, Angelo Crapanzano asked his father, who served aboard a submarine tender in World War I, for advice. Join the Navy, his dad said. You'll eat well, and have a place to sleep. So A

Exercise Tiger: The tragedy before D-Day

Apr 17th, 2021 1h 1m

In 1994 I read "The Forgotten Dead," by Ken Small, about Exercise Tiger, the ill-fated practice landing for D-Day sometimes known as Slapton Sands, a stretch of beach on the English coast that resembled Utah Beach. In the middle of the night Ge

Tank driver Charles Vorhees

Apr 8th, 2021 43m 37s

Occasionally when doing an interview, I'm treated to a bit of ancillary history. Once, when I was listening to the tape of an interview with a D-Day, I was annoyed by a radio playing in an adjacent room. Then I realized the veteran's wife wa

Charles Vorhees Part 1: The explosion at Heimboldshausen

Apr 4th, 2021 55m

April 3, 1945 was a tragic day in the history of the 712th Tank Battalion. A Company had just occupied the village of Heimboldshausen, Germany, and established its command post in the basement of a house facing a small railroad siding. Several

Interview With a Loader: Bob Rossi Part 2

Mar 27th, 2021 1h 7m

93-POUND GIRL IS HEROINE OF FIRE Jersey City, N.J., Dec. 30, 1937 -- (AP) -- Two score men stood by today ready to give blood transfusions to a 93-pound blond heroine of the Plaza hotel fire who stuck to her switchboard yesterday arousing gu

"Lock and Load" -- Pfc. Bob Rossi, 712th Tank Battalion

Mar 26th, 2021 55m 34s

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. I'm Aaron Elson. This interview with Bob Rossi is included in my oral history audiobook "Once Upon a Tank in the Ba

Tank driver George Bussell

Mar 16th, 2021 1h 5m

When I began interviewing veterans of my father's tank battalion, I heard several stories about George Bussell. Forrest Dixon said Bussell was so heavy he had to shimmy into the tank. Ruby Goldstein and Bussell got into a barroom brawl in Pheni

A Marine on Iwo

Mar 6th, 2021 1h 6m

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. I'm Aaron Elson. Nick Paciullo enlisted in the Marines when he was 17 and fought with the 4th Marine Division on Iw

Episode 80: A Medley

Feb 28th, 2021 43m 25s

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. The first 79 episodes represent a fraction of the more than 700 hours of interviews I've conducted over the past 34

Mary Previte: Finding My Heroes

Feb 19th, 2021 1h

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. I'm Aaron Elson. I first heard Mary Previte speak in 1998 at a POW/MIA ceremony that ex-prisoner of war Bob Levine