Eugene Ferris
Bio
Eugene Lynn Ferris was born during the Great Depression and shares memories of his father being an innovator and finding ways to make money for the family. Growing up during World War II, he shares stories of his grandmother inviting soldiers to every Sunday dinner. After graduating from Grover Cleveland High School, he began attending State University of New York at Oswego. When deferments for the draft ended in 1950, he chose to leave school and enlist in the United States Navy. Following basic training, he was assigned as a gunner on a PB4Y-2 aircraft at the Patuxent Naval Base, Maryland. During the war, his assignments included patrolling the Atlantic Ocean and a duty in Trinidad. In 1955, he returned home and used the GI Bill to earn a degree in industrial arts. He is proud of his role with the Korean War Veterans Association and his work sharing the legacy of the Korean War.
Video Clips
Crash Landing
Eugene Ferris shares an experience while in NewFoundland in which he lost a friend during a dangerous landing. He describes the placement of the runway and how planes were forced to rely on the tower during periods of extreme fog. On one particularly foggy night, he remembers his plane successfully landing and the tower instructing another plane that it was coming in too low. He recalls the pilot ignoring the instructions from the tower and the underside of the plane being ripped off during the landing.
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Important to Learn About Sacrifices
Eugene Ferris believes that any war and the sacrifices people make are important for our future generations to learn. He shares his concern for people wanting power and the hope that people will learn from previous experiences. He elaborates on the legacy of the Korean War and the pride Americans have in our support of South Korea.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffnYPk2TPF4&start=2225&end=2368
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https://koreanwarlegacy.org/interviews/eugene-ferris#clip-2
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Lessons from Previous Generations
Eugene Ferris expresses his concern about younger generations not fully appreciating the experiences and sacrifices earlier generations endured. To elaborate on this, he reflects on lessons he learned during his youth from a World War II veteran. He reveals how he has expanded his own understanding of Korea’s history through the Tell America Program. He describes South Korea’s transformation as unbelievable and how the United States will continue to support their progress.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffnYPk2TPF4&start=1560&end=1722
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https://koreanwarlegacy.org/interviews/eugene-ferris#clip-3
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