Social Studies: Heroes in Our Midst: Waco WWII Veterans Who Helped Save the World
Professors, experts, and storytellers giving thought-provoking lectures in unexpected places around Waco.
📅 Date: October 21
📚 Lecture: Heroes in Our Midst: Waco WWII Veterans Who Helped Save the World
🎤 Speaker: Brad Livingstone
📍 Location: Southern Roots Brewing Co.
What does World War II look like when you stop reading about it in a textbook and start hearing the stories of the people who lived it?
For Brad Livingstone, that question has shaped more than three decades of teaching history.
Since the 1990s, Livingstone has brought hundreds of World War II veterans into his classrooms, giving students the chance to hear firsthand what it was like to serve during one of the defining conflicts in American history. His fascination with these stories began with a veteran named Al Essig, whose remarkable account of serving as a paratrooper and surviving a German POW camp left such an impression on Livingstone’s students that he began seeking out other veterans to share their experiences.
Now, he’s bringing some of those stories to Social Studies.
In Heroes in Our Midst, Livingstone will introduce us to veterans whose courage, sacrifice, and service helped shape the world we live in today.
These aren't just stories about battles, dates, and military strategy. They’re stories about ordinary people who were asked to do extraordinary things: leaving home, entering a war they could hardly comprehend, facing danger overseas, and eventually returning home to build lives in the communities around us.
Livingstone has said that what makes these stories so powerful is that no two veterans experienced the war in exactly the same way. The places they served might overlap, but their experiences, challenges, and lives afterward were uniquely their own.
For one evening, we'll step away from the textbook and into the stories of the men and women who lived this history.
Brad Livingstone is a longtime history teacher at Vanguard College Preparatory School in Waco and Baylor University’s First Gentleman. He teaches courses on World War II and Vietnam and has spent much of his career connecting students with veterans and preserving their stories for future generations.
Come grab a drink, hear some remarkable local stories, and leave with a deeper appreciation for the people from our own community who helped shape the world we inherited.
Get a drink, connect, and learn at Social Studies. 🙌
Agenda
6:15 PM – Doors open. Grab a seat, order a drink or some food, and meet others who are attending.
6:55 PM – Host welcome
7:00 PM – Lecture begins
7:45 PM – Audience Q&A
8:00 PM – Meet Brad, continue the conversation, and enjoy another round.
8:30 PM – Wrap up
If the event is canceled entirely, all tickets will be refunded.
Come for the lecture, stay for the conversation. Grab a drink, meet interesting people, and leave with something to think about at Social Studies with The Waco Buzz. 🙌