NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Lew Shuman has walked the halls of the World War II Museum for decades.
Infatuated with the stories and captivated by the history, he decided to volunteer, sharing his knowledge with others.
“We show the good, we show the bad, we show the ugly,” said Shuman. “But we do it in an educational way. Being a volunteer is my way of contributing.”
Shuman has lived a decorated life. At 19, he joined the army and was sent to Iran.
After two years, he came back to the U.S. and pursued a career in broadcast.
“I came back and spent 20 years in Boston with the Boston Celtics as their producer and director. I moved on to do the Philadelphia 76ers. Then, the Charlotte Hornets came along. Spent nine years in Charlotte. When the team moved here to New Orleans, became the Pelicans with the Benson family buying it,” Shuman reminisced about his past.
Throughout the years, Shuman never forgot his love of history. He always came back to the World War II Museum.
After his father-in-law, a World War II veteran himself passed, Shuman found his diary.
It detailed his experience in the war, including the United States’ involvement in the Battle of Peleliu.
“What they thought was going to be a ‘cakewalk’ turned out to be a four-month excursion with 70% casualties,” Shuman explained.
So, he published the diary, making it one of three books he authored.
The original diary, a small piece of Shuman’s world, now lives in the World War II Museum.
His passion for telling stories grows stronger each day and sometimes even takes others back in time.
“I’ll meet a veteran and I’ll wheel him into this very building. Then I see a 97-year-old man in a wheelchair suddenly become a 21-year-old second lieutenant again. It gets to you. It feels good,” said Shuman.
For more information on Shuman’s father-in-law’s diary, a sample can be read, and the full story purchased from Amazon.
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