"If you don't preserve the stories, then history is lost"

It was 1945 and Crawford, an 87-year-old Franklin Army veteran, was fighting in the Ruhy Valley in western Germany. His sergeant sent him to an old lumberyard up on a hill to see if there was any salvageable lumber. Instead, he found two German soldiers. 

"I pointed my gun at them and they stood with their guns pointed at me," Crawford recalled Tuesday. "It felt like 30 minutes but it was probably only a minute." 

The Germans, demoralized from losing the war, gave up. On the way back to his unit, Crawford realized his gun was unloaded when he attempted to shoot a rabbit for its meat and nothing came out of the gun. 

While many stories like this are forgotten when veterans die, Crawford's tales of serving in the U.S. Army's 548th Field Artillery will be saved for future generations thanks to Regis Schratz, a Franklin teenager who interviewed Crawford and is making a video of his stories to be preserved in the Library of Congress.

Read more: http://www.milforddailynews.com/features/x1078554324/History-revived-in-Franklin#ixzz1NAUUW7Gj


Related post about bringing WWII veterans to the WWII Memorial in WDC 


Franklin, MA

"He saw some pretty heavy action"

More than 1,000 Franklin residents served in the war, but only about 160 World War II veterans still live in Franklin, Fahey said.

"Earl Lang is just an amazing guy," Fahey said. "He's living history."

Lang said he appreciated adding the medal to his collection of war honors, including a letter from the White House he received in November for his 92nd birthday and a plaque recognizing his role as the grand marshal in Franklin's 2001 Fourth of July parade.

"It was very nice and kind of surprising," he said of receiving a replacement medal.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News

Franklin, MA

"heroes need to be honored and remembered"

The signs, expected to cost $1,800, will be placed on Franklin streets where the soldiers were born or lived. The town's Rotary Club has pledged $1,000 toward the project and former Town Councilor Chris Feeley has offered to cover the remainder of the cost, said Town Councilor Tina Powderly.

"What this really allowed us to do is focus on the lives and legacy of these men rather than raising funds," Powderly said, adding she and lifelong Franklin resident Rose Turco have spent several months examining scrapbooks and newspaper clippings that reference the soldiers. "This community very, very much supports its veterans and that says a lot about the character of the residents."

Franklin WWII heroes sign project gets a big boost

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Brian Benson, Daily News staff



Franklin, MA

In the News - WWII, community garden

Franklin may honor World War II soldiers

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Ashley Studley/Daily News staff

Franklin Community Gardens meeting

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by GateHouse Media, Inc

Franklin, MA

Where were you on Feb 19th?

Can you recall without looking at your calendar?

65 years ago, my father - then a 19 year old US Marine, had landed on the black volcanic shores of Iwo Jima on February 19th, 1945. Fierce fighting took place above and below ground on that island until March 26th.

On or about March 26th, yes, 65 years ago, Jerry made his way to the beach to await a landing craft to board, to take him back to the safety of a ship, and then back to Hawaii. Solid food, shower, clean clothes for the first time since Feb 19th. Mission accomplished.

From Jerry's Story

Jerry is the one circled.

Jerry talked about his time in the Pacific at the VA Home in Bristol, RI on Thursday. He spoke without notes. He spoke deliberately and in detail. I complimented him on it after and he said "I left out a few stories". One wouldn't have noticed.

You can view that talk on Jerry's Story here.

And when you think back on what you were doing on February 19th.
Okay, you can go look at your calendar.

And when you reflect on all that you did in the time since then, think of the men who fought on Iwo Jima (in particular as this is their time for remembering) and those who fought elsewhere, and thank a veteran for their service.

The one line I was expecting to hear from Dad at the VA Home, I actually was surprised to not hear Thursday. Whenever he has talked about his time there, and until recently - this was not often, he would usually close with: "The real heroes did not come home."

Are there any Iwo Jima veterans in Franklin?

Please let me know.


Note: this was originally posted on Steve's 2 Cents here

"it's walking on sacred ground"

Image by shersteve via Flickr

By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

GHS

Posted Nov 09, 2008 @ 12:00 AM

---

FRANKLIN —

Thursday afternoon, a group of veterans hovered over the bar at the Elks Lodge, drinking beer, teasing each other about hitting on women and badgering the manager for socializing instead of staying in the office.

But when talk turned to the reason for their gathering - their trip to Washington, D.C. to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., the men quickly became solemn, nostalgic and filled with pride.

"I had a brother, William, in the Air Force who passed. I want to see all the different memorials while I still can. I'm excited about it," said Frank DeRose, 83, a World War II vet who fought as an infantryman in the Normandy invasion.

DeRose said he was discharged with a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart, "etc., etc.," after shrapnel slammed into his chest and right arm.

"I decided I wanted to see the memorial before ... any more years go by," he said, laughing.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

In addition to the Elks, there is also a group called the Honor Flight Network that pays for the travel expenses of veterans to make the trip to Washington, DC. You can read more about Honor Flight here and here.

Franklin WWII Veterans

FRANKLIN -

Emma Tobias was in her car, driving, in December of 1941 when the attack that launched the United States into World War II was first being reported to the public.

"I remember, I was coming home from the grocery store and I heard it on the car radio Pearl Harbor was attacked," said Tobias, sitting on Monday at a table overlooking the back yard of the Franklin home she shares with her daughter, Toby Skelly.

Details sometimes escape the recently turned 91-year-old, but she clearly remembers that moment on that day, Dec. 7, 1941.

"I don’t recall that there was any fear ... I just didn’t really know what it meant," she said.

But by the next day, she knew. The U.S. and Britain officially declared war, joining the conflict that began overseas in 1939.

And nearly two years later, Tobias was herself part of the war effort, an enlisted member of the United States Navy working at the Navy’s San Francisco headquarters.

Read the full article in the Franklin Gazette here

-----------------

FRANKLIN -

Emma Tobias was amongst the first women to enlist in the Navy in World War II, a few months after the WAVES — Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service — division was formed.

She is now among Franklin’s 11 oldest surviving WWII veterans whose service is being honored this Veterans Day.

The 91-year-old is in good company, too.

Among her fellow senior most WWII veterans, there is Zeffro Gianetti, who served in the U.S. Army under Gen. George S. Patton, from 1941-1945.

"General Patton was one of the top and most famous generals in World War II," noted Franklin veterans agent Bob Fahey.

There is also Paul Egan, who was at Pearl Harbor when it was attacked Dec. 7, 1941, launching the United States and Britain into the conflict that began in Europe in 1939.

Read the full article here

Veterans among us

Horace Mann Middle School's celebration of Veteran's Day is highlighted in an article by Michael Morton.

Asked by a group of eighth-graders yesterday whether he had wanted to be drafted during the Korean War, veteran Donald Barrow replied that young people back then held different assumptions.

"It was just something you grew up expecting," he said as he sat next to his grandson, student Andrew Wilson. "It was part of growing up at that time."

Horace Mann Middle School took a slightly different approach to celebrating Veterans Day yesterday. While it held the standard school assembly filled with invited guests and patriotic messages, the school also had students break into small groups later to learn firsthand from those who served in the military.

In one classroom, Douglas Bernard, the step-grandfather of math teacher Kim Bishaw, related both humorous and tragic memories from his time as an infantryman in World War II.

Read more about the day's event, especially the interaction between the veterans and students in this wonderful learning experience.

As a plug for one of my other projects; I am working with my father to record his oral history. Dad, Gerald (Jerry) Sherlock, grew up in Pawtucket, RI and served in the US Marines 4th Division during World War II on Saipan, Tinian and Iwo Jima. We have recorded up through the war and are just now getting into the post war period where he come home to find work, find and eventually marry my mother. You can listen to Jerry's Story here.