WWII

Maj. Gen. Charles W. Sweeney was the last officer to lead an atomic mission and was involved in both the Hiroshima and the Nagasaki bombing runs. He has written a memoir entitled "War's End" (Avon Books) which provides a first hand account of the planning and the execution of one of the history's most destructive combat missions.

Film critic John Powers reviews Paradise Road and Daytrippers.

Dickey died Sunday at the age of 73 from complications of lung disease. He was the author of the novel "Deliverance" and the screenplay for the movie of the same name. He said he wrote novels to pay the bills, but his first love was poetry. He wrote more than 20 collections of poetry. (REBROADCAST from 9/30/93)

Film critic John Powers reviews the new film "The English Patient," adapted from the acclaimed Michael Ondaatje novel.

Part three of Ed Ward's series on the history of the blues. He talks about how the realities of post-war life changed the trajectory of the genre.

Eric Lomax was captured by the Japanese during World War II. He was used as forced labor to help build the Burma-Siam railroad. He was also tortured by the Japanese. He has reconciled with the Japanese interpreter present during his beatings. His book The Railway Man: A P.O.W.'s Searing Account of War, Brutality and Forgiveness (W.W. Norton & Company 1995) chronicles his story from WWII and his life 50 years later.

We speak with two veterans about their service during World War II. Tony Varone remembers V.E. DAY 50 years ago today. He served in the 9th Infantry Division which fought in Europe. He now is Commander of VFW POST in Long Island, New York. Donald Pearce fought in Europe in the Canadian Army. Pearce kept a diary during his tour of duty. His 1965 book Journal Of A War: North-west Europe 1944-1945 chronicles the battles fought in Belgian and the Netherlands.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "The Polish Officer," a new World War II espionage novel from Alan Furst.

Ian Buruma has just written the book, "The Wages of Guilt," which explores the different ways in which the people of Germany and Japan remember World War II. He seeks to explain why Germany has a collective sense of guilt over its war crimes, while Japan tries to forget its involvement in the war. Buruma's other books include "God's Dust" and "Playing the Game."

Film director Milos Forman. Originally from Czechoslovakia, Forman is the director of such American films as "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," "Amadeus," "Hair," and "Ragtime." Forman began his film career in his native country, apprenticing with some of the country's best film makers for the Communist state-controlled film industry.

Poet and novelist Michael Ondaatje. He won Britian's highest literary prize, the Booker Prize, for his novel set in post World War II, "The English Patient," (Vintage Books). Ondaatje was born in Cyelon (now Sri Lanka), emigrated to England, and now lives in Canada. He also has written a personal memoir, "Running in the Family," (Vintage) about his eccentric family. Both books are now out in paperback. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Novelist and Poet James Dickey. Now 70, the author of the famed novel "Deliverance" and many volumes of poetry has released his third work of fiction, "To the White Sea" (Houghton Mifflin): a taut tale told in bare language of one pilot's survival in the waning days of World War II.

Maureen Corrigan reviews a new memoir, "Love & Rutabaga", by Claire Hsu Accomando (St. Martins).

Writer Allan Berube wrote the book, "Coming Out Under Fire: The History of Gay Men and Women In World War II." He spent ten years interviewing gay and lesbian veterans, searching out wartime letters, and consulting newly declassified government documents. He found that hundreds of thousands of gays entered the military despite a procedure for screening out homosexuals. Terry will talk with him about the ban on gays in the military and the hearings going on now, and whether it should be repealed.

Author Aljean Harmetz's new book, Round Up the Usual Suspects, tells the inside story of the making of the film Casablanca. Harmetz is also the author of The Making of the Wizard of Oz. She was the Hollywood film correspondent for The New York Times for 12 years, and is now a contributing editor for Esquire.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews Keith Gordon's new film "A Midnight Clear."

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews "Shining Through," starring Michael Douglas and Melanie Griffith as lovers who are also spies fighting the Nazis during World War Two.

Television critic David Bianculli reviews two of the many specials commemorating the 50th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Tonight's two hour special on ABC, "Pearl Harbor: Two Hours That Changed the World," and Saturday's special on CBS, called "Remember Pearl Harbor."

Washington editor of "The Atlantic," James Fallows. He's also a commentator for NPR's Morning Edition. And he's writing a book about the future of East Asia. He lived in Japan for years and frequently writes about relations between America and Japan, and the cultural differences involved. He'll talk with Terry about how the Japanese view the upcoming anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews, "Europa, Europa," the foreign film based on a true story about a Polish-German Jewish boy who escapes the Germans and Russians by hiding his true identity.