We Were There

An oral history of World War II told by veterans (with a bit of stock footage thrown in), We Were There is a remarkably moving documentary that eschews facts and figures for personal anecdotal accounts of battle, with many men unburdening themselves of painful memories for the first time. Presented in loose chronology, the film begins with recollections of what these interviewees were doing when they received news about Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, and how each of them—barely more than boys—wound up in one or another branch of the military, often for precise reasons such as possessing a skill set (truck mechanics, engineering) that was useful to the U.S. Navy, Army, Air Force, or Marines. From there, the stories diverge as combat action took different forms. A former pilot talks about being shot down over Italy, and—badly injured and attacked by locals—being rescued by German soldiers who placed him in a hospital where he was hidden by a doctor. A D-Day survivor recalls the thousands of men, including his captain, killed even before reaching the shore in Normandy (the memory of his fear still brings him to the brink of tears). And various ex-sailors speak of the horror of Japanese pilots crashing their warplanes into American ships. Spirited defenses are also made of why it was necessary (so the argument goes) to drop two atomic bombs on Japan to prevent the many more deaths that would have occurred had America and its allies launched a conventional invasion. Serving up powerful testimonials from WWII survivors, this is highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (T. Keogh)