2008 Woodie Awards
Veteran shares WWII experience
Jenni Faulkner/Staff Reporter
Issue date: 4/13/06 Section: News
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Not only has he spent years telling his stories and collecting vintage memorabilia from his days in the war, but he recently wrote a book for his children telling the stories of his time overseas titled "Good Morning - But the Nightmares Never End."
This phrase over time has become the beginning of most of his lectures at schools he's visited to share his tales of being on the run during WWII.
In one story he recalled a time when only his faith in God could protect him.
"If the good lord will let me see sunlight once more, I'll say good morning every day," Dukes said after explaining how, to this day, he still says good morning when he wakes.
He also told stories from before he was captured when he and his fellow soldiers survived the treacherous walks from village to village.
"A little girl with tears streaming down her face wrapped her arms around me," Dukes recalled. The little girl said to him, "Yank, I want to thank you. Tonight will be the first night I can sleep in my bed safely in four years."
He then went on to explain how moments like that reminded him why he was doing what he was doing and inspired him to keep on going
Throughout his time in the war he escaped many times only to be captured and brought back.
Time and time again he made his break and with luck and the help of people along the way, he was finally able to escape from the camp, but only after the war was finished.
After years of being away from home and having no contact with family members, he made the long voyage back to America, but with many stops all over Europe.
"I always thought if he went back (to Europe) he would see that everything was put back together and then the nightmares would stop," said Gracie Dukes, his wife.
Josh Studzinski, a freshman business management major, appreciated Dukes' stories that he shared with nearly 40 people in the Grand Ballroom in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.
"He made you realize how life could have been and to not take things for granted," Studzinski said.
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