Les Loken’s Memories
The old song says, “No, they can’t take that away from me” and that is certainly true for Les Loken, a 94-year-old World War II veteran. He has been recording his memories on video and putting them up on YouTube.
YouTube is one of those new-fangled things on the internet, essentially a library of all kinds of videos that people can add to and others watch. It is the latest thing with the young, of course, but Les has shown that it’s for older people too.
His series of videos deals with his early life, the Great Depression, Pearl Harbor, the war in the Pacific and the occupation of Japan. As eye witness accounts, they are both interesting and revealing, as well as being a potentially rich source for historians. In fact, so interesting are Les’ videos that young people have found them and begun to respond in videos of their own. There is still some respect for the past, it seems.
If you have a broadband internet connection, I recommend that you click on the links below and enjoy Les and his memories.
Les Loken – Part 1 (Pearl Harbor)
Les Loken – Part 2 (War in the Pacific)
Les Loken – Part 3 (Occupation of Japan)
Les Loken – Part 4 (Friendship with Namikawa)
Les Loken – Part 5 (Occupied Japan)
Les Loken – Part 6 (Earliest years)
Les Loken – Part 7 (The Great Depression)
