The Book Thief

In our November WWII Veterans Discussion Group Meeting, member Barbara Esposito, read from The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

Barbara did a wonderful job in reading some very suspensful excerpts of this story of a family in WWII Germany who hide a Jewish boy in their house.

The Book Thief was a selection of the Library's Contemporary Book Discussion Group led by Librarian, Cynthia Gwiazda.

Also in our Novemember meeting, veterans wrote on "Leaves of Thanks" things which they were thankful for such as family, friends, memories and other expressions of thankfulness. Below Mrs. Rossick places a leaf on the "Thanksgiving Tree."

It Happened in Italy

Author Elizabeth Bettina delivered an empassioned and informative talk on her book, It Happened in Italy here at the library on November 5th. The book tells the story of the humane treatment Jewish people received during WWII when held in Italian internment camps. This treatment was very unlike that received by those consigned to death camps in the rest of Europe. Italian authorities would ignore orders to turn Jews in to the Nazis. Jewish people were allowed to worship, wear normal clothing, eat regular meals, enter into marriage. Here is an excerpt from Elizabeth's blog http://elizabethbettina.com/ that tells of a story that began with a photograph (below).



"I am so excited that you wish to know more about this amazing untold story of the Holocaust – how Jews were saved in Italy. You are reading this because of one simple photograph I saw a few years ago while visiting my grandmother’s village tucked away in the Apennine Mountains about one hour south of Naples.
What in the world was a rabbi doing on the steps of the church my grandparents were married in? It was 1940. This church is  only a few hundred feet from my great-grandparents house — the same house I stayed in summer after summer as a child. Why had I not heard about this? I knew that “some” Jews were saved during World War II….but “some” did not include a rabbi and hundreds of Jewish men —in Campagna of all places!!"
Author, Elizabeth Bettina

"A Penny A Day For A Hero"

The January 2009 issue of WWII Magazine contains an article about war pigeons called "For the Birds", The article states:

"Although their contribution is little remembered today,
homing pigeons saved thousands of human lives during
World War II while carrying out missions full of risk
and --yes-- intrigue."

It cost the U.S. about six cents per day to feed the pigeons.

These intrepid little birds were trained to do things they normally would not do- such as fly over water when they had the choice to fly over land, or to fly at night.

The United States trained 54,000 during the war. One of the pigeons that fell into enemy hands returned with a note that is somewhat humorous and somewhat sad:

'Thank you, I had the sister of this one for supper. Delicious. Please send us some more.'

Found within the Russian Artic Circle

There's something about finding an object from another time. It makes us wonder- who used this? Who were they?

The November 2008 issue of Veterans Magazine contains an interesting article on a P39 found at the bottom of Lake Mart-Yavr within the Russian Artic Circle in the summer of 2004. The recovery crew was concerned to see that both doors of the cockpit were closed- one should have been opened through which the pilot made his exit before the plane crashed.

For an unknown reason the pilot had not exited.

"Missing for 60 years, the pilot was buried on 6 October 2004 with full military honours at the Glory Valley Memorial, near the Litza Valley, NW of Murmansk."

There were other discoveries reported in the article. The magazine will be filed with the WWII archives here at the library for those who would like to read an interesting article.

Fighting for Freedom

We are looking forward to the talk by artist, Andrew Yelenak on Wednesday September 30th, at 2pm in the Community Room of the Library. Mr. Yelenak will speak about his experience and inspiration in painting the mural, "Fighting for Freedom" pictured above. The mural stretches 20 feet across the hall of the Major Raoul Lufbery VFW Post 591 in Wallingford, Connecticut. Veterans of WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam and the Gulf War are represented in a colorful, incredibly detailed montage. The painting features a portrait of Major Raoul Lufbery, the WWI fighter ace and is anchored by a beautiful two foot tall rendering of the Purple Heart Medal. James Malavasi was the veteran who brought the mural to my attention. Thanks to Mr. Malavasi I was able to contact Mr. Yelenak. Also thanks to Mr. Maloney at VFW Post 591 for permission in reprinting text and the mural picture. For more information, or to order a copy of this mural please go to www.runningpast.com/mural/
To visit the website of the Major Raoul Lufbery VFW Post 591 go to www.vfw591.org/

102nd Infantry Regiment Museum

I came upon a 2006 article concerning "A New Haven military museum that chronicles the Elm City's centuries old 102nd Infantry Regiment ...has announced plans to relocate... to West Haven... Museum founder, Frank A. Carrano...of East Haven, said the 102nd Infantry Regiment Museum plans to relocate to a temporary site in the defunct Connecticut Refining Co. at 105 Water St. from its former 22-year home in the New Haven Armory on Goffe St."

www.ctcentral.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=17044842&BRD=1773&PAG=461&dept_id=30987&rfi=8

I called Mr. Carrano and he told me some interesting things about the 102nd in Nogales:

They never crossed into Mexico.
They wore wool shirts, wool pants, and "leggings" and would march from Fort Huachuca to Nogales- a trek of about 55 to 60 miles.
The temperature was around 110 to 112 degrees each day.
They would receive one canteen of water per day, which they used for drinking, shaving and washing.

WWII Color Footage of Pacific Island Gliders

Dan Garitta, WWII Reenactor and memorabilia collector, will be showing WWII color footage of gliders used in the Pacific Islands on Wednesday, August 26th in the Community Room of the Hagaman Library.

London War Letters of a Separated Family: 1940-1945

Christine Vassar Tall's readings from her book, London War Letters of a Separated Family 1940 to 1945, on July 29th, gave us images of WWII London under the bombing Blitz, oranges as rare delights, and a child in a new country far from home. The book has been added to the Library's collection: NEW 940.5316 TAL

Later, looking through her book, I particularly liked this passage:

July WWII Veterans Discussion Group Meeting

Join us for this talk by Christine Vassar on a compilation of letters exchanged between her family in war-torn Britain and the child she was at that time, sent for safety to the United States. Wednesday, July 29th at 2 p.m. at the Hagaman Memorial Library.

Veterans Group Member of the Month June 2009

Please meet Antoinette Coleman.
Antoinette Coleman grew up in Rhode Island. Her grandmother was a nurse. Antoinette states "I would look at her picture with the muffin cap and told her before she died that I would be a nurse."

From High School she went to Rhode Island Hospital in Providence where she trained to become a Registered Nurse. She joined the Red Cross before she graduated. The Red Cross was the recruiting arm for Army and Navy nurses. She could not get into the Navy because of her eyeglasses and she did not have the required 32 teeth-she had 28! She was assigned to the Army Air Corp and was sent to Bradley Field as her first assignment. Antoinette had volunteered for overseas duty. At that time however, the Air Corp was not sending nurses overseas so she was sent to the Army Installation at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

Her service there was preparing people, mostly ground forces, to go overseas. This preparation involved a great deal of surgery and dental work. It also involved teaching people who had not had the opportunity to attend school, to sign their names, and learn rudimentary reading.

She was then sent to Kennedy General Hospital in Memphis, TN where she took care of spinal cord injuries and amputees for six weeks. The physical work of 12 hours a day 7 days a week was exhausting. Antoinette prepared patients to be sent to the rehabilitation hospital nearest their hometown.

Following this she was sent to Camp Deale in California. The training involved a repeat of basis training, and the warning to "Be always packed and ready to go." Antoinette recalls that one night they said "We're leaving." It was pitch black. The group of about 25 nurses were put on a train. They rode for about three hours, then were taken off the train and herded in line with one hand on the shoulder of the one in front because of the black out. They went down a shoot and she could tell they were on a ship. The group sailed for 28 days and saw nothing on the sea except the porpoises following the ship- "day and night they followed the ship. If the moon was shining you could see the irridescence of the fish." She said there was really rough weather when "We went through the Tasmanian Straights where two oceans converge at the bottom of Australia." They spent a week in Perth, Australia then back on the ship. The ship zig zagged through the ocean to avoid the enemy. About two or three days later they saw land, but were being followed by Japanese observation planes for two days. They made it safely into Calcutta, and the group stayed in the 146th hospital until ferried up country to Ledo.

It was not then made public that the nurses were replacing 19 other nurses who had been killed in a plane crash at the base of the Himalayas.

Antoinette's first impressions if India were of "Utter poverty; people starving to death, a million people begging for food, odd jobs for a morsel. Boys in rags, girls in sack dresses."

When she arrived at the 14th Evacuation Hospital she said she she "Did not expect to find dirt floors in some of the sections where the Chinese people were, but the hospital was built by them for them." The Chinese patients had a frame for a bed and one blanket, no pillow. There were chickens tied to the leg of the bed. Another had a little piglet. I called one "Mr Hole in the Head because he still had a bullet in his head," she recalled. Most of the Chinese patients had tuberculosis and were frequently spitting. "We couldn't get them to stop. They paid no attention."

She had to place her shoes in a seal tin to keep the rats from getting into them. While there she was bitten by a monkey one of the doctors brought to the hospital.

Antoinette spent about six at the 14th Evacuation hospital on the Ledo Road in India.

Below: Antoinette’s Army Id Card taken after she arrived at Ft. Jackson

A Very Moving Image

Reprinted with permission from the Legionaries of Christ

World War II Corner

The Hagaman Library is proud to introduce the new World War II Corner located in the Media Room to the right of the front entrance to the library.

Here you can view WWII Veterans Group Member of the Month profiles, browse selected DVDs, videos, pamplets, articles and books. You can find videos such as The History Channel's Deep Sea Dectitives: D-Day series; The Secrets That Won World War II series- such as When Hitler Invaded America, or What Really Happened to Rommel? DVDs such as Ken Burns' film The War and Frank Capra's Prelude to War. There is an atlas, an almanac and an historical encyclopedia of WWII shelved in this area. There are also various odds and ends here, such as a 1964 Life magazine article on General Douglas MacArthur; a United States News publication on Harry S. Truman's addresses and a National Geographic publication "Our War Memorials Abroad: A Faith Kept." Please stop by!

Veterans Group Member of the Month Please meet Thomas B. Yester Tom Yester enlisted in the Air Force January 1942 and served till July 1945. Tom served with three squadrons, the B-24 Unit in the 98th Group, the B-26 456 Squadron, and the 1st Pathfinders. The 1st Pathfinders were the first squadron to use radar blind bombing, in which they bombed according to the radio signal received from England. The B-26s were called Marauders by the Airforce, but nicknamed the Widow Makers by the men because there were so many casualties during the training process of the crews. In combat however, they had the least casualties because of the expertise of the pilots. Tom flew bombing missions over France, Belgium and Holland and, after D-Day, Germany. Tom served as a B-26 Staff Sergeant Tail Gunner on 60 missions and received the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with Nine Clusters, and ten Service Ribbons. One mission flown over France before D-day, was memorable for the 88 shell that went through the plane. The shell left a hole without the fuse of the shell exploding. Tom credits this to sabotage. The Germans used the Jews or anyone who had any experience doing metal work in the German labor camps making weapons. The prisoners sabotaged the German's shells and other armaments. Tom also served in Germany during the Korean War and in active duty with the National Guard retiring with the rank of Captain. Tom is currently the Chairman of the Branford Veterans Parade Committee, and has served on the Committee for 40 years. He has also served over 30 years on the Soldiers' Sailors' and Marines' Fund helping indigent veterans needing assistance. Tom volunteers at St. Mary's School in Branford as a Recess Supervisor and has done so for 25 years.

Please view a video clip from an interview with Tom Yester below.

The Pritzker Military Library has digitized audio broadcasts and many other WWII era broadcasts. These are available at http://archives.museum.tv

the museum of Broadcast Communications Website.

Registration is free, then click on "radio." In the keyword search box type "Pritzker Military Collection." Selections include CBS News coverage and NBC D-Day Coverage.

WPA Art- State Library

State Archivist, Mark Jones is attempting to locate, inventory, photograph and present online, works of art commissioned by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the 1930s to the beginning of WWII. For more information on this project please visit: http://www.cslib.org/archives/wpaartannounce.htm

Veterans Group Member of the Month

Please meet Rose Bernabucci. Rose was born and grew up in New Haven, CT. She studied aeronautics and won a flight scholarship while in High School, and served as a Sergeant in the Civil Air Patrol Cadets. Under the direction of Civil Air Patrol staff, Rose flew on a trip to Block Island as well as on shorter flights from Tweed Airport. Rose has retired from the advertising business where she ran her own company, Alden Art Associates of Prospect and Waterbury, CT. She is an artist and a member of the New Haven Paint and Clay Club, the Guilford Art Center and other art associations. One of her paintings "Icarus Landing" a "white on white abstract of the myth" was exhibited last year at the New Britain Museum of American Art. Rose also enjoys playing golf and is a member of the Laurel View 9 Hole Women's League. Rose, along with Jesse Dyson and Ethyl Papa- also Civil Air Patrol Cadets- were subjects of a short documentary on the Civil Air Patrol put together by Kevin McKernon and myself in 2008. Rose's High School yearbook entry and picture, Rose's Civil Air Patrol jacket with sergeant stripes. Right: Rose in her flight class, 1946.

Please view the video below where Rose talks about her father's WWII service.

Welcome to the WWII Veterans Discussion Group Blog. The Veterans Discussion Group is made up of WWII veterans, spouses, relatives of veterans, men and women who served on the home front and individuals interested in WWII.

Members shares stories and experiences of WWII, discuss topics, display memorabilia, host speakers, view films.

Unless otherwise announced on the Library's website, The WWII Veterans Discussion Group meets on the last Wednesday of the month at 1:30 p.m. in the Community Room of the Hagaman Memorial Library, 227 Main Street, East Haven, Connecticut. The Group is open to everyone. The Library's website is www.hagamanlibraryeasthavenct.org

We begin this blog with an article from the Branford Review and East Haven News, dated Thursday, December 11, 1941.

Operations in Pacific Cause Consternation Among Relatives Here
Anxiety Felt For Boys Thought to Be In the Pearl Harbor Area- No Word Received From Any of the Young Men Since Sunday's Attack.

Among the Branford people in the war zone is William Van Wilgen, son of Mr. and Mrs. William Van Wilgin of Averill Place third mate in the Merchant Marine who was on the Pacific Ocean When war broke out.

When last heard from Robert Dudley, son of Mrs. Frank Dudley was with the Navy doing coastal patrol duty on the Pacific. Previous to joining the Navy he saw Army service at Fort Kamemeha, Island of Oahu.

Fred W. Schoening, Harbor Street when last heard from was at Pearl Harbor. Mrs. Schoening heard from another son, Paul George, two weeks ago at that time he was at Honolulu.

Chief Petty Officer John Anderson arrived at his home in Montowese Street about three weeks ago after spending ten years at the Hawaiian Islands. His leave was brought to an abrupt end this week when he was ordered back to Pearl Harbor. His brother Elmer was also forced to bring a furlough to a close. He has entered the New York Navy Hospital for treatment. Sven Anderson, was discharged from the Navy at Pearl Harbor and has been employed since then in the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard.

The home of Dr. H.A. Reynold Seaview Ave. Hotchkiss Grove could not be reach [sic] today but it is believed that a son, William was last heard from Hickam Field, Pearl Harbor. George Reynold, a brother is in service as a Chief Petty Officer.

Mrs. Casper Deriso 219 Indian Neck Ave. received a Christimas card Monday from Hawaii from Domonic Deriso. He has been in the Navy seven years.

A letter was received here Monday from Pete Huzar. It was posted from California. Pete has been four years service and the last few months has been on the Pacific Ocean.

The Review has been unable to confirm reports that Richard Meek, Wilford Road and Alred Yusievic and his family are in the war zone.