History in a Pint: World War II Roundtable

  Veterans’ Memorial Hall will present a roundtable discussion with three local World War II veterans with very different backgrounds and role for its local history series, History in a Pint. The lecture will be at American Legion Post 71 in West Duluth at 6 p.m. Conversation will range from their experience growing up during the Great Depression to their different military roles in World War II. The discussion is expected to last about an hour. Panelists are Robert Ballou, who served as a military police officer in the European Theater in the U.S. Army from 1943 until 1946, and was in Germany at the time of their surrender and later was a member of the Occupation Army; Steve Balach, who joined the Naval Reserve in 1940 and trained in Duluth on the USS Paducah, and during the war served in the Pacific Theater helping transport troops to the South Pacific; and Robert Watts,who joined the 125^th Field Artillery based in Duluth, and who fought across North Africa and up the boot of Italy. Veterans’ Memorial Hall was established in 1910 and is a program of the St. Louis County Historical Society. For more information, contact Daniel Hartman at  218-310-5356 or by e-mail: dhartman@vets-hall.org, or go to www.vets-hall.org, which features more than 6,000 veterans' stories.