The Last World War Two Veterans Will Soon Be Gone

Mr. Beat hangs out with World War Two veterans. This is a collaboration with the fine folks at @MemoirsofWWII. Please subscribe to their channel.

Thanks to Hudson Louie, Joshua Scott, and Heather Scott, for helping me make this video. Please check out https://www.memoirsofwwii.com/ for resources on how to reach or find out about surviving World War Two veterans. Additional video and images by @MemoirsofWWII or found in the public domain.

Produced by Matt Beat. Filmed by Matt Beat, Shannon Beat, and Hudson Louie. Music by Esther Abrami, Freedom Trail Studio, and Slenderbeats.

Sources/further reading:
https://www.statista.com/chart/13989/when-the-us-will-lose-its-wwii-veterans/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1333701/us-military-ww2-veterans-living-estimate/
https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/wwii-veteran-statistics
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/05/08/on-75th-anniversary-of-v-e-day-about-300000-american-wwii-veterans-are-alive/
https://www.data.va.gov/stories/s/Memorial-Day-2024-World-War-II/x6jv-ykjw/

Here's an annotated script with footnotes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Bhd4esp0ZEiqR6pHemC5YnQhW1sStckrDnS32YEeiZo/edit?usp=sharing

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Often, we learn history directly from those who experienced it firsthand. But the vast majority of folks who experienced World War Two, firsthand, are now dead. Around 70 million people fought in World War Two. Less than 75,000 of them are still around today. The youngest World War Two veterans today are in their late 90s.

Based on current estimates, nearly all of them will be dead by the year 2040.

I was extremely fortunate to spend some time with two of them.

Wilbur Grisham served as a medic in the Pacific Theater of the war.

Marvin Blakeman served with the 83rd Infantry Division in the European Theater of the war. He landed at Normandy and saw combat as he marched through France, eventually fighting in the Battle of the Bulge.


I also was extremely fortunate to spend the day with Hudson, who works with the channel Memoirs of World War Two. The folks at the channel travel to as many places as they can to interview and honor the few surviving World War Two veterans left. These veterans have not only important stories to share, but fascinating stories. And because they are PERSONAL stories, they capture what history books often can’t. And the videos are incredibly well produced. The channel is a gem. Check it out.

#wwii #wwiiveterans #ww2veteran