News & Events Read the Maryland Lawyer article covering the event (PDF) |
Al Betz has volunteered his services to take the record as Maryland Veterans share stories of their World War II experiences during a panel discussion event at the Maryland Historical Society on February 11, 2009. Panelists include two “future” Maryland Governor Army Veterans—Marvin Mandel and William Donald Schaefer—a Tuskegee Airman, Merchant Mariners, and others. Audience members will be invited to tell their own World War II stories during the event, which also will be made a part of the record. Kai Jackson, co-anchor, WJZ TV Channel 13, will moderate the event.
Mr. Betz is also volunteering his and his company’s professional services to the Maryland Historical Society’s Oral History Project. The MDHS’s Education Department partners with local high schools to collect oral histories. Fifteen students from the Doris M. Johnson High School (Baltimore City School No. 426) will attend the panel discussion on February 11 as part of their research project on Maryland during World War II. Al Betz will work with the students to help them develop their interviewing skills. As part of the project, Mr. Betz also will interview and preserve the life stories of Maryland Veteran Tuskegee Airmen.
A seasoned and “veteran” court reporter, Al is also a personal historian and author. He has pressed his professional skills into service to others by preserving and transcribing many life stories, including the families of 9/11 victims.
“My dad fought in World War II but like many of his era, he never talked about his Service. His experiences are lost forever. For me, my family, and our company, this is our moment to raise the voices of our fellow patriots, including the deceased, by preserving the historic and treasured stories of the living. We are grateful, and excited, volunteers.”
About the Panel Discussion Participants:
Charles Blockston, a Merchant Mariner who spent three weeks in a lifeboat after his ship was sunk in the Barents Sea; Montague Blunden, a Gunnery Officer aboard a destroyer at Iwo Jima and Okinawa; Herbert Davis, a Lieutenant in Patton’s Third Army who was awarded a Bronze Star for gallantry; Raymond V. Haysbert Sr., a Tuskegee Airman who was a pilot with the “Red Tails” Fighter Group in Italy; and two future Maryland Governors, Marvin Mandel, who served with the U.S. Army in 1942 and served as an instructor at Aberdeen Proving Ground and at Texarkana, Texas, until 1944; and William Donald Schaefer who ran an army hospital in England. Audience members will also be invited to tell their own World War II stories.
For more information about the event, please call 410-685-3750 x. 319 or visit www.mdhs.org.
