Jim Parks (Luke Basso, Filmperia)
The men and women who put on the uniform to serve their country have gone above and beyond for us. The impact that veterans play in our society is important and it is crucial to honor what they did for us. I am a high school senior that lives in the United States. Taking an interest in military and political history has led to the creation of my YouTube channel, Filmperia. On Filmperia, you can see interviews of veterans and historical witnesses from WWII through today. Over 60 interviews and two mini documentaries can be found here. Persevering their stories is essential for our future.
The 80th anniversary of D-Day is coming up and I was honored to interview a veteran who was there: Jim Parks is a 99-year-old Canadian WWII veteran.
He recalled storming Juno beach with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles at 19-years-old. As the Canadian’s advanced to the beachhead, one of Parks’ friends was wounded. He pulled him all the way to the sand dunes while being shot at by the enemy. “Hold me. I’m cold” he said to Jim as he passed away in his arms.
Luke’s Grandmother, a WWII blitz survivor, meeting Parks on the computer (Luke Basso, Filmperia)
While taking cover from sniper and machine gun fire, Parks witnessed a fellow soldier have a mental breakdown. The soldier screamed, “I want to go back to the beach” while running back and forth. When the bunkers were finally secured, prisoners of war were taken in. Parks remembers a Mongolian sticking out amongst the captured soldiers. It wasn’t too long afterward that the 12th SS Panzer Division launched a counterattack that the Canadian’s would hold off. Parks’ unit would continue to advance through Western Europe until Germany surrendered.
Watch Parks discuss his story on Filmperia.
For inquiries or to suggest a veteran or historical witness comfortable with being interviewed on my channel, please email me at lukeb.filmperia@gmail.com. It is important to preserve history!
