TV broadcaster Bill Kurtis to lead KU WWII veterans discussion July 20

LAWRENCE -- Television broadcaster and former CBS anchorman Bill Kurtis will moderate "KU Goes To War," a public program honoring University of Kansas faculty and staff who served in the military during World War II, at 2 p.m. Sunday, July 20, at the Lied Center.

As part of the dedication of the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, July 19 through 22, KU has invited faculty, staff and alumni with World War II experiences to join in the program. The dedication events are honoring the men and women of the "Greatest Generation" in keeping with the institute's mission to encourage public service and civilized debate, said Richard Norton Smith, institute director.

KU's student body president, Andrew Knopp, Manhattan senior, will introduce Kurtis, a native Kansan and a 1962 KU journalism alumnus, as moderator for the KU program.

Kurtis will introduce about 40 WWII veterans seated onstage and moderate a discussion led by:

 • Claudine "Scottie" Lingelbach of Lawrence, a 1944 KU alumna who served in the WAVES and was assigned to the Joint and Combined British Chiefs of Staff and the Navy Logistics Department in Washington, D.C. She is a retired teacher.

 • John "Buck" Newsom of Lawrence, a 1941 U.S. Naval Academy graduate who served as a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy. He served on the U.S.S. Hopkins, which was the subject of the book "Lucky 13: The History of a Gallant Ship" by Carl Woodring and Lawrence Kurtz. From 1958 to 1961, he was a professor of naval science and commanding officer of the Navy ROTC unit on campus.

 • Richard L. Schiefelbusch of Lawrence joined the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1941 and became a navigator on B-24 bombers in the European theater. He was captured when his plane was shot down over the Baltic Sea and spent two years in prisoner of war camps, including Stalag Luft III in Poland. The camp was the subject of the 1963 movie "The Great Escape." He is a distinguished professor emeritus and director of the KU Institute for Life Span Studies.

 • Bill Tuttle is a KU professor of American studies whose father served in World War II. Tuttle's childhood experience on the home front inspired his book, "'Daddy's Gone to War': The Second World War in the Lives of America's Children."

Kurtis is the host of such programs as "The New Explorers," "American Justice" and "Investigative Reports" on the A&E network. In 1998, he received the William Allen White Medal from KU's School of Journalism and Mass Communications. He is head of Kurtis Productions, headquartered in Chicago. Kurtis, whose boyhood home was in Independence, Kan., also works on maintaining and restoring Sedan, located 40 miles west of Independence. His books include "We Interrupt This Broadcast," written with Joe Garner and Walter Cronkite.

The three-day dedication program will include the ConocoPhillips military air parade and a fashion show; a re-created USO-style performance; an evening of dancing to the Glenn Miller Orchestra; and an outdoor concert by the 312th Army Band as well as the formal dedication. Among the dignitaries attending the events are former Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw, author of "The Greatest Generation." The events will start at 7 p.m. Saturday, July 19, with the kickoff of the Memory Tent, which will begin with "Heroes of Lawrence, Part 1."

KU also is preparing a booklet recognizing veterans participating in the program. The booklet will be distributed during the program.

Information on events during the dedication of the Dole Institute of Politics at KU is available at (785) 812-DOLE.