Valerie Biggerstaff 3/30/26 Valerie Biggerstaff 3/30/26

Wright Bryan of Atlanta, first live broadcast report on D-Day

Wright Bryan was managing editor for the Atlanta Journal when he went overseas to report on the war. He was a war correspondent for WSB radio in Atlanta as well as for NBC news. He gave the first live broadcast report of D-Day. Before his broadcast, pre-recorded announcements by President Roosevelt and King George VI were aired.

Valerie Biggerstaff 3/9/26 Valerie Biggerstaff 3/9/26

Max Kirby, WWII 8th Army Air Force Engineer

“On mission day we were aroused from sleep at 2 a.m. We had one hour to shower and shave. Showering you could skip, but shaving was a must to make the oxygen mask fit snugly against your face. Lack of oxygen at high altitude meant certain death.”

Valerie Biggerstaff 10/20/25 Valerie Biggerstaff 10/20/25

“Scream in the Dark” and other vintage Halloween events

In 1973, the abandoned Veterans Hospital #48 in Brookhaven was the setting for a haunted house. The Peachtree and Osborne Road location became home to a veterans hospital in 1919, and before that it was Cheston King Sanitarium.

Valerie Biggerstaff 9/22/25 Valerie Biggerstaff 9/22/25

Construction map of WWII Lawson General Hospital

In preparation of the U.S. possibly entering World War II, military hospitals were quickly constructed across the country. Retired Lieutenant Colonel Tom Keating located this 1941 layout map or plot plate of World War II Lawson General Hospital in the State of North Carolina Archives.

Valerie Biggerstaff 9/15/25 Valerie Biggerstaff 9/15/25

Five members of a Dunwoody family serve during WWII

The Head family once lived on both sides of Chamblee Dunwoody Road, just north of where it intersects with Vermack Road. Their homes were where Boxwood Place, Shadow Bend, Shadow Court and Pine Acres Court are located. All five children of Roy and Pamela Head served during World War II.

Valerie Biggerstaff 7/21/25 Valerie Biggerstaff 7/21/25

Lawson General Hospital in 1941, Morris Volpp and others

Volpp was first sent to Camp Forrest hospital in Tennessee. He developed rheumatic fever and was moved to Lawson General Hospital in Chamblee, Georgia.

Valerie Biggerstaff 7/14/25 Valerie Biggerstaff 7/14/25

Coming soon: new Lawson General Hospital photos

A wonderful collection of photos was shared with me by the family of Morris J. Volpp. He contracted rheumatic fever while serving in the National Guard in 1941. These photos are not large group photos, but pictures of Volpp and a few other patients on the campus of Lawson General Hospital.

Valerie Biggerstaff 6/9/25 Valerie Biggerstaff 6/9/25

On the homefront during WWII

The June 11, 1942, edition of the Atlanta Constitution shared an announcement from Washington, D.C., “Scrap salvage campaign will begin shortly.” The War Production Board asked that everyone across the country collect metal, rubber, fats and oils.

Valerie Biggerstaff 5/19/25 Valerie Biggerstaff 5/19/25

Commemorative Air Force event at DeKalb Peachtree Airport May 24 & 25

Commemorative Air Force is holding Special Warbird Rides Days at DeKalb Peachtree Airport. Five vintage planes based at Peachtree City, Georgia will be at PDK May 24, 2025 and May 25, 2025 for exhibitions and flights from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m.