Albright College senior Tyler Boland became interested in WWII history after learning about his great-grandfather’s time as a Marine in the South Pacific from his grandmother. He went on to create Keeping History Alive, which aims to record veterans’ stories and share them online.
He was able to interview 99 year old Russell Sattazahn, who graduated high school in Sept 1944 and by December was fighting in France and later Germany. In one battle he was hit with German artillery's where he sustained major facial injuries and lost his hand. He spent his 19th birthday in the hospital at Valley Forge. He underwent surgeries in NY and NJ and was able to leave the hospital the day before VJ Day August 15th 1945. His life had been severely altered by the past year.
During their interviews Tyler learned that Russell had hoped to see Germany after the Berlin wall fell. "I just wanted to see what they had done with the freedom we helped them get".
WPVI-TV reports that Tyler decided if Russell could make the flight he'd like to help fund it.