Bill Grun, Navy Sailor in both the Atlantic and Pacific This Month’s Guest Speaker
Bill Grun was recently a guest speaker at the Doylestown Lecture Series. Bill Grun enlisted in the United States Navy three months before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He served two years in the Atlantic on minesweeper duty aboard the USS Canary (AMC-25). He was then transferred to the pacific where he spent two more years aboard the destroyer escort USS William Seiverling (DE-441). His ship was present for the surrender ceremonies at Tokyo Bay. Following the war Bill was an industrial arts and mechanical drawing teacher at Abington High School.
Invocation –Letters from Home, February 1944 by Lt. Henry G. Lee (KIA 9 January 1945)
read by George Stiftinger
We want no unearned plaudits, nor acclaim. From you we love; leave these, and casual tears. To those who never sigh a vanished name, nor greet each bright new dawn oppressed by fears and grim uncertainties that ride the night, nor wear a daylight, ask that pride makes strong, let others praise “our hopeless gallant fight”: We know to whom the praises should belong. No – send no hero’s wreath, no martyr’s pain; but homeward, where familiar rivers run, Direct us to a well-known, well-loved lane – released from all we’ve seen and known and done; and give us our identities again – your brother – or your sweetheart, or your son.
Future Programs at the Abington Free Library Coordinator – Brandon Traister
March 20 |
USS Bon Homme Richard CV-31 |
Paul Crager |
April 17 |
Wounded and Captured at Normandy |
Bob Levine |
May 15 |
A Memoir of WWII (8th Airforce) |
Charley McCracken |
June 19 |
Captured at Sicily with the 82nd Airborne |
Tim Dyas |
July 17 |
B-24s in the Pacific “Snoopers” |
Stephen Perrone |
Aug 21 |
6th Marine Division at Okinawa |
Eric Turner |
Sept 18 |
Pearl Harbor and 9/11 Attacks |
Tom Kimmel |
Oct 16 |
Ten Year Anniversary Dinner at Williamson’s Restaurant |
Nov 20 |
P-47 Fighter Pilot |
Charlie Osbourne |
Dec 18 |
Love Company |
John Khoury |
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Programs are held on the third Tuesday of each month at 3:00PM and at 7:00PM. Please contact Brandon Traister at BrandonTraister@aol.com or 856-296-9256 if you have any ideas for future lectures at the Abington Township Library.Please note that we are not only looking for WWII Veterans, but also for veterans and survivors who lived and served during any armed conflicts to share their memories and experiences with our audience.
Programs at the Bucks County Public Library Coordinators – Kevin Brown & Dave Martin
Wednesday, February 28th, 2007 The Glider Gang Dr. Milton Dank
Programs are held on the fourth Wednesday of each month at 7:00PM at the Public Library on Pine St in Doylestown. If you have any ideas for future lectures please contact Kevin Brown at
Kbrown@nni.com or 215-822-6601.
Abington WWII Lecture Series Ten Year Anniversary Dinner Williamson’s Restaurant
Save the date… we will be celebrating our ten-year anniversary at Williamson’s Restaurant in Hatboro, PA on Tuesday, October 16th, 2007. We will have a panel of former guest speakers of our lecture series. Cost will be twenty dollars per person and will include a full dinner. Sign up sheets will be in the back of the room at future lectures. Click here to email us if you're interested.
Reservations for the Abington WWII Lecture Series Coordinator Karen Burnham
There are many different ways to reserve a seat for a future lecture. You can reserve a seat online by e-mailing Karen Burnham or visiting the Abington Free library website (see web address below). You may reserve a seat by calling Karen Burnham at the Abington Free library at 215-885-5180, extension 15. There is also a sign up sheet in the back of the room at each lecture. http://abg.mclinc.org/calendar/WWIILS.htm.
War Veterans Oral History Project Founder Brandon Traister
For those who still would like to participate without speaking to the public I invite you to share your experiences privately. Please contact Brandon Traister by phone at 856-296-9256 or by e-mail at Brandon.Traister@us.army.mil.
Read any good books or have seen any good movies on WWII?
The WWII Lecture Institute will be accumulating and sharing a list of audience recommended books and movies. Look for sheets to record your recommendations in the back during the next several lectures. Click here to email your choices.
