This is an I-Heart podcast.

This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories,

the show where America is the star and the American people.

And we love to hear listeners stories.

Share them with us at OurAmerican Stories.com.

They're some of our favorites.

And this next story, well, it's the story of a World War II veteran who is a member of the Naval Medical Corps.

Judy Pearson brings us the story.

My father was a World War II veteran

who never left you wondering where he stood on a topic.

When he came to visit me in Phoenix after my mother died,

I took him to an area antique store.

It was full of military memorabilia, including a World War II-era jeep.

While Dad was digging through campaign medals and old postcards, the store owner shared with me his most recent find, a collection of personal items

belonging to a deceased veteran named Estelle Myers. He spread the treasure across the counter,

Myers' death certificate, his bronze star commendation, a handwritten letter, and a newspaper article,

now fragile and yellowed with the passage of time.

He told of a piece of World War II history I had never heard before.

Most Americans know that the war began with the attack on Pearl Harbor

and ended with the atomic bombs.

But the vast middle of the Pacific War isn't well documented in most history books.

My father later shared his thoughts on that omission, peppered with colorful expletives.

...