Greenburgh Public Library Blog

Veterans Day: Reflect, Remember, Reconnect.

Sunday, November 11, 2018 is Veterans Day, one of the most somber days in our calendar. It’s a day to reflect, remember, and reconnect with the brave men and women who served in America’s military armed forces.

The Town of Greenburgh honors local veterans through the Veterans Living History project. Veterans Living History is a collection of video recordings of local veterans telling their stories of war and military service. The Veterans Living History project interviews veterans from all branches of the military and from any conflict, including World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. 

All of the videos are accessible online at Greenburgh Veterans Living History Project and hard copies of the recordings are available on compact disc as part of the Library's local history reference collection. To view the videos online click on the link above, to view the videos at the Library call the Information Desk at 721-8225 to make arrangements. The online collection can be searched by name. Contact Town Supervisor Paul Feiner for information about how your story can be added to the collection.

One of the most harrowing accounts in the Veterans Living History Project is the story of Donald Blum, a World War II, Navy veteran who served from 1943 to 1946. Mr. Blum was on board the U.S.S. Indianapolis on July 30, 1945, when it was torpedoed and sunk. Of the 1,195 crewmen abroad, approximately 300 died when the ship sank. The remaining 900 crewmen faced exposure, dehydration, saltwater poisoning, and shark attacks while floating in the sea for days. There were few lifeboats and almost no food or potable water. The Navy learned of the sinking when survivors were spotted four days later by a Navy plane on routine patrol. Mr. Blum is one of only 316 crewmen who survived the sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis. He floated in the sea for five long days and nights before being rescued and says he "thinks about it frequently and it'll never leave."

Today it is common place to hear about post traumatic stress disorder in veterans, but for Mr. Blum's generation it was a topic swept under the rug. The symptoms of PTSD were well known and studied by the U.S. Army in the 1940s.  In 1945 Major John Huston of the Army Signal Corps was assigned to make a documentary about the psychologically damaged soldiers of WWII. Filming was done at Mason General Hospital on Long Island. John Huston recounts that the purpose of the film was to show how men who suffered mental damage in the service should not be written off but could be helped by psychiatric treatment. . . . John Huston was given unprecedented access to the hospital and followed a group of 75 men from the day they were admitted to their discharge six weeks later. When the patients arrived, they were in various conditions of emotional distress. Some had tics; some were paralyzed; one in ten was psychotic. Most of them fell into the general designation of 'anxiety neurosis.

The resulting film, Let There Be Light, was completed in 1946 and promptly censored by the Army until 1980, when a public screening was finally permitted. Let There Be Light and the story behind it's censorship can be viewed for free online at the National Film Preservation Foundation's website.  

You can honor veterans in many ways. Have you heard of project Greenlight A Vet? I just learn about it recently. Greenlight A Vet is a campaign to establish visible national support for our veterans by changing one light to green. It's simple, change one light in a visible location in your home or office to green, and keep it glowing every day as a symbol or support and appreciation for our veterans. 

For more information about Donald Blum and his experiences on the U.S.S Indianapolis checkout these articles.

Letter by Donald Blum to Popular Mechanics magazine

A Survivor's Story by Donald Blum