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| Roger Terry |
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June 27th and 28th, 2005
One of the great things about this project has been, obviously, all the amazing people we have met. Pony Tale Films has been honored to develop a relationship with the Southern California Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen. On June 27th and 28th, we interviewed two remarkable gentlemen. Roger Terry and Oliver Goodall. Books have and should be written about these men. Aside from the war overseas, these men were fighting other battles at home in the South. The stories of how they made their way to Alabama via a very long bus ride from Biloxi alone were riveting. But the pride of these men in the work they did and the stance they took on segregation are what we should all learn more about. How many of us ever even heard of the Tuskegee Airmen in our American History classes?
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| Oliver Goodall |
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June 5, 2005
June 5, we met and interviewed Alfonso Quevedo, a proud member of the 303rd Bomb Group, 358th Squadron, and former POW. What a sweet man. Uncle Al, as we have affectionately called him, was a POW for 18 months. He was shot down on February 6, 1945, over Bricey, France. Later, while being held prisoner by German forces, Mr. Quevedo and his fellow prisoners were chained together and forced to marched over 800 miles. When he was liberated in June of 1945, he weighed only 96 pounds.
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May 5, 2005
May 5th we met the lovely Maycie Herrington. Ms Herrington was a civilian employee at Tuskegee during the war and later became a social worker for the city and spent a year on the Los Angeles Grand Jury. Maycie serves as the Secretary of Tuskegee Airmen Inc. One of 8 children, Ms. Herrington grew up in North Carolina and now, mother of 3, she lives in Long Beach California. Ms. Herrington has taught classes for Seniors helping them become more aware of the aid that is available to them. I was amazed at Ms. Herrington's ability to remember names and dates and places. She says her secret is keeping her mind active and trying to walk two miles a day.
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April 10, 2005
April 10th we were in Upland, California. We were there to meet Buford A Johnson, one of the honored Tuskegee Airmen. We could have easily spent all day with Mr. Johnson. He welcomed us into his home and shared stories of his experiences with the Tuskegee Airmen with many photos and lots of mementos. Mr. Johnson made quite an impression when we asked him what advice he would give today's youth. "Walk through the door I have opened."
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April 4, 2005
We had the pleasure of meeting Nancy and Robert Hamamoto and Katherine Nanchi on April 4, 2005. One of the least talked about times in American History is the internment of Japanese Americans during the World War II. Some of these Americans were held at Santa Anita Racetrack and the Pomona Fairgrounds near Los Angeles before being sent by train to various Internment camps in the west. One of these camps was called Manzanar located a few hundred miles east of LA in the stark, barren desert. This location is now a state park with a visitors center and educational programs. Ms. Nanchi and Mrs. Hamamoto were detained at Manzanar and Mr. Hamamoto was detained at another camp further east. Japanese families were told to pack up what they could carry and report to Collection centers located a various places in the city. It has been reported that many families reported unquestioningly to show their loyalty to this country.
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March 5, 2005
Our next interview, on March 5, was very serendipitous. While taking a walk one morning, I came across a car with a Pearl Harbor Survivor license plate. I took a chance and left a business card and later that day, I got a call from Jack Rogo. Shari took it from there and we meet Mr. Rogo, his wife Winifred and their granddaughter Meredith. I can not even attempt to relay the stories Mr. Rogo told us that morning. He was 20 years old on the morning of December 7, 1941, and was having breakfast in the mess hall when the attack began. He went on to tell us about the sights and sounds on that fateful day. Even though it has been over 60 years since the attack, the ways in which it changed the world are obvious today. Mr. Rogo was very generous with his time and it was an honor to speak with him.
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Feburary 27th, 2005
We headed to Pasadena, California to interview, Dick Hartt. Dick and his wife Jean, their daughter (and my friend) Andrea and their son Chris could not have made us feel any more at home. Dick Hartt was a pilot in the South Pacific during the war. He had many great stories to tell, but mostly we were moved by how many times he mentioned how lucky he was to be married to the lovely Jean. Mr. Hartt was generous enough to share some of the photos he took from the air and, after the war, he spent several years as a photographer, including being published in LIFE magazine. He is quite a guy!
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| February 19th and 20th, 2005
The weekend of Feb 19th and 20th, 2005 was a busy one for us. After our trip to Palm Springs on Satuday, we spent Sunday a little closer to home. We had a lovely time with Mrs. Benetiz, an opera singer with the San Gabriel Opera and frequent visitor to the local USO. Mrs. Benetiz had quite a career, then went on to raise 8 kids, went back to school at age 57 to become a writer and then spent several years writing her own newpaper column entitled East LA Housewife! Her hospitality was overwhelming and we enjoyed our time with her.
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Later that day we met with Mr. Efrem Martinez. Mr. Martinez was just 16 years old when Pearl Harbor was attacked and therefore, too young to enlist. He got his chance a few years later and served his country honorably. We were impressed by the loyalty shown to and by Mr. Martinez. His captain during his navy days made repeated requests for Mr. Martinez to serve under him and, after his discharge, Mr. Martinez spent 41 years with the same company as a carpenter. He is a very sweet man, and we are certain you will enjoy his interview.
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| February 8, 2005
Well, Pony Tale Films began its journey on February 8th. We hit the road for Fountain Valley, California, to meet Marine Master Gunnery Sergeant Helen Hannah Campbell, chaperone for the Muskegon Lassies of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL).
If we planned for years, we couldn’t have gotten a more enjoyable, wise, fun and thoughtful first interview for our documentary SAVING AMERICA. Helen is 90 years young, sharp, funny and full of life. It was an honor.
Helen’s father, “Truck” Hannah, played baseball with Babe Ruth, Helen went to school with Richard Nixon and has bungee jumped off a bridge in New Zealand! There were many favorite moments in our time with Helen, but personally, when she told us it would be difficult to describe her “best day” because there had been so many, I thought that’s the answer I would hope we all have for that question.
February 19th found the Pony Tale crew, Shari Doran, Kevin Blake, Susan Cummings and special guest cameraman, Josh Parker, on the rainy road to Palm Springs, California, to meet some of the players from the AAGPBL. Special thanks go to Shirley Burkovich, a player and the organizer of our interview. You are the best, Shirley, and we can not thank you enough for all your help.
We got all our equipment on the elevator and headed to the meeting rooms to spend some time with Shirley, Katie Horstman, Maybelle Blair, Thelma “Tiby” Eisen, Lee Delmonico, and Dorothy “Snookie” Doyle. The friendship and camaraderie of these women was nothing short of inspiring. Later that afternoon we met Marge Wenzel and Dottie Kamenshek. If you ever get a chance to meet any of these amazing women, do it. Their generosity was overwhelming. What they have done for women’s athletics can not be measured. And their loyalty and friendship is something for which we should all aspire. Thank you, ladies, for all you have done for documentary makers and for any girl who ever threw ball, swung a bat or stepped on the playing field. Hope you will check out the pictures on our Road Photos page. Susan 2/19/05
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