Brookdale documentary on World War II now showing Area veterans share their stories in ‘Triumphant Spirit’

Staff Writer

By alison granito

Brookdale documentary on World War II now showing
Area veterans share their stories in ‘Triumphant Spirit’


PHOTOS BY JERRY WOLKOWITZ  World War II veterans Max Brudner, Marlboro; Edward Turrell, Hazlet; Monmouth County Freeholder Ted Narozanick, Freehold; and George Waple III, Eatontown, (l-r) attend the premiere of Triumphant Spirit: America’s World War II Generation Speaks at Brookdale Community College, Middletown. All four men tell their stories in the documentary.PHOTOS BY JERRY WOLKOWITZ World War II veterans Max Brudner, Marlboro; Edward Turrell, Hazlet; Monmouth County Freeholder Ted Narozanick, Freehold; and George Waple III, Eatontown, (l-r) attend the premiere of Triumphant Spirit: America’s World War II Generation Speaks at Brookdale Community College, Middletown. All four men tell their stories in the documentary.

MIDDLETOWN — Local men and women involved in the events that shaped the 20th century are telling their stories in a series produced by Brookdale Com-munity College’s Center for World War II Studies.

Triumphant Spirit: America’s World War II Generation Speaks, a multi-part documentary, chronicles the lives of America’s soldiers and those who contributed to the war effort on the home front.

In Triumphant Spirit, the veterans tell their stories in their own words, with pictures and footage of the incidents they are speaking about interspersed throughout the program.

"They were ordinary people in extraordinary times," Johanna Kobran, Brookdale’s executive vice president of Educational, Student and Outreach Ser-vices, said of the participants while introducing the program at its premiere at the Brookdale Performing Arts Center on the college’s Lincroft campus.


Brian Hemstreet, producer of Triumphant Spirit: America’s World War II Generation Speaks, addresses the audience        during the Jan. 29 television series premiere.Brian Hemstreet, producer of Triumphant Spirit: America’s World War II Generation Speaks, addresses the audience during the Jan. 29 television series premiere.

Paul Zigo, director of the Center for World War II Studies, told the crowd at the premiere that many of the veterans were reluctant to speak about their experiences, believing that they had not done anything extraordinary during their war years.

"So many of them said, ‘I don’t have any stories that would be of any interest to anybody.’ They couldn’t be more wrong," said Zigo.

Although many of the veterans chronicled in Triumphant Spirit were reluctant to speak out at first, they acknowledged the importance of sharing their stories so future generations would not forget the lessons learned during World War II.

"If you don’t know history, and if you don’t know what has happened in the past, how can you prepare for the future?" asked Geraldine Brandow, Red Bank, who shared her experiences as a nurse from 1944-45 in the war’s European Theater.

"People of my generation can be reluctant to talk about what they did during the war," Brandow said. "It is a shame that many of these stories might get lost. People need to go home and talk to their parents and their grandparents and ask the questions. Talk to them now."

"Something like this program will help instill in future generations the importance of freedom," said George Waple III, of Eatontown, who wrote a book about his war experiences, titled Country Boy Gone Soldiering, in addition to his participation in Triumphant Spirit.

Waple, whose war experiences span all five European campaigns, said he, like many other soldiers, "just accepted what we had to do."

"You went in the Army. You fought for freedom," said Waple, who landed on the beach at Normandy and fought all the way through Europe to the Elbe River where the American Army met up with the Russians.

In the interim, his regiment relieved the 101st Airborne, which became famous as the "Band of Brothers," and also saw action at the Battle of the Bulge.

Al Meserlin, of Sea Girt, chronicles his experiences as a combat photographer, photographing events such as the landing of the American troops on Utah Beach and later his experiences as Gen. Dwight Eisenhower’s personal photographer.

According to Meserlin, the pictures he took take him by surprise when he runs across them today.

"They bring that time alive for me," said Meserlin. "It is important for history that people remember what was accomplished then."

Zigo said that approximately one new part of the series, detailing the experiences of the 32 veterans participating, will be released per month.

The Brookdale network is on Comcast Channel 21 and Cablevision Channel 70.

For more information, call (732) 224-2765.