Revealing an intimate history of World War II

Bob Boyd, High Desert Museum curator and local historian, treated guests of Sisters Library to an extraordinary presentation last Saturday on the lives of soldiers who fought in northwestern Europe in 1944.

Boyd helped excited visitors take a closer look at the lives of these soldiers through the use of artifacts that he has collected over the last 50 years.

Boyd was invited to the library by Liz Goodrich, district community relations coordinator for Deschutes Public Library, to partake in this month's theme: "Know War."

He brought a wealth of historical knowledge as well as a variety of authentic World War II artifacts of the everyday soldiers' lives. The ability to see and touch these artifacts enabled those attending something that couldn't have been accomplished from merely reading or hearing: a deep and personal connection with the soldiers who depended on these artifacts for their very survival.

"Studying historical objects provides perspectives on history from the bottom up; viewing and handling the artifacts, the pieces of the lives of the common soldiers, brings attention to the millions of men, the human machinery of war, and what their lives were like," he said. "Collectively it is ordinary people who often change the course of history."

Bob started collecting artifacts as early as age 12. Since collecting World War II artifacts wasn't something most 12-year-old kids did, Bob "started to collect baseball cards so people wouldn't think I was different."

He noted that, "In the '50s much of the material wasn't thought to have much historic value. It sold for a few cents in surplus stores and was even being given away by veterans or was being discarded."

Hitchhiking around Europe in 1966 also afforded him many opportunities to "discover the array of material to be found in their flea markets and antique stores."

Boyd's hope is for guests at his presentations to take away a personalized understanding of what these men went through.

"Displaying and comparing the artifacts of both American and German soldiers, and to show how little different their day-to-day existence was, within the tremendous human tragedy of the Second World War" is Boyd's goal.