Commentary
Director Zach Dunn is racing against time to record the stories of veterans from World War II and the Korean War, an initiative he started after finding his grandfather’s war memorabilia.
Dunn, from Toronto, was cleaning his parents’ basement in 2021 when he discovered a box belonging to his grandfather, John L. Williams. Inside, he found the man’s World War II medals and photos of his time in Africa and Europe.
The then-21-year-old learned that his grandpa had served—he enlisted in London, England, in September 1939 at age 18—but rarely discussed that period of his life.
John L. Williams in his uniform while serving in the British paratroopers during World War II. (Courtesy of Zach Dunn)
However, after digging online and speaking with relatives, Dunn learned that his grandfather was a British paratrooper who fought in North Africa and parachuted into Normandy on D-Day on June 6, 1944….