Pendleton Woods remembers that he was in his dormitory at the University of Arkansas when somebody rushed down the hall and said that Pearl Harbor had been bombed.  “We didn’t know what Pearl Harbor was,” he recalled, “and then we began listening to the radio, and that’s when it really hit us.”  

Within hours the United States was entering World War II and by 1942 Woods had signed up for the Army Reserve.  He remained stateside for about two years, but wound up in Germany, on the Belgian front, by October, 1944.   Woods was there just in time for the Battle of the Bulge, but he missed most of the fighting.

On December 10, 1944, while on patrol behind German lines, Woods and seven others were cut off and surrounded by a German unit.  Their squad leader was killed, another person was wounded, and the group of Americans was captured.  So began Pen Woods’ 5-month ordeal as a prisoner of war.

The captives did what they could to stay warm, sharing one blanket to keep their feet warm, and huddling together in a boxcar on the way to a German prison camp.  Woods spent 8 days on the boxcar, where he “celebrated” his 21st birthday.  He spent Christmas of 1944 inside the walls of a German prison camp before being transported to a labor camp, where conditions were somewhat better.

Woods remembers that a soldier who had served time in a Pennsylvania penitentiary, Red Martin, taught him how to steal.  “Red Martin and I had honest faces,” said Woods, “and when we’d steal stuff we’d blouse our trousers into our combat boots and put food there.  The armpit is also good.  You’d be surprised at how much food you can put under your armpit and get away with it.”

Martin gave Woods a nickname, “Steal ‘Em Blind Woods.”  According to Woods, the name was a real compliment.  “Don’t laugh,” he told me, “because that would be like Babe Ruth or Joe Louis calling you slugger, or in academic circles, it would be like an honorary degree.  The nickname I got I got from a professional.”

(above) Corporal Pendleton Woods during World War II.

Woods finally escaped on Hitler’s birthday, April 20th, during Russian artillery fire that had the Germans pre-occupied.   After five days, Woods and the others linked up with American soldiers near the Elbe River.  Ironically, Woods’ prison bunkmate was Clarence Deal, who lives in Jones, Oklahoma.  “Every day on April 20th, for some 60-odd years now,” said Woods, “I will call my prison bunkmate, or he will call me, wishing each other “Happy Hitler’s Birthday,” because that’s the day we got away from that prison camp.”

Woods believes that Germany’s biggest problem in the war was attacking Russia, because it forced the Nazis into a multi-front war.  The Germans and Russians hated each other, he recalls, and Russian prisoners were treated ten times worse than Americans were treated in the prisoner-of-war camps.

Woods doesn’t watch many movies, but he has watched the famous prisoner-of-war movie, Stalag 17.  “I thought it was phony,” Woods told me.   “In Stalag 17 they made the Germans look stupid, but they weren’t stupid, they were smart.  Stalag 17 was not real at all.  If they do it real it doesn’t make much of a movie.  It’s the most difficult period of your life.”

After the war, Woods returned to the University of Arkansas and got his degree in journalism.  He became Public Information Officer for the 45th Infantry Division and served in that capacity during the Korean War.  He achieved the rank of Colonel in the National Guard and worked for many years as Public Relations Specialist for OG&E.  Woods was chosen the nation’s outstanding ex-POW of 2005.

Until next time,  Dick Pryor

(above)  Pen Woods with OETA’s Dick Pryor.

(Pen Woods was profiled on the Oklahoma News Report on November 7, 2007.  To see the story, click on “Videos” on this website and go to “OETA’s Dick Pryor interviews Oklahoma WWII veterans.”)

Emmett Steeds entered the National Guard in 1936, served for a year, and got out.  He was working for a hardware store and remembers he was eating lunch when he heard that the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt had declared war.

I recently visited with Steeds at the 45th Infantry Division Museum in Oklahoma City.  He told me, “We had no choice.  They jumped on us without provacation, so when they bombed Pearl Harbor there was no question about going into war.” 

Steeds’ unit was still in Abilene, Texas, so he went home, told his wife, packed up his things and got on the bus to Fort Barkley, Texas to rejoin his outfit.  “Within a few days,” he said, “practically everybody that had gotten out had come back to the unit.”

So began World War II for U.S. Army Platoon Sergeant Emmett Steeds.  Steeds spent more than a year in training before sailing out of New York, across the North Atlantic, to North Africa, which was already under American control.  After landing at Oran, Steeds and the others in the 45th Division, 179th Infantry headed to Sicily, then Italy, where they landed at Salerno.  He received his commission as a 2nd Lieutenant from General George S. Patton for his service in the Italian campaign. 

The 45th marched across western Europe and Steeds reached the Dachau concentration camp within hours after it had been liberated.   He remembers the dead he found there, bodies stacked in boxcars, and finding a lot of people barely alive.  It was an experience that haunted him for months.  

The 45th continued on to Munich, to become part of the occupation force.  The regiment’s headquarters was set up in a rather unlikely place:  an apartment where Adolph Hitler had lived.  Steeds remembers it was a big house in Munich, and some of the officers from the U.S. Headquarters of the 179th stayed in the building.   A famous picture at the 45th Infantry Division Museum shows another Oklahoma soldier from the 45th, Sgt. Arthur E. Peters, reclining on Hitler’s bed, reading a copy of Mein Kampf.   The picture made it onto the cover of the May 14, 1945 edition of Life magazine, with the caption, “Get your feet off my bed.”

Steeds stayed in the military after World War II and served in Korea, where he rose to the rank of Captain.  The Blair, Oklahoma native worked for the postal service in Oklahoma City for 30 years.  He’s long since retired, but at the age of 90, still volunteers at the 45th Infantry Division Museum on weekends. 

You can see two of his prized possessions at the museum:  a Nazi medallion and personal stationery of Adolph Hitler that Steeds “liberated” from the Fuehrer’s Munich Apartment.  

If you have a chance to visit the museum, I encourage you to go – but plan to spend some time.  There is a lot to take in, and you might get to visit with Emmett Steeds.  If you see him, tell him, “Thanks.”

Until next time,  Dick Pryor 

(Emmett Steeds was profiled on the Oklahoma News Report on September 29, 2007.   To see the story, click on the “Videos” link on this website and go to “OETA’S Dick Pryor interviews Oklahoma WWII veterans.”)

“A riveting experience.”  “Outstanding.”  “Well-done.”  “Strong.”  “The war as I remembered it.”  “I can’t wait to see the entire documentary.”

Those were some of the comments heard Wednesday night at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art after the screening of an hour-long preview of the Ken Burns documentary, “The War.” 

Several veterans were in attendance to watch excerpts from the 7-part, 15-hour television event that begins on OETA Sunday night at 7:00.  Following the screening Dr. Robert Griswold, Chair of the History Department at the University of Oklahoma, WWII Veteran Paul Wilson of the 17th Airborne Division and Roger Harris, oral historian at the Oklahoma History Center, answered questions about the film, the war, and its impact. 

Wilson emphasized the sense of duty that Americans felt during the war, and how young men everywhere wanted to get involved to serve the country and their families.  He, like so many soldiers who fought in the bleak winter conditions during the Battle of the Bulge, suffered from the effects of the bitterly cold temperatures.  “Medics,” Wilson said, “were the real heroes of the war.  And, I wouldn’t be here today without help from the man above.” 

Harris said many veterans are now coming forward to talk about their experiences, ending years of trauma-induced silence.  Griswold said such stories are important to help future generations understand the scope and gravity of the war.  He teaches about World War II at the University of Oklahoma.  Griswold is hopeful that programs such as “The War” will help students of today better appreciate the sacrifices involved in World War II and its impact on history.

SEEN and HEARD:  Among those at the event on Wednesday night were OETA Station Manager Bill Thrash, Scott Horton and Paige Lessly of NewsOK (Scott designed the fabulous Oklahoma World War II Stories website), and World War II veteran Zee Howell, who will be featured on Friday night in the Oklahoma News Report.  For more on the event, be sure to read the September 20th front page story in The Oklahoman.

Until next time,  Dick Pryor 

(above) Moderator Dick Pryor with Don Wright of Oklahoma City, a veteran of Guadalcanal who attended the screening event at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.

(below) Panel member Paul Wilson, a paratrooper in the 17th Airborne Division, visits with members of the audience about his experiences in World War II following the screening event at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.

(below)  A crowd of more than 235 people watched the pre-screening of The War and the panel discussion at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.  Our thanks to Film Curator Brian Hearn and our friends at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art for their support of “The War”!

(below) Dr. Robert Griswold discusses the impact of World War II.  Oral Historian Roger Harris of the Oklahoma History Center is on his right.

A standing room crowd watched the first hour-long preview of Ken Burns’ important, new documentary, “The War,” Tuesday at the Circle Cinema Theatre in Tulsa.  Several veterans attended the pre-screening event and they seemed to appreciate the approach used by Burns to tell the story of the “greatest generation” at home and in the theaters of war.  The film presents the horrors and heartbreak of war in the riveting and personal style that has made Burns America’s most prominent producer of historical documentaries.

Following the screening, OETA’s Dick Pryor moderated a panel discussion with WWII veteran Kenneth Renberg, a German who trained American troops and fought with the 45th Infantry Division; Dr. Brad Agnew, Professor of History at Northeastern State University and an expert on military history; and Eva Unterman, a survivor of the holocaust who spent most of the war in Nazi concentration camps.  OETA’s Lori Holliday showed the dynamic, new Oklahoma World War II Stories website (including this blog) and encouraged everyone attending to participate in the story collection project using the website’s “Share a Story” module.   To-date, more than 700 people have shared a story - an overwhelming response! 

Special thanks to Clark Wiens and Amberla Tepe of the Circle Cinema Theatre for hosting such a great event to begin the march toward “The War.”  Ken Burns’ 15-hour epic, “The War,” debuts Sunday night at 7:00 on OETA.

(above)  Several veterans attended the screening of “The War” at the Circle Cinema in Tulsa.  (below)  War memorabilia decorated the Circle Cinema.

(above)  Holocaust survivor Eva Unterman of Tulsa, one of the panel members at the Circle Cinema screening, with Moderator Dick Pryor.

What should future generations know about war and what your generation did in World War II? That’s a question photojournalist Boots Kennedye and I have asked each of our veterans in interviews for the Oklahoma World War II Stories series. The answers have varied, but a common thread is clear – they saw America attacked and the world threatened, and did what had to be done.

Interviewing these everyday heroes has been an enriching experience for Boots and me. Meeting them, and producing their stories, is a real privilege. Some WWII veterans have a difficult time discussing their experiences of more than half a century ago, but the ones we talked to were eager to give their thoughts about war, World War II, and their participation in it. To be sure, it was a defining time in the history of our nation, and for many veterans, it was a defining moment in their lives.

Each interview lasted more than an hour. In that amount of time you can learn a lot about someone and make a personal connection. They are grandparents and great-grandparents now, yet for most the images and details are as fresh as they were more than 60 years ago. Looking into their eyes was like looking into a window to the past – to a time that seems so far away, yet is still important and relevant. We were struck by their sincerity, willingness to share (and sacrifice), and their perspective on our world. As much as anything, I think they want the lessons they learned to endure for the benefit of future generations.

Our pieces will run less than five minutes, but we are providing the entire interviews to the Oklahoma Historical Society, for archiving at the Oklahoma History Center. Some of the interviews may also wind up at the Library of Congress. We are grateful to have the chance to honor our veterans this way – it’s the least we can do for what they have done for the rest of us.

I encourage you to watch our Oklahoma World War II stories on the Oklahoma News Report beginning on Friday, September 21st at 6:30 p.m. I also encourage you to get involved in our story collection project and see for yourself how meaningful a discussion with a veteran can be. Each one has a story; each one should be remembered.

Until next time, Dick Pryor

(above: Dick Pryor with Ned Hockman, Lt. Colonel, Air Force Reserves)

(below: Boots Kennedye with Sergeant Alexander Mathews)

Beginning on Friday, September 21st, be sure to watch OETA’s Oklahoma News Report as we begin a 14-part series – Oklahoma World War II Stories. This is one of the most ambitious efforts ever for OETA News – an effort worthy of its inspiration, Ken Burns’ documentary, The War.

Although he admits he got started about ten years too late, America’s pre-eminent documentary filmmaker decided he needed to tell the story of World War II, much as he had done in his ground-breaking documentary, The Civil War. OETA, The Oklahoman, the Oklahoma History Center, the 45th Infantry Division Museum, and our other partners recognized the importance of the project and launched a statewide story collection project, inviting participation from members of the public. We also decided that OETA should produce a series of first-hand accounts for distribution over-the-air and on-line.

Our “War Team” started spreading the word about our story collection project. We made phone calls, sent e-mails, networked with friends, and used on-air and on-line promotion to collect the names of veterans and volunteers willing to tell their stories. Photojournalist Charles “Boots” Kennedye and I hit the road on August 3rd, taping interviews with veterans in High Definition. We’ve also been furiously gathering video, music and still photos to bring the stories to life.

We completed our first round of fifteen interviews on August 24th and began logging tape, researching and writing. Charles is currently in the editing phase – working his magic in our new state-of-the-art High Definition edit suite. I’ll tell you more about our travels, the people we’ve met and the production process later. But right now, I’ve go to get back to viewing videotape.

Be sure to mark your calendar for September 21st, when the first of our Oklahoma World War II stories airs statewide at 6:30 p.m. on the Oklahoma News Report.

Until next time, Dick Pryor