General George S. Patton is one of the most famous figures of World War II. Many people are not aware that he was not a first choice for a key early command - he was a replacement. That replacement made history and General Patton became a successful, if controversial, historic military commander.
During the 45 months the United States was engaged in World War II, it was rare for a unit commander to serve for the duration. Units lost their leaders and others took over.
After three and a half years it is time for a change in the directorship of Stories Behind the Stars.
To find out more about the reason we need a replacement read this blog post here.
The role of Stories Behind the Stars Director is to advance this project toward the completion of stories of all 421,000 US WWII fallen. It is a unique opportunity to do something historic with worldwide impact, but to quote Churchill, "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat."
How does that sound? Anyone up to the challenge?
Here is a list of the duties that have involved the director in the past. The new director may want to do more delegation. Many hands make light work.
Creating and managing website content
WIX platform
Volunteer information and contact form
Pages for all completed projects
Blog for news
List of past news stories
Links to training resources
Links to noteworthy stories and podcasts
Creating and managing social media content
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
LinkedIn
Other? (Instagram)?
Oversee channels for adding stories
By state
By cemetery
By unit
By battle
First ever complete database of all WWII fallen
Standardized common fields for all states
Special project databases (Pearl Harbor, D-Day, Arlington National Cemetery)
Location of all completed stories (Fold3)
Smartphone app
Volunteer Focus
Story writers
State directors
Special project (e,g., ANC) directors
Database experts
Data entry
First Story Reviewers
Network For Good CRM onboarding
New volunteer phone support
Quality assurance
Researchers
Genealogy
Military research
Photo researchers (local historical societies, newspapers, American Legion, VFW, etc)
Media networking and communication
Engaging journalists
Preparing press releases
Preparing infographics
Sharing blog posts
Attracting new volunteers
Google Suite volunteer management
SBTS emails
Google Chat / Spaces
VPN management
NordVPN platform
Managing usernames and passwords
Assigning VPN access to new volunteers
Troubleshooting VPN user problems
WWII remembrance organization networking and communications
Fold3 / Ancestry / Newspapers.com
Together We Served
JustServe
MyHeritage
FamilySearch
Arlington National Cemetery
VA / Veterans Legacy Memorial
ABMC
Creating and managing training material
Podia platform
Fold3 training
TWS training
Online Zoom training (not used)
Managing Customer Relationship Management platform
Network For Good platform
Tracking volunteer participation
Communicate updates via targeted email blasts
Manage fundraising efforts
Network for Good
Go Fund Me
Contacting major donors (extremely limited success)
Grant writing (not used yet)
Other
Strategic Issues
Completing all fallen stories in as many states as possible by September 2, 2025
Cleaner and more robust smartphone app
Easier option to VPN to access research sites
Acknowledgement of volunteer achievements
Nonprofit status
Hard Costs (annualized)
Network For Good - $3,600
VPN - $2,000
WIX - $500
Podia - $500
Quality Control (inactive)
Improving content of existing stories
Newsletter (inactive)
Not started
Podcast (inactive)
More than 50 completed
If you are interested in helping in this area, send me an email at don@storiesbehindthestars.org and we can set up a time for a phone call to discuss this further.
I will be providing whatever long term support is needed to the new director, as my more limited time available will allow.
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