Help the Meijer Branch remember the 100th Anniversary of World War I.
Michigan’s contribution to World War I was more than just its service people. It was the center for a spy ring, a starting point of the peace movement, center for airplane production and armaments, and so much more.
Intended for All Ages.
Every picture has a story, and Jackson certainly has some stories to tell!
Sue Weible tells the background stories of Jackson’s World War II military effort and support using pictures from Jackson’s Call to Greatness, a history book highlighting Jackon veterans and their heroes back home. Learn the unknown details behind some of the book’s iconic images!
Call the Grass Lake Branch at (517) 522-8211 or the Michigan Military Heritage Museum at (517) 926-6696 for more information.
Intended for adults.
Join JDL and the First United Methodist Church of Jackson for another installment of Larry Martin’s In Their Own Words!
Lee Zimmerman was a bombardier aboard a B-17 in the Mighty 8th Air Force. His B-17 was shot down on his 22nd mission over Germany on November 30, 1944, resulting in Lee becoming a POW in Barth, Germany at the Stalag Luft #1. Lee’s internment lasted until the May of 1945.
Listen as Mr. Zimmerman tells what it is like facing flak as well as German fighter planes. Despite receiving no parachute training, Lee always wondered what it would take him to put on a parachute and bail out of his B-17, and eventually, Lee was forced to do just that. Zimmerman also tells of being threatened with death by the Hitler Youth.
Intended for adults.
Join JDL and the First United Methodist Church of Jackson for another installment of Larry Martin’s In Their Own Words!
Dick Thelen was 18 years old when he enlisted in the Navy, and he was eventually assigned to serve aboard the Indianapolis. Only July 30, 1945, The Indianapolis was attacked and sank a little after midnight in only 15 minutes. There were 1,195 men on board. About 300 men died in the sinking with about 900 men going into the dark, cold foreboding Pacific Ocean. They jumped off into nearly total darkness with a lot of black oil on the water that they ingested.
Dick will tell what it is like to be in shark-infested waters for four and a half days with the Navy not even searching for the “Indy.” Only 317 men came out of the Pacific Ocean, making the sinking of the USS Indianapolis one of the worst naval disasters ever. Many men lost their minds from lack of water and food. Some men were on rafts, but Dick was in the ocean the entire four and a half days and his Mae West lifejacket was becoming more waterlogged all the time, barely keeping him above water.
Intended for adults.
Join Jackson District Library and the First United Methodist Church of Jackson as the two host another installment of Larry Martin’s In Their Own Words!
Come to the First United Methodist Church of Jackson, across from the Carnegie Library, to hear Dr. Eugene Bleil continue presenting Larry Martin’s World War II series In Their Own Words. Listen as Dr. Bleil tells of his three and a half years as a POW of the Japanese. He will tell about his captivity at infamous prisons in the Philippine Islands such as Cabanatuan, Bilibid and Camp O’Donnell.
He also talks about the Hell Ships that took him from the Philippines to Japan to be used as slave labor. There were about 700 men who had every kind of condition you could imagine, including starvation. They were crammed into the holds of these ships, many of which were sunk by American submarines. There was no fresh air at all, very little water, and only a five-gallon pail for a toilet that served the 700 sick men. The stench and the heat were nearly unbearable. Bleil also describes working on the shipping docks as well as in the steel plants under horrible conditions.
Becoming a physician following the war, Bleil will provide expert explanations for diseases such as BeriBeri, Pelagra, scurvy, and many more.
Intended for adults.