From Normandy beaches to documentary film

Alex Townsend's long-time interest in World War II was sparked by a trip to the Normandy beaches in France. This fall, his war documentary film, "Six Heroes," was selected for showing at the St. Louis International Film Festival.

The three-year period between the trip to France and the festival was a blur of activity for Alex. He made three versions of his documentary.

The versions ranged from a 10-minute class project to the nearly two-hour festival film.

Alex said his view as a sixth grader of the French invasion beaches was "indescribable."

He added, "You can't feel the emotion until you've been there. The ruins, the sunken ships, the Nazi bunkers. They're still there. But, the most dramatic part of the whole thing was the acres of white crosses over the graves."

His way of capturing the emotion was to arrange interviews with six World War II veterans. All had participated in the Normandy invasion and the Battle of the Bulge.

He captured their intense battle emotions on film in their own words.

The veterans were Paul Golden, Everett Schultheis, Lee Berkel and Phillip McKnight of St. Louis and Paul Rogers and Roy Creek of Kansas City. Several of the veterans were wounded in the invasion.

He said Paul Rogers received shrapnel wounds in the head. "They didn't take it out and you can still see little lumps in his head," he said.

The most unusual injury happened to Everett Schultheis. Alex said, "He was injured when a blind horse stepped on him when he was sleeping in a barn."

Alex didn't know any of the six veterans before he started his film project.

"I researched the internet to find names of Missouri veterans who had been interviewed previously about their World War II experiences," he said. He said he compiled about 10 names before he started to ask for interviews.

He ended with six. "The others either didn't want to talk about it anymore or were too sick," Alex said.

The first film version was only 10 minutes long. He did it to satisfy a World War II assignment in his seventh grade social science class. He got an A.

In eighth grade, he reworked the material for an entry in the History Day competition at school. "I kept the film the same length but reedited the footage," he said. The film won in a regional History Day competition.

Alex got encouragement to expand the film project from his father, Tom, an advertising agency executive.

"My father helped me a lot. In addition to urging me to enter the festival, he helped me learn how to operate the film editing equipment. It's very difficult," he said.

He was the youngest filmmaker to have an entry selected for showing at the 2003 festival.

Alex said there were only a couple empty seats during the theater showing of "Six Heroes." He said, "At the end they got up and gave me a standing ovation."

He said his film experience probably has convinced him to try for a career in film. He said, "I'll probably go to college in Los Angeles," a center of film making education.

Alex already has his eye on other documentary film projects. First, he said he plans to interview other World War II veterans "who have called me since my film was shown."

Then, he's also looking at doing a documentary on the Tuskegee Airmen. That's a group of African-American pilots who made heroic efforts during World War II. Many of the airmen were from St. Louis.

A mural honoring black airmen is featured at Lambert International Airport.

Alex said he'd also like to do a documentary about experiences of Missourians who were prisoners of war during World War II. Another possibility is a documentary on the experiences of women who worked in war factories in the 1940s.

Alex is now a ninth grader at Clayton High School.

But, he doesn't spend all his time on film making. He takes drum lessons at Drums Headquarters in Maplewood. He said his favorite type of music is "70s Rock."

He also likes to play tennis and get involved in outdoor activities.

But, a lot of his activity does center on his filmmaking.

Whether it turns out to be a career is still open. But, Alex said, "It's certainly going to be a lifelong hobby."