Trusteeship allows Giles to document and share WWII history
Every Veterans Day holds a special significance for Professor Anderson Giles, a University of Maine at Presque Isle art professor who has worked for more than two decades to preserve – through film, photographs, paintings and other collections – the history of World War II in the Pacific.
For Giles, Veterans Day is not only a time to honor all military veterans, but also an important reminder that the nation’s WWII veterans are quickly passing away and that time is running out for him to preserve the memories of those who lived through those terrible times more than 60 years ago.
In the face of this challenge, Giles has worked doubly hard to document their experiences and share their stories with people around the world. This year, he was awarded a University of Maine System Trustee Professorship, which has allowed him to complete a significant amount of documentation and research.
Giles was able to take a spring sabbatical and share his research by lecturing on three different Pacific cruises that visited many of the islands associated with WWII in the Pacific. Giles offered lectures on everything from Guadalcanal and the Battle of Iwo Jima to the conquest of Guam, Saipan and Tinian aboard the Cruise West: Legends of the Pacific, Cruise West: Pearls of Polynesia, and the Princess Cruise: World Cruise on the Pacific Princess (South Pacific portion) voyages.