Our WWII Dad

On December 7, 1941… he flew straight into Pearl Harbor—unaware the attack had already begun. As his SBD Dauntless approached Oahu from the USS  Enterprise , American anti-aircraft crews—overwhelmed and under attack—mistook him for the enemy and opened fire. He survived. And months later, he would help change the course of World War II at the Battle of Midway. 👉 This is Episode 15 of the  Our WWI...

Before their stories are gone… we have to remember. 👉 This is Episode 14 of the  Our WWII Dad  series — a special Veterans Day episode reflecting on the people, memories, and moments that continue to shape us. What started as one story—our dad’s—has become something much bigger. Through the voices of veterans, sons, daughters, and families carrying these legacies forward, this journey has reveale...

What would it feel like to walk the exact path of Easy Company across Europe? 👉 This is Episode 13 of the  Our WWII Dad  series. In this episode, Chris and Ken Cangilla sit down with John Healy—an Ireland native who traveled across Europe with his son on the official  Band of Brothers  tour, following the footsteps of Easy Company from Normandy to Bastogne and beyond. But what started as a journe...

Some soldiers come home from war carrying memories they can never escape. At just 19 years old, Frank Pierson was leading patrols behind enemy lines in New Guinea during World War II. One mission would change him forever. Years later, he would become one of Hollywood’s most influential storytellers: • Academy Award winner for  Dog Day Afternoon • Writer of  Cool Hand Luke • Director of  A Star is...

We didn’t expect to find him there. During a visit to the National WWII Museum, brothers Chris and Ken Cangilla discovered something deeply personal — a prayer card nearly identical to the one their father carried during World War II. But that was only the beginning. In this episode of  Our WWII Dad , the museum journey becomes something far more emotional as artifact after artifact begins connect...

He survived one of the most infamous massacres of World War II. In this episode of  Our WWII Dad , brothers Chris and Ken Cangilla continue the story of Dr. Raymond Minge of the 99th Infantry Battalion (Separate) — and the moment he treated a survivor of the Malmedy Massacre during the Battle of the Bulge. Joined by David Minge and Olaf Minge, this powerful multi-generational conversation follows...

He was supposed to leave the war. Dr. Raymond Minge, a medic with the 99th Infantry Battalion (Separate), had been scheduled for transfer to a larger medical facility during World War II. But when the doctor sent to replace him — Captain Gordon F. Fischer — was killed shortly after arriving, everything changed. In Part 1 of this special two-part episode of  Our WWII Dad , brothers Chris and Ken Ca...

Most Americans know about Pearl Harbor — but few realize Japan also attacked the U.S. mainland during World War II. In this chapter of  Our WWII Dad , brothers Chris and Ken Cangilla uncover the hidden story of wartime California, including the Japanese submarine attack on the Elwood Oil Fields near Santa Barbara, the mysterious Fu-Go balloon bombs, and the fear and confusion surrounding the Battl...

During the Battle of the Bulge, fear and confusion spread across Allied lines as German soldiers disguised themselves as Americans during a covert mission known as Operation Greif. For the men of the 99th Infantry Battalion (Separate) — a largely Norwegian-American unit with strong accents and an unfamiliar identity — that confusion created a dangerous new reality: they could be mistaken for the e...

Some of the men and women who served during World War II never had to go to war at all — but they chose to serve anyway. In this powerful chapter of  Our WWII Dad , brothers Chris and Ken Cangilla expand beyond their father’s story to honor other WWII veterans and families whose sacrifices helped shape history. From Fort Logan National Cemetery in Colorado to Omaha Beach, Normandy, Foy, and the fo...

This is the story that started it all. In this special presentation of  Our WWII Dad , brothers Chris and Ken Cangilla bring together the most powerful moments from the first chapters of their father’s World War II journey — from his early days in the Army and the Battle of the Bulge to the discoveries that helped uncover his story decades later. Using original audio from the series, rare photogra...

Everything they needed to understand their father’s World War II story had been sitting in a duffel bag for decades. In this emotional chapter of  Our WWII Dad , brothers Chris and Ken Cangilla conclude their father’s wartime journey by uncovering how the items he carried home from Europe — including photographs, military keepsakes, and a simple 1945 prayer card — ultimately became the key to disc...

It looked like a simple prayer card — until it unlocked their father’s journey through World War II. In this chapter of  Our WWII Dad , brothers Chris and Ken Cangilla uncover how a small 1945 prayer card marked by their father became the key to tracing his exact movements across Europe during the final months of the war. By matching handwritten dates and markings to the troop records of the 99th...

What if you could stand in the exact place your father stood during the Battle of the Bulge? In this chapter of  Our WWII Dad , brothers Chris and Ken Cangilla retrace their father’s footsteps across Belgium during one of World War II’s most brutal battles — leading to a powerful discovery in Malmedy where a historic wartime photograph revealed the exact location he once stood. Through personal st...

He was young, undersized, and completely new to the unit. In this chapter of  Our WWII Dad , brothers Chris and Ken Cangilla follow their father’s journey as a World War II replacement soldier sent into the elite 99th Infantry Battalion — a Norwegian American unit he had never trained with and struggled to fit into. As the war in Europe intensified, their father entered a battlefield already in mo...

She was 12 years old when World War II began. He was 18 when he left home to serve. In this opening chapter of  Our WWII Dad , brothers Chris and Ken Cangilla explore how the war changed both of their parents’ lives forever — one from the American homefront, the other from the road to Europe and combat. Featuring a powerful conversation with their mother at age 91, this episode captures the emotio...

New to  Our WWII Dad ? Start here. Before uncovering their father’s World War II story, brothers Chris and Ken Cangilla set out to answer a question they had carried for years: what did their dad truly experience during the war — and why did those experiences still echo through their family decades later? What began as a six-week journey across Europe became something far bigger: a search for trut...