St. Viator class profiles members of the Greatest Generation

Wearing a loud flowered shirt and a permanent smile, Julie Wright and Stephanie Reiter acted like grandmother and granddaughter at a student recognition ceremony outside The Peoples' Bank in Arlington Heights.

But the two only just met.

Reiter was one of about 20 St. Viator honors students who wrote the life stories of a group of veterans for a new book called "Arlington Heights' Greatest Generation."

It was a project both women enjoyed. So much so that when people asked Reiter who her veteran was, Wright spoke right up.

"I am, that's me," said the Arlington Heights resident.

Technically, Wright isn't a veteran. But as with veterans, World War II changed her life forever.

She was seven years old and living in the Philippines with her family because of her father's job with International Harvester. A few weeks after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Julie answered her door to find two Japanese soldiers, who told her family to report to a stadium the next day with enough food and clothing for three days. Also, they had to hand over their car. When they arrived at the stadium, everyone was required to sit all day in the scorching heat and humidity without any shade.

That was just the first day.

Julie's family would live in the internment camp for the next three years. When American troops rescued them, they gave Julie's family their lives back - and handed Julie her very first piece of gum.

On Thursday, Wright and Reiter poured over the book, especially a photo of a bracelet a soldier gave to Julie when she was a young girl.

"I think we spent two hours together the first time we met," Reiter said. "We talked, sure, but she also showed me all of her pictures. I couldn't believe she was a child prisoner."

Each student spent hours interviewing people like Wright about their World War II experience. The 138-page book includes photographs of the men and women today and during the war. There are even copies of the cartoon sketches one soldier drew while serving in the Army.

Student Connor Ptacin talked to John F. McDermott about this three years in the Marines.

"Our first interview was an hour and a half and you could tell he was taking it very seriously," said Ptacin, a junior. "He had American flags everywhere. It was really cool."

The bank first approached St. Viator President Rev. Mick Egan toward the end of last year to discuss the project, said Frank Appleby, the bank president. The bank published the book, which is on sale for $20 while supplies last at both Peoples' Bank locations in Arlington Heights.

"We couldn't be more pleased with the results of this project," he said. "The coming together of the students and the men and women who made history during World War II has been an extraordinary experience."

Soldiers tell their stories to students

Here are a couple of experts from the book "Arlington Heights' Greatest Generation."

• John F. McDermott (U.S. Marine Corps from 1943-46), written by Connor Ptacin:

"John was frequently graced with mail from the Jesuit brothers who taught him at West Catholic High School back in Ardmore (suburban Philadelphia).

"'The brothers would always send out little cards, reminding us that they were praying for (us) and thinking about us back home, but also there would be exams attached to the letters. I remember one brother sent me this nice prayer card, and at the end of the note, he said that enclosed was the final math exam I needed to complete my high school education. I was to finish the packet and send it back home, just 'please not to look on page eight,' which was the answer key. That thing was back home before the brother knew what hit him.'"

• Francis J. Twist Jr., U.S. Army (1943-46), written by Clare Burke:

"Frank Twist believes that war does not pay - the cost in lives, the devastation of infrastructure, what it does to countries, setting them back many years. He knows what it is like to come home to a town that looks a little bit older and a little more tired. Yet, he also knows that no other people could have accomplished what Americans did during World War II. And Frank Twist knows all of this, because he is a hero, a keeper of souls, a man who walks on the streets from day to day with a weight unrecognized and misunderstood. He is my grandfather."