Press
NORTH EAST TIMES
Thursday, April 6, 2006
LIFEStyle
Secondhand War
By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer
As daughters of World War II veterans, Carol Vento and Ilene Baker felt the need to express their thoughts on being raised by battle-tested veterans.
It was early last fall when the women — co-workers at the Philadelphia Center, a Center City college-internship program — decided to pursue their dream.
Vento and Baker traveled to California to see Arthur "Dutch" Schultz, Vento’s dad. The man was dying, but he had a strong opinion when the ladies mentioned that they wanted to collect stories from the sons and daughters of World War II veterans.
"He thought it was a wonderful idea," Vento said. "He said, ‘Our stories have been told. Get the children’s stories.’"
Originally, Vento considered writing a book about her dad but decided to team with Baker to create a Web site.
They invited the children of World War II veterans to share their stories on www.daughtersofd-day.com.
The Northeast natives — Vento is from East Frankford and lives in Riverton, N.J., and Baker grew up in Mayfair and now is a South Philadelphia resident — have already heard some interesting stories and expect to get a lot more.
"There’s a very powerful emotion encapsulated inside the children of men in combat in World War II," Baker said. "There’s this underlying need to talk about it."
Dutch Schultz died last October. A D-Day paratrooper with the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, he earned a Bronze Star for his heroics on the beaches of Normandy and two Purple Hearts for combat in France and the Battle of the Bulge.
Schultz was interviewed for six books. Actor Richard Beymer played him in the 1962 movie version of the book The Longest Day. He did research for author Stephen Ambrose and director Steven Spielberg for the 1998 movie Saving Private Ryan. He also threw out the first pitch at an Anaheim Angels baseball game on the 60th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. And his recorded voice can be heard telling visitors at the National D-Day Museum in New Orleans about his experiences.
"All that helped him feel that what he did had value," his daughter said.
Vento described her father, who is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, as a modest man.
"He’d say, ‘I’m no hero,’" she said.
Joe Baker, Ilene’s late father, served in the Army’s Quartermaster Corps. His job was to retrieve bodies on Omaha Beach on June 7, 1944, known as D-Day Plus One.
Ilene Baker remembers asking her dad about the experience.
"He said, ‘The ocean was red,’" she recalled.
Baker recalls asking her dad, who died in 1999, to go see Saving Private Ryan at the movie theater. He had no interest.
"He said, ‘I’ve been there. I’ve seen it. I don’t need to see it again,’" she said.
The women want to reach everyone, especially children of vets who experienced post-traumatic stress disorders.
Vento’s dad had to overcome a divorce and alcoholism and often had anxiety attacks when he crossed the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge, perhaps because he fought in numerous bloody battles at bridges.
Baker’s father lived a normal post-war life, she thinks, because he was a mature 29 years old when he served.
The Web site welcomes both children whose fathers survived the war and those whose dads died in combat. It also seeks children whose fathers were non-combat participants. Even children of British and other European soldiers have displayed an interest about expressing their feelings.
"There’s a tremendous need," Baker said.
Originally, the women were going to accept stories only from other females. They soon changed course.
"Men started to say, ‘Hey, I want to talk about my dad, too,’" Vento said.
She thinks it takes the children of combat veterans until middle age to understand the effects war had on their fathers.
"We think there are stories out there that might make people better understand their fathers," she said.
If the Web site proves to be a success, Vento and Baker might try to reach the children of soldiers in the Korean, Vietnam and Gulf wars. They also are considering a book. And they are available for speaking engagements. ••
To contact Vento and Baker, write to daughtersofd-day@comcast.net or call Vento at 1-609-682-0207.
Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215-354-3034 or twaring@phillynews.com
