May 8, 2015 is the 70th anniversary of the Victory in Europe of World War 2. In honor of the victory, and the men and women who sacrificed during the war, I am sharing this preview video (scroll down for video) of the online course, Aviator’s Wife Tells of Home Front Life During World War 2.
My parents, Jim and Lucille Maris, were newlyweds during World War 2 as my dad piloted B-24 bombers out of a base in Wendling, England. He flew 30 missions, the second of which was D-Day. The plane that he flew for most of his missions was the Bad Penny, shown below in a 1944 photo taken on the dispersal ramp. This is one of the many images my dad had in his archives.
Many vintage war planes were flown over Washington DC today in honor of the Victory in Europe. The hashtag, #VEDay70, has lit up Twitter, Instagram and other places in social media. I’m wishing I could have witnessed the aircraft flyby in person today. How awesome that would have been!

1944 photo of B-24 bomber, the Bad Penny, flown by pilot, James R. Maris, along with his 9 members of his crew.
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In the course, you will get to see more photos from our archives. You will also experience video lessons in which I interview Mom talking about her experiences as a young bride in the USA during war time.
Mom and I look forward to your feedback about the content. If you have questions that come up, we hope you’ll post them in the discussion threads in the course to give us opportunity to respond.
In the video below, you’ll hear Mom tell briefly about my dad, Jim, waving the wings of his B-24 as he and his crew passed by her and two other wives who were standing on the rooftop of the Hotel Jayhawk in Topeka, Kansas. It was the last time they would see each other for many months of the war.
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Here is your link to enroll in the course! Hope you’ll join us for this journey through history!