‘Life’s work’ of Penns Valley native Hobie Kistler published 5 years after his death
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- The book weaves together more than 150 veteran interviews and releases on July 4.
- The book covers European and Pacific theaters and includes accounts from soldiers & more.
- Kistler completed the manuscript before his 2021 death; his family arranged publication.
This Fourth of July commemorates 250 years of American history, and for the Kistler family, it marks the realization of a passion project more than 17 years in the making.
“The War They Won: The Story of World War II, as told by Those Who Were There” will be available in hardcover, paperback and e-book on July 4 and is a collection of first-hand accounts describing World War II through the eyes of American veterans. From the bombing of Pearl Harbor to the beaches of Normandy, the book weaves together more than 150 veteran interviews to tell the story of America’s contribution to the war effort.
The book was written by Penns Valley native Lt. Hobart “Hobie” Kistler, naval officer and previous author of two books chronicling his family genealogy. Shortly after completing the manuscript, Kistler died in a car crash in April 2021. He was 30 years old.
After his death, his brother and editor Peter Kistler took custody of the project and went about arranging for publication.
“It was a daunting prospect to go and find a publisher,” Peter Kistler said. “But I also knew that’s what Hobie would have been doing, were he still with us. As the person who was closest to the project and who worked most closely with him ... I knew that it would be right for me to see it through.”
Connections with veterans in Centre County and beyond
Hobie’s project began on Christmas Day 2004 when he was just 14 years old. He pulled a brand-new atlas off the bookshelf and asked his maternal grandfather to identify where he served in the war. For an hour afterward, the pair sat in conversation, as his grandfather recounted stories of his time overseas.
It was the first of more than 200 veteran interviews Hobie conducted in his lifetime.
“It sort of snowballed,” said his father Tom Kistler, who served as a Centre County judge for 20 years. “By the time he got through high school, [Hobie] interviewed about 50 people, and that became his senior project.”
What began as a conversation with his grandfather became connections with veterans at church and throughout the greater Centre County community. Hobie had a way of making the veterans feel comfortable, allowing them to open up to tell stories nobody had heard before, his father said.
“He would type up a summary and email or mail it to the veteran ... the veteran would end up with a two or three page summary of their military service, and that summary was shared with their grandchildren and shared with their children,” Tom Kistler said. “Before there was ever a book, that was a very valuable contribution to the lives of all the families of all these veterans.”
Hobie began frequenting meeting spaces for older veterans, one of which was Meyer Dairy Store, a local ice cream parlor and former lunch spot. He conducted more than half a dozen interviews with veterans across their lunch tables, and before long, he became ingratiated into their community.
“[Hobie] could walk into that room at Meyer Dairy, and he would know five out of five old guys sitting around there,” his father said. “There aren’t a lot of 17-year-old kids that are friends with a bunch of 80-year-old men, but he was.”
The connections Hobie fostered within his community helped him expand his network of interviews far beyond Centre County.
He spoke with television actors Fess Parker and Russell Johnson, known for their performances as Daniel Boone and the Professor on “Gilligan’s Island,” about their experiences in the war, cultivating a friendship with Johnson that lasted long after.
Hobie also interviewed former president and first lady Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter regarding their wartime experiences, though their accounts are not featured in the book.
He made a point in his interviews not to push for details the subject was reluctant to give and remained respectful of their boundaries in his questions, his dad said.
“He didn’t just come in and say ‘Did you see any dead bodies?’ or ‘Did you kill anyone?’” Tom Kistler said. “He would say, ‘Did you serve in the Pacific or did you serve in Europe?’ … He had a great knowledge of the war, so he could tailor questions.”
Hobie’s later interviews were also shaped by his own military experience. As an officer in the Navy, he created connections within his branch of the service and began fostering relationships with other veteran groups.
“Some of the stories became a little more relatable,” Tom Kistler said. “When you talk to somebody who tells you about being on a submarine and being in the Pacific, and then the Navy sends you out to Pearl Harbor, and you get on a submarine ... It made his interviewing a little easier, too. He would call somebody up, and he would show up at their house for an interview, and he’s in uniform.”
A book with a purpose
“The War They Won” is divided into two sections, detailing the experiences of soldiers in the European and Pacific theater. However, the book is not entirely from a combat perspective. Hobie also interviewed several women who served as field medics, Women’s Auxiliary Corps members, code breakers and more.
The book also features perspectives from Japanese-Americans imprisoned in internment camps by the United States government following the attack on Pearl Harbor.
It also includes a multipage interview guide meant to help students navigate their own sensitive interviews with loved ones and community members about their military experience.
“I think if you read this book, you’re both going to come away with a general level of understanding what happened in the war … but you’re also going to hear about it in the words of all these, for the most part, ordinary people. People that you might meet at your church or in your community,” Peter Kistler said.
“I consider this to be [Hobie’s] life’s work … it’s certainly the fulfillment of a five-year promise for me.”
