They both remembered exactly where they were when they heard the news.
Russell L. Smith was driving his grandmother to Nebraska. The voice on the other end of the radio was reporting a news broadcast from Honolulu, Hawaii. The United States had been attacked, the broadcaster announced, “by enemy planes.”
Smith almost crashed his car into an oncoming train.
That same Sunday afternoon, Lloyd De Herrera, then a resident of southern Colorado, was on the way to a movie with his girlfriend when he heard the radio report.
Both men could remember the attack on Pearl Harbor clearly. The veterans didn’t know it then, but it was the start of a war that would forever change not only their lives, but the very fate of the world — sending them across the globe, from their homes in Iowa and southern Colorado to Europe and the Pacific.
The day after the attack, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan, marking the United States’ official entry into World War II.
The day after the attack, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan, marking the United States' official entry into World War II.
Nearly 80 years after the end of World War II, their stories survive thanks to the Center for the Study of War Experience at Regis University. Started in 2004, the Center is the product of another entity at Regis that explores multiple perspectives of war — Stories from Wartime, which began in 1995 as a class in the History department, today known as the Department of History, Politics and Political Economy. Stories from Wartime, which is part class and part public lecture series, has captured hundreds of oral histories from civilians who have experienced war, refugees and veterans who served in World War II and in conflicts beyond, including in the Vietnam War and in Iraq and Afghanistan. Stories from Wartime marks its 30th anniversary this spring.
In the three decades since the program’s founding, Regis has collected not only stories, but also hundreds of artifacts from war, including photos, diaries, letters, bomber jackets, money from the countries where veterans fought, manuals from the Women’s Army Corps and countless others. The artifacts became so numerous that the University started the Center for the Study of War Experience, which has inspired academic research, books and TV shows.
Artifacts from the Center for the Study of War Experience, displayed during its 20th anniversary celebration, help paint a picture of life during wartime, including experiences of WWII, the Vietnam War and Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Center for the Study of War Experience also collects the memories of people who are not veterans, but whose lives were impacted by war. In recent years, the center, through its ongoing oral history program and Stories from Wartime has expanded their focus to include stories from voices that are not always heard, including women, African American and Hispanic soldiers and Vietnamese civilians impacted by the war in their country.
After the United States declared war on Japan, Smith, De Herrera and eventually 16 million other American men and women joined a war that would last four more years and claim the lives of 15 million military personnel and 38 million civilians worldwide.
In each interview with the center, veterans and civilians, many in their 80s and 90s, take viewers decades back to when they were young men and women preparing for the fight of their lives.
It wasn’t even one year after the attack on Pearl Harbor that Russell L. Smith was drafted into the U.S. Army. In the summer of 1942, he said in an interview with the Center for the Study of War Experience, he received his draft notice. After his initial training that sent him to two other training camps, Smith said he was only the seventh man to enter training at the then brand-new Camp Swift in Texas. For one year, he was a company clerk because he knew how to type. Then, in 1944, he was sent to England.
When Lloyd De Herrera enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1942, he went to the scene of the attack he heard about on the radio just a few months before. After he was accepted into the Navy, he was sent to San Diego and then to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Shortly after that, he was assigned to the U.S.S. Atlanta, where his job was to stand on the bridge on the lookout for enemy ships and submarines. De Herrera participated in the Battle of Midway in June 1942, assigned to the ammunition storeroom below deck. He also participated in the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942, offering reinforcement to the Marines battling there.
Smith bounced around to several more forts, including ones in Missouri and Maryland. In June 1944, he headed to England from New York. He landed on Omaha Beach three or four days after D-Day, the famous battle in which Allied forces invaded German-occupied France.
“When we landed on Omaha Beach, there were several ships that had been sunk during the war,” he said in an interview with the Center for the Study of War Experience. “When we had to go to shore, the landing crafts that we had — the front of it dropped down and you walked out of there. You waded in water up to your shoulders, carrying your gun and everything above it. But the worst of all was climbing up the bank we had to climb up there at Omaha Beach.”
If his time there wasn’t harrowing enough, his experience would soon grow more intense. After a stretch of helping repair weapons, he was sent to France. Not long after that, Smith was captured by German soldiers.
Source: National Museum of the USAF
By the time Smith shared his story in 2005, Stories from Wartime had already been going strong for a decade.
Dan Clayton, Ph.D., professor emeritus of Regis and a founder of Stories from Wartime and the Center for the Study of War Experience, said capturing interviews like these requires deep research and understanding from the students who conduct them. It’s all part of the training provided by Stories from Wartime.
The class started as a seminar course for juniors in the fall of 1995. As part of the course, students wrote and researched personal narratives of people who experienced World War II. Started by Clayton, Professor Ron Brockway, Ph.D., and Rev. Jim Guyer, S.J., the course brought together multiple generations to learn about World War II experiences. In addition to the course, Stories from Wartime welcomed members of the public to hear stories from veterans.
“For several years we had an overflow crowd in the science amphitheater listening to our World War II veterans, men and women veterans, tell their personal narratives of what that war was like,” Clayton said. “What did ordinary people do in that war? What did the war do to them? So, it was a combination of an advanced research writing seminar for Regis students, combined with a public speaker series.”
Because the members of the history department at the time — Clayton, Brockway and Guyer — did not have personal experiences of the war, they soon decided the best way to impart its impact was to invite veterans to speak. Every Tuesday night during the fall semester of 1995, a panel of veterans visited Regis to speak about what they saw, heard and felt during those years of war. For many of the panel discussions through the years, former radio host and current president of the Colorado Freedom Memorial Rick Crandall would moderate discussions.
“Every conceivable aspect of war was covered on these panels that would be populated by veterans of that particular experience,” Clayton said. “For example, there would be Army veterans talking about their experiences fighting in Europe during the Second World War. There would be Marines talking about their experience in fighting against the Japanese in World War II, there would be nurses who would talk about their experience, chaplains who would talk about their experience. So, for 13 straight weeks during the semester, we had these panels of veterans telling their personal war narratives.”
For students enrolled in Stories from Wartime, a major part of the course involved interviewing veterans and people impacted by war. Because many veterans — especially those of the WWII era — were reluctant to discuss their experiences, the students needed to prepare diligently for each interview.
“World War II veterans notoriously didn’t want to talk about their war,” Clayton said. “The very first thing they needed to do before we began hearing the narratives, the stories from the veterans themselves, was to know a lot about World War II. The secret to engaging people who didn’t want to talk about their experience was to know all about that experience: where they were, what they had done, what they went through. They had to know that kind of military history before they could begin the process of interviewing the veteran. That was key.”
The result of this deep knowledge about the war is evident in the hours of details provided by each person interviewed by the center. In hours of interviews, veterans and civilians alike recount some of the darkest moments not only of world history, but also of their own lives. For some veterans, it offered the only place to tell their stories. Clayton said that one veteran who fought in the Pacific in Okinawa attended Stories from Wartime as an audience member.
“He waited for years before he finally felt that he could finally tell his story. It was a very gruesome story,” Clayton said. “In the first year, he couldn’t make it through his story. He broke down. He cried. It happened a lot. But he realized that this was a place where he could finally tell the story.”
As the years continued, the center began focusing on stories from the Vietnam War. The center began switching back and forth from Vietnam and WWII, later also incorporating stories from the most recent wars, including Iraq and Afghanistan.
Howard Sokol was a photographer during the Vietnam War. He began photographing World War II, Vietnam and Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and contributors to the Center for the Study of War Experience more than 15 years ago.
- Howard Sokol, The Vietnam War
Thirty years later, Stories from Wartime continues. As stories accumulated, so did oral histories. Today, the center has more than 275 oral histories in its archives, as well as artifacts from war.
After his stint repairing damaged weapons in England, Russell L. Smith was at his camp in France. One morning, Smith walked with his company commander and first sergeant, who were captured by German soldiers. Smith and his company attempted to escape, but Germans surrounded them.
The soldiers were put into a German convoy. It was a bright day, and American planes were flying overhead to try to break up the convoy. When the planes came, everyone, including the German guards, ducked for cover.
At nightfall, Smith saw his chance.
“I happened to look back and saw a light way in back of us,” he said. “I don’t know how I got up the nerve to do it, but anyhow, I passed the word back that if our planes should happen to come again, let’s turn around and run as hard as we could go, knowing it was a risk. But going into one of their prison camps was a risk, too.”
When another plane came, the soldiers ran and managed to escape. They went through towns at night, making as much noise as possible to make it sound like there were more soldiers than there were.
By day, the soldiers hid in bushes, trees and even in a sugar beet field.
One morning, the soldiers hid beneath some snowy evergreen trees when they heard German guards nearby.
Across the continent, in the Pacific, Lloyd De Herrera fought in the Guadalcanal campaign, where his ship was torpedoed by Japanese forces. His survival hinged on remembering his training and following orders.
The Center for the Study of War Experience is currently led by co-directors Lauren Hirshberg, Ph.D., and Rose Campbell. Campbell, a graduate of Regis, discovered Stories from Wartime and the center as a student. Since then, she hasn’t left.
For Campbell, the center started as a classroom experience and led to a career. Today, she helps lead and preserve stories like those of Smith and De Herrera.
When Campbell was a student at Regis, one of her history professors at the time, current Vice Provost Nicki Gonzales, Ph.D., offered extra credit to students who attended the public Stories from Wartime event.
“I had never heard of it, but I was like, ‘Cool, I've always loved history and been a history nerd my whole life,’” Campbell said. “I went, and I was hooked, and I really loved what was going on. And then I also just decided to be a history major around that time.”
Her fascination with the center continued even after she graduated from Regis. She later worked at the History Colorado Center. In 2017, she began working full-time in the Center for the Study of War Experience.
“There was an exhibit at the Colorado History Museum on Vietnam, and because I was there, we go to those, and they did such an exceptional job. It was a very different war. I was so impressed, I wanted to see who did it, and the center's name was on there. And so, I sent them a thank-you note. And I just said, ‘I was there. You really nailed it.’ And so, Rose (Campbell) reached out and said, she explained what they do.
I felt so comfortable with her. I felt safe. I cried when I wanted to cry … I guess the best way to say it is I just trusted her with my story and that she would put me in good situations, and they've just blossomed since.”
- Terre Deegan-Young
Red Cross "Donut Dolly," The Vietnam War
Nathan Matlock served as the director of the Center for the Study of War Experience for several years before Associate Professor Lauren Hirshberg, Ph.D., joined as director in 2020. Today, Hirshberg and Campbell are co-directors of the center.
“Under her leadership, we have really broadened the scope to include refugee stories, more women and African American experiences,” Campbell said.
In 2020, the center focused on the story of Walter Springs, a veteran who was killed in a racist attack before he even made it overseas. Jaylem Durousseau, a 2021 Regis graduate, attended Stories from Wartime when the center told Springs’ story.
Durousseau, a U.S. Army reservist, said he was encouraged to learn more about the Center for the Study of War Experience and Stories from Wartime by his advisor. Soon, he became more involved with Stories from Wartime, serving on a panel alongside his aunt, a veteran of the Iraq War.
“I actually had the distinct pleasure of not only being a student in the class, but a presenter in the class during one of our panels,” he said. “My aunt Sheila suffers from PTSD from her time in Iraq, and she's never been able to open up with us about her experience until that class. My whole family got to be on a Zoom call, and we all got to share in that moment together for the first time. And if it wasn't for the vision of Dr. Clayton and the amazing work Rose and Dr. Hirshberg do, that's a moment that would have been lost.”
The center’s impact goes far beyond Regis and Colorado. Throughout the years, several scholars and writers have used the center’s resources for their work.
In 2012, New York Times bestselling author Alex Kershaw published The Liberator, a book that tells the story of Felix Sparks, a veteran from Colorado who experienced almost 500 continuous days of combat and helped liberate the Dachau concentration camp. The acclaimed book eventually was developed into a Netflix miniseries by the same name.
Sparks was originally interviewed by Dan Clayton, the center’s former director, for Stories from Wartime and the Center for the Study of War Experience. The research provided by the center proved to be instrumental to Kershaw’s writing process.
The experience was so meaningful to Kershaw that he included the center in his acknowledgements section in the book.
“The amazing Rick Crandall in Denver first introduced me to Regis University's Professor Dan Clayton, Director of the Center for the Study War Experience, who conducted several lengthy interviews with Felix Sparks, which were absolutely essential to this book,” Kershaw wrote in the acknowledgments section. “I can never thank Rick or Dan enough for the wonderful support and generosity. Dan has done more to promote a true understanding of the war than any other scholar in the United States.”
After he finished the novel, Kershaw donated his notes and other research materials to the center.
During the battle of Guadalcanal in the Pacific, Lloyd De Herrera was aboard the U.S.S. Atlanta when it was torpedoed by a Japanese cruiser. The room next to where De Herrera worked was hit, flooding instantly. The power was knocked out and the ship continued to fight until it couldn’t anymore. One-third of the 673 crew members aboard the U.S.S. Atlanta were killed.
“Everyone on topside was completely wiped out. It was terrible,” De Herrera said. “How I managed to get from the lower part of the ship to the topside when the captain said abandon ship — to this day, I can’t remember how I got up there. Having my life jacket on, I jumped into the oily water, the water filled with oil, and I swam away as fast as I could because I was taught that while your ship is sinking, you better get away.”
De Herrera thought he was going to die. But then, the Marines picked him up, then took him to an island where he was examined for injuries. De Herrera had shrapnel cuts, but since they didn’t hit his bones, he was sent to the front lines of the ongoing battle with a Marine, who he credits for helping him make it through the battle alive.
In Europe, Russell L. Smith and a group of fellow soldiers were hiding from German soldiers under snowy evergreen trees. The branches were weighed down by snow, giving the group enough cover. But suddenly, snow slipped off the tree, exposing them.
“Those guards turned around and started swinging their guns around, trying to figure out where that noise was coming from. Our hearts were beating hard enough that I think they were almost hearing them,” he said. “We were so scared. But they went on anyhow.”
In 1945, many months after Smith and his fellow soldiers were reunited with U.S. soldiers, he was wounded. Although he was hit in his foot by shrapnel, he was bandaged and sent back to the front line. Later that year, he was wounded again. A bullet ricocheted off the back of his helmet and went back through his nose, a story that he often told only to be met with incredulous looks. He was again sent back into battle.
Both men served in different parts of the world. Both were injured in famous battles only to be patched up and sent back to the front lines.
But both of them survived.
And both told their stories to the Center for the Study of War Experience.
In 1945, both men were honorably discharged from their service. De Herrera used his G.I. benefits to attend college at Regis and other Colorado universities. He became a teacher and retired as the assistant superintendent for Denver Public Schools in 1991. Smith returned to Iowa, where he became a farmhand, worked in sales and owned a locksmith company. Both men got married and had families.
Decades later, the center’s work has preserved their memories.
During Veterans Week 2024, the Center for the Study of War Experience brought together supporters from over the years for a 20th anniversary celebration, hosted in the University’s Claver Hall. Students, veterans, faculty, staff and friends of the center joined together to remember and reflect upon the center’s impact.
From a historian’s perspective, few things are more valuable than records of first-hand experiences. Stories from Wartime and the Center for the Study of War Experience have captured hundreds of those.
“Our objective always was to preserve the memories. There's nothing more important that historians can do than to preserve the memories of those people who actually were there, who witnessed that war firsthand, up close and personal,” Clayton said. “These are invaluable historical resources.”
Smith, De Herrera and other WWII veterans that the center interviewed have since passed away. But because of Stories from Wartime and the Center for the Study of War Experience, their memories stay alive.
As Regis prepares to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Stories from Wartime this spring, another important anniversary will come into focus: 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. This spring, the series will focus on the Vietnam War and will feature the experiences of veterans, refugees, anti-war protesters, and civilians.
Learn More
The Regis Center for the Study of War Experience (CSWE) is committed to providing a space for individuals to share their stories of war. Since its founding in 2004, the Center has been dedicated to gathering and preserving a wide range of voices.
Learn MoreFor more information on the Center and Stories from Wartime, please visit regis.edu/warexperience and follow them on Instagram at CenterforWarExperience.
The Center operates on the generosity of donors. As we mark the anniversaries of the Center and Stories from Wartime, we are launching a special fundraising campaign to celebrate our achievements and ensure the continuation of our work into the future. Gifts big and small make a difference. To make a gift:
Email us or write in to the Regis University Magazine at 3333 Regis Blvd, L-27, Denver 80221
