Additional Resources Relating to Ralph Stern's Interview

Online Resources Relating to World War II and D-Day:

• A topic page on World War II from Credo Reference.
• A topic page from Gale US History in Context. This page focuses on Pearl Harbor and the push for US involvement with the war.
• A summary, timeline, and photos about the French Resistance from the World War II Database.
• A topic page on D-Day from Credo Reference.
• An overview of the Normandy area from Credo Reference.
• D-Day guide from the History Channel.
• From the United States Army's website, a comprehensive look at D-Day.
• If Stern had been sent to land on the beaches of Normandy on June 6th, this map show how his group would have been a part of the larger invasion. From History Matters website.
• Visit the Paley Center in New York City (or LA) to watch the PBS special twenty years after D-Day with Eisenhower. More information on this speical can be found here.
• PBS also covered D-Day in their American Experience special series. On this page, a reader can find additional information on D-Day, timeline, maps, and even a guide for teachers.

Books from NYPL's catalog:

• World War II: A Short History by Norman Stone, published 2013. This book gives a concise overview of the entire war from an award-winning historian and author.
• World War II: The Encyclopedia of the War Years, 1941-1945 by Norman Polmar, published 1996. More of a resource book for people, places, and battles that occurred during World War II. 
• Battle: The Story of the Bulge by John Toland, published 1999. Toland has collected tons of information from bystanders and people who fought in the battle to paint a picture as if he was truely there. 
• No Surrender: A World War II Memoir by James Sheeran, published 2011. Sheeran was a paratrooper who landed on the beaches of France on D-Day. He is captured by the Germans and eventually escapes and fights with the French.
• The Steel Wave by Jeff Shaara, published 2008. A fictional account of an Allie soldier who lands on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944.

Items Related to Stories Told in Interview:

• D-Day Minus 1, a video that begins on the same day Stern starts his story, June 5, 1944. From the Prelinger Archives.
• A brief summary of St. Lo and how the city rebuilt after the 1944 bombing. From Credo Reference. Or read a summary of the city more focused on its importance during WWII from Gale US History in Context.
• An first-person account of taking over St. Lo from the point of view of the 30th infantry division. This was a division that helped Stern's group, the 29th infantry division.
• From the History Channel website is a 7 picture slideshow of the damage and destruction from World War II. The first two pictures in this slideshow show the destruction after the bombing at St. Lo.
• A biography of Omar Bradley, one of the generals Stern mentions. From Credo Reference. If you want to know even more, check out his memoir, published in 1951 called A Soldier's Story or a 2011 biography by Jim DeFelice entitled Omar Bradley.
• Another general Stern mentioned was British general Bernard Montgomery. A biography from Gale US History in Context can be read or spend some time in the Schwarzman Building to read Montgomery and the Battle of Normandy or The Memoirs of Field-Marshal the Viscount Montgomery of Alamein. 
• The final general Stern mentioned was American general George S. Patton. His brief biography can be found through Gale US History in Context. A 2010 biography of Patton by Marty Gitlin or Patton's memoir, published 1995, can be checked out through NYPL or you can visit the Schwarzman Building to read a collection of his poems or see a collection of his diary entries and letters written during World War II.
• While Stern did not speak very highly about French resistance fighters, many of these fighters risk their lives during the German invasion. One such incredible resistance fighter was Andree Peel. Read about her amazing journey in a Daily Mail article when Peel turned 104 and then read her obituary from the New York Times. Peel was 105 and passed away in 2010.
• From LIFE, a slideshow story of the liberation of Paris. Or watch a short documentary from the Prelinger Archives about the liberation from the French Resistance. And for even more information, check out Steve Zaloga's 2008 book about the liberation.
• After the liberation of Paris, Stern moved towards the Rhineland.
• In his interview, Stern talks about the K-rations he ate while marching. A video from YouTube circa World War II (1943) on the purpose and goal of K-rations.
• Stern talks about crossing the Remagen Bridge (also known as Ludendorff Bridge). Later, in 1945, this bridge will be the focal point of a major battle that is a decisive victory for the Allies. Learn more about this battle from Ken Hechler's 1993 book entitled The Bridge at Remagen: The Amazing Story of March 7, 1945 -- The Day the Rhine River Was Crossed.
• A brief summary of the Battle of the Bulge (December 16, 1944-January 28, 1945) from Credo Reference.
• Information about Bastogne, Belgium, the city Stern and his group was pushed into. From Gale US History in Context.
• Stern ends his interview talking about his experience in the CIC (Counter Intelligence Corps). Read The Axmann Conspiracy by Scott Andrew Selby, published 2012, We Caught Spies by John Schwarzwalder, published 1946, or The History of the Counter Intelligence Corps, published 1989. 

Other Resources:

• The National World War II Musuem in New Orleans.
• From now until May 27, 2013, the New York Historical Society has a special exhibit on World War II.
• The War is a Ken Burns film that looks at four towns in American and how World War II impacted them.

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