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WWII vets share stories

Memories recalled during special monthly breakfast Saturday

T-L Photos/ROBERT A. DEFRANK ABOVE: World War II veterans from Belmont County enjoy breakfast and exchange stories at the St. Clairsville American Legion post on Saturday. Seated from left are Dick Delaney, Russell Hall, Frank Curtis, Ned Smith and Walter Moskey. Standing with them, from left, are John Budinscak, Gene Miller, Francis Plumly and Hunter Brown.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Nine Belmont County veterans who served during World War II had breakfast and shared their memories of that turning point in history on Saturday.

The St. Clairsville American Legion hosted the gathering, and many Legion members took the opportunity to meet and speak with the veterans of the Greatest Generation.

“I appreciate your service,” Vietnam veteran Greg Levy told Hunter Brown, one of the World War II veterans who was able to attend.

“Mr. Brown was in the Battle of the Bulge,” Legion Trustee Gene Kieffer said, pointing out that the breakfast provided a rare opportunity for these veterans in their 90s to meet and talk about their experiences. “He was in a fox hole and he decided to go under a pine tree. A lieutenant took his place in the fox hole. The next morning, the lieutenant looked up and got shot in the head.

“One time, Hunter got up, he couldn’t walk … ,” Kieffer continued. “His pants were frozen solid.”

Levy chatted with Brown for some time.

“You were at the Battle of the Bulge. I was on Hamburger Hill over at Vietnam,” Levy told Brown.

Another WWII veteran on hand was Russell Hall, who served on the U.S.S. Louisville when it was struck by a kamikaze attack.

“The next day when he was doing cleanup, he found the cloth helmet of the Japanese pilot and he still has it,” Kieffer said of Hall’s experience.

Dick Delaney served as a flight engineer for a B-29 “Superfortress” with the U.S. Army Air Corps stationed in Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands of the Pacific.

“On his third bombing run over Tokyo his plane got shot up. They did make it back on two engines. The plane came in, it crashed. He was in the hospital for five weeks,” Tom Gertscher, Delaney’s friend and a World War II plane enthusiast, said. “He flew a few more times on the big bombing raids before they dropped the (atomic) bomb … when they firebombed Tokyo.”

Gertscher added that he was happy for the chance to hear Delaney’s story.

“I was a bombadier and a tailgunner,” WWII veteran Walter Moskey said, adding that he flew 68 missions in the Mediterranean theater and bombed strategic targets such as bridges and railroad yards in Italy, France and Yugoslavia. “We were a strategic outfit.”

John Budinscak meanwhile, served stateside during WWII at a California hospital as a corpsman, an enlisted medical specialist for the U.S. Navy.

“I was in the service at 17 years old, right out of high school,” he said. “I was in California. I worked at the Naval hospital there, taking care of the guys coming back that didn’t have arms, legs … eyes.”

He added that he saw many casualties of the war in the space of two years.

“I had four guys die in my arms, 17 years old,” he said. “I took care of a lot of guys, but four of them died in my arms. … They were on the main lines. I was on the back lines, but I’m glad the good Lord let me do it.”

The significance of the WWII veterans’ visit was not lost on the younger Legion members.

“This is living history we’re looking at. These guys did amazing things for us,” Bob Farmer, a Legion member, said. “Unfortunately, there’s too many of them who won’t speak about what they did. I always encourage the families to write it down, because they are history. They are definitely the world’s Greatest Generation. … Any veteran is amazing to me, but the world was in total turmoil (during WWII). It wasn’t just one country. … These guys actually saved the world, it wasn’t just our nation.”

“It’s been a real pleasure to talk and meet with the World War II veterans,” Levy added. “We’re proud to have them.”

The St. Clairsville American Legion offers pancake breakfasts for all local military veterans and their families the third Saturday of each month during spring, summer and fall. Post Commander Larry Barnes said the October event was the last one for 2018. Its focus was on WWII veterans, who will be honored as a group in November as the post’s Veterans of the Month. He said members felt this recognition was especially appropriate in November, since Nov. 11 is Veterans Day.

Barnes said the breakfasts will resume in April. Currently, he said, it can be difficult for older veterans to get out to attend the events during the winter months. Legion members hope to change that in 2019, however, and to offer the monthly meals year-round.

According to Barnes, the oldest WWII veteran who was able to attend Saturday was 97. He said honoring those heroes now and recording their stories is important, because their numbers are declining rapidly. World War II was a truly global conflict that lasted from 1939-1945. It included battles across Europe, in Africa, in the Atlantic, in Asia and in the Pacific. More than 100 million people and over 30 nations were involved.

“We were so honored to have that many show up today,” Barnes said of the WWII survivors. “It is so important to honor these World War II veterans, because they are dying off at something like 1,200 a day in this country. Pretty soon we won’t have any of them left.”

According to U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs statistics, only 558,000 of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II were still alive in 2017.

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