Christmas Party 2011

Kevin McKernon dropped off some photos of the Christmas party in January.



Below: Liz and Peter lead the singing








Rudy Pohlman sang a few numbers including a Johnny Cash song





Dana Murphy sang as Mr. and Mrs. Nobile and Pat Baker look on
























Above- Terry Sayles talks with George Barba
Below- Joseph and Muriel Minto win the grand prize raffle

Christmas Party

The WWII Veterans Discussion Group had an enjoyable Christmas party on the 21st, complete with food, singing and raffle baskets!

70th Anniversary

Battleship Row
photograph from the Naval History and Heritage site.



This past December 7th was the 70th anniversary of Pearl Harbor.

It was sad to learn that the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association disbanded due to the small numbers left and the difficulty of the remaining aged members have experienced in attending the meetings.

The New Haven Register interviewed local Connecticut residents asking them about their memories of Pearl Harbor Day. Like the day President Kennedy was shot, people remember where they were and what they were doing when Pearl Harbor was struck.

The November 6th issue of Parade Magazine featured an interview with six soldiers called Six Wars. Six Vets. Six Stories of Courage. Among those interviewed was WWII veteran, Bob Kessler who served aboard an amphibious troop carrier in Okinawa and other Japanese held islands. The article is available in the reference office of the library; a video of the interview can be found at: http://www.parade.com/news/veterans/articles/video.html

We were pleased to welcome Bob Janicki (shown above) to the October meeting of the WWII Veterans Discussion Group.

Mr. Janicki has an impressive biography. He served as a Marine Infantry squad leader with the 3rd Marines in the I corp area of Vietnam from 1967 through October 1968 through the Tet Offensive. He served with the Marines four years. He has been awarded the Purple Heart,and Combat Action Ribbon among many other awards. In his employment at AT&T, he organized the SNET Veterans, later called the AT&T Veterans. The group conducted outreach into the community in support of numerous Veteran related efforts. In 2006, he was inducted into the the Connecticut Veterans Hall of Fame for his lifelong dedication to veterans and their families. He serves as Secretary on the Board of Directors for the Connecticut State Veterans Memorial. Mr. Janicki spoke about the building of the Memorial which will be Connecticut's first Statewide Memorial to honor all veterans. To read more about the Memorial go to: www.cthonorsvets.org

Michael Forte gave a presentation on his compilation "Dearest Buby-Letters from a POW" at the July 27th WW II Veterans Discussion Group meeting. The compliation tells the story of Michael's father-in-law, Abbey Perlman, a prisoner of war during WW II. Michael generously donated a copy of his work to the library,which will be kept in the archival collection.

Louis Mingione, a retired firefighter and East Haven resident, would like to rebuild the Foxon Park Honor Roll that once stood opposite his residence at 109 Old Foxon Road. The Honor Roll, shown in the photo above, was constructed in the early 1940s and listed the names of Foxon residents who served in World War II.

The reconstucted Honor Roll will stand at 97 Old Foxon Road, at the corner of Rose and Brennan streets, and will again list the names of those who served from Foxon in second world war.

Steve Karjanis, of Karjanis & Sons Motors at 97 Old Foxon Road, is donating the property on which the Honor Roll will be constructed.

Any information or pictures concerning the original Foxon Honor Roll would be deeply appreciated, as would any contributions toward the reconstruction. Checks may be made out to Citizens Bank-Foxon Park Honor Roll and sent to Citizens Bank, 430 Foxon Road, East Haven, Conn., 06513. For those who may have information on the Foxon Park Honor Roll, Mr. Mingione would like to be contacted at 203.469.1824.