Ordinary Heroes: Six Stars in the Window is the accompanying documentary to Dan Oja’s phenomenal digital book of the same name. While the book is packed with information, this half-hour video also provides an interesting overview of the military roles played by the six Koski brothers from Ishpeming, Michigan during World War II.
Unlike the book, which is arranged chronologically, the video tells an abbreviated story by spending a few minutes on each brother’s role in the war. The film begins with a brief description of the beginnings of the war. He then provides background on the Koski family, twelve children raised by an iron miner father after his mother’s death. Interviews with the surviving siblings, family photos, and letters make it easy for the reader to relate to the Koski family: simple young men and women who grew up during the Great Depression, who worked and played hard, and who were willing, when the day came. moment, to serve his country because, as The Grandson of Carl Koski says of his grandfather: “He was a man who believed in objective truth. Right was right. Wrong was wrong. He came from a time when a lot more people, it seems to me, understood it and believed it…we go to war because right is still right and wrong is still wrong and there are some things worth fighting for.”
The subtitle of the book and this documentary, Six Stars in the Window, recalls the flag that hung in the window of the Koski house, a star for each brother. The documentary offers a panorama of the diverse experiences of the brothers during the war. George Koski flew in one of the gliders involved in Operation Varsity, the aerial invasion of Germany. Alfred Koski, as part of the coastal artillery, was stationed on an Aleutian island and witnessed the Japanese attack on Dutch Harbor. The Japanese hoped to use the Aleutian Islands as a springboard to Alaska so they could invade North America. Carl “Art” Koski was in the 332 Engineers. He went to England to build landing strips for the invasion of Europe and then his company cleared rubble in Belgium and France to repair damaged railways and bridges.
During the Battle of the Bulge, he had to block a road against the Germans. Oscar Koski was a B-17 navigator in Italy who flew missions to drop bombs on German targets, including Vienna and an oil refinery in Czechoslovakia. He continually had to deal with the gunshots, shrapnel and explosions hitting his plane. Reuben Koski received a deferment for most of the war because he worked in the iron mines; iron ore from the Lake Superior region was an integral part of the war effort. By 1944, the Allies needed more men than minerals, so Reuben left to serve in the Navy in the Pacific, preparing for a planned invasion of Japan. Younger brother John was assigned as a replacement for missing or dead soldiers in a mortar squad in the famed 10th Mountain Infantry Division, which fought to gain every inch of every hill and drive the Germans out of Italy.
This documentary version of Ordinary Heroes: Six Stars in the Window gives a good overview of one family’s service to their country. While the book has much more information, the film contains wonderful footage of the war and tells each brother’s story in an accessible and memorable way. If you enjoy this video, you’ll want to read the book, especially the digital version, which includes even more video footage, including interviews with family members and veterans, as well as old newsreel coverage.
The video avoids telling us which of the six brothers made the ultimate sacrifice for their country; read the book if you want to know the details. While the loss of that particular brother was very important to the Koski family, the video shows the memorial service for the unnamed brother, making it clear that death hit many American families during the war. This documentary is the story of an American family, but most American families will find similarities to their own stories related to World War II. Ultimately, the sacrifice of every American soldier is summed up in the words of the Koski brothers’ sister, Edna Mae, who sixty years later is still grieving the loss of her brother. “The pain doesn’t go away very far. You scratch the surface and it all comes back. You see that love is like that. If you love someone, if they’ve been gone for a short time or a long time, that love never goes away.” away.” Ordinary Heroes is proof that the service of our World War II veterans has not been forgotten, that Americans’ love for those who fought and died to preserve their freedom will not fade.