Over a decade ago, as part of his political science research at the University of Illinois, Scott Althaus dove deep into the data on World War II casualties. The project was focused on studying the information Americans receive about ongoing wars overseas that involve American forces.
In his new memoir, local author Larry Schnell writes about the discovery of these letters, which documents his parents’ love story — and also explores the little-known role of music in war.
Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs announced he has returned a Purple Heart medal belonging to a late World War II Marine from Decatur.
A few years ago, traci kato-kiriyama found herself in an exchange with an online seller, trying to recover a trunk that belonged to their family. The trunk was property of kato-kiriyama’s grandfather, a Japanese incarceree of World War II American concentration camps. After a year-and-a-half of back-and-forth, she and the seller came to an agreement
Born in 1919 in Decatur, Ellsworth Dansby, Jr., was fascinated by planes. He first flew alone at age 12 – without ever previously riding in a plane. He used knowledge from books he had read to land his solo flight safely.