History 21 The Podcast - 2.11 Bruce Cameron, WWII
Bruce Cameron enlisted to fight in WWII in 1942 and trained to be a part of an armored tank division. In combat a total of 19 months, he became part of history at Normandy, crossed France to take Paris back and was in the Battle of the Buldge. He shared his memories of his time in service in an oral history at the Anoka County Historical Society in 1991. On this Memorial Day episode we remember his, and all Anoka County County residents, that served.
Host Sara Given, ACHS Volunteer Coordinator
Bruce Cameron
1917-1999
Soon after leaving his job at Federal Cartridge, Bruce Cameron wrote the company’s Social Club President, Charles Nash, to let his work friends know how things were going and where to reach him by post.
“We fare pretty well here. Our mess hall has a reputation of having the best cooks in the 489th, and they live up to it. We are rationed too; butter and milk are really scarce here in the South. We also have coffee substitutes mixed with our coffee. But we really have plenty of good quality.
I’d really like to see some of that snow I hear you have so much of. When changing companies I lost a copy of the Monark - and do I miss it! That paper really helps a lot to keep contact with everything at home, in the home town, and my friends at the plant.
Until later, best wishes to everyone. keep up the good work. Your friend, Bruce Cameron.”
Vault Extras
Listen to Bruce Cameron’s full oral history. Runtime 43 minutes.
Anoka County Library Minute
Further Reading:
Pearl Harbor: from infamy to greatness by Craig Nelson (940.5426 NEL)
In this book about the event which summoned the United States’ involvement in the war, the author begins by detailing our trajectory from the start of the first world war.
Countdown to Pearl Harbor: the twelve days to the attack by Steve Twomey (940.5426 TWO)
Named a Smithsonian Top History Book of 2016, this book details the days leading up to the surprise attack which catapulted the U.S. into World War II, though the book also highlights ways in which the attack could have been thwarted.
In this memoir focusing on D-Day, an event that ushered in the end of the war, a paratrooper recounts his own story where D-Day was just the beginning. He was eventually captured by the Nazis and sent to a camp until one day he decided to make a desperate escape, doing whatever it took to survive.
In this memoir, former army medic, Ray Lambert, begins his story from his childhood in Alabama and writes of his decision to join the Army as a means of escaping poverty. Ultimately, his story culminates in his being one of the last survivors of D-Day. Throughout the memoir, he highlights the heroism of his brothers in arms.
After being tortured and executed by Nazi authorities rather than taken prisoner, these eleven soldiers were also omitted from the Congressional War Crimes report of 1949 and, ultimately, from history. Finally, in 1994, a memorial was dedicated to the Wereth Eleven and all African-American soldiers who fought.
Battle: the story of the Bulge by John Toland (CD940.5421 TOL)
Told via interviews from both allied and axis soldiers’ and civilians’ perspectives, this book is a brutally honest look at the Battle of the Bulge, one of the final turning points of WWII.
This book tells the underdog story of the small band of American soldiers who held off a much larger army of German troops in a small Belgian town until the arrival of Patton’s Third Army. The author utilizes diaries and memoirs to capture the truest essence of the soldiers’ experiences.
The Imitation Game starring Benedict Cumberbatch (DVD IMI)
Based on the book entitled Alan Turing: the enigma, this film chronicles the formation of a group of scholars led by Turing, the mathematician credited with cracking the so-called unbreakable codes Germany was using during WWII.
Basic: surviving boot camp and basic training by Jack Jacobs (355.54 JAC)
Learn about the essential physical, mental, and disciplinary skills needed to survive boot camp and, ultimately, war.