Racing Time: Oral Historian Travels America to Capture WWII Voices

Chandler Stark’s mission is vital – document as many interviews with World War II veterans as possible while he still can. 

It’s his way of preserving history and illuminating the stories of a generation of soldiers fading away rapidly. With many approaching or past age 100, the latest data shows only about 45,000 American World War II veterans still living. 

Stark serves as an oral historian for the Gary Sinise Foundation at The National WWII Museum in New Orleans. Carrying a video camera and a notebook of questions, Starks travels throughout the country, asking WWII veterans about their lives, making sure to get it all on tape. 

Recently, Stark headed east to North Carolina, meeting up with 103-year-old Clyde Church of Kannapolis, who served in the Pacific theater. Before meeting Church, Stark spoke to WWII veterans in Winston-Salem and Mocksville. 

“It’s a really rewarding experience and a really enriching experience,” Stark told WGHP in Greensboro. “You meet people from every different walk of life, and it’s incredible to learn about the things they went through, the things they sacrificed and what they did for our country in World War II.”

Life in a Tank 

Despite being 103, Church’s mind is still as sharp as a tack. 

He recalls being drafted into the Army, suiting up for the 716th Tank Battalion in New Guinea and the Philippines. Despite the passage of more than 80 years, the memories are still fresh. 

“I was in a lot of battles and never fired a gun,” Church told WGHP last November. 

Church drove the tank in a five-man crew. His great-grandson built him a small model replica of the tank he can hold in his hand. 

“When they’d shoot, they’d shake,” Church said. “It would jerk forward.” 

After spending four years in the Army, 1942-46, Church returned to his rural North Carolina home, where he’s lived much of his life. 

The WWII veteran has kept busy, despite his advanced age, and sometimes needs to be told to slow down. 

“He gets scolded periodically,” his daughter Marlene Rule joked. “We try to tell him to stay off ladders.” 

A farm boy at heart, Church still mows his large lawn with an old Massey Ferguson tractor and keeps a lush garden every year. 

“Anything he grows, he always grows way too much,” Rule said. “He does that on purpose because to me that’s his ministry. He provides for our family, not only for my brothers and me, but if there’s anything left over, he gives it to his church family. He’s just gracious to give it away.” 

The Race to Preserve History 

Twelve thousand stories. That’s how many oral histories from veterans are housed and archived at The National WWII Museum. Every day, historians there are working to collect additional first-person stories of the war from veterans, women who filled vital industrial jobs back home, and Holocaust survivors. 

Rule said it’s important to record history from a person who’s lived it before it’s too late. 

“We’re losing more every day, and anyone who likes history, or if they want to research their ancestors who served, it’s very important to capture this for future generations,” Rule said. 

For Church’s family, to have his story featured at the World War II museum makes Stark’s visit extra special. 

“It’s exciting to have a family member’s stories documented, especially at the World War II museum,” said Ronnie Rule, Church’s son-in-law. 

While more than 16 million U.S. military members served in World War II, the number of living veterans declines by the day. Within 10 years, they could all be gone. Preserving their voices to pass on to future generations is essential. 

And there’s nothing quite like hearing a story straight from the source. 

“It’s such a different experience listening to an oral history rather than reading a textbook or listening to a narrator tell you something in a documentary,” said Stark. “It’s a much more emotional and rewarding experience to listen to these histories. I think it’s a great thing that we can get them while we can still get them.” 

After recording the stories of five WWII veterans in North Carolina, Stark planned to travel to Ohio and California to interview more veterans.