WWII Veterans Share Their Stories With D-S Students

With Veteran's Day this Friday, D-S sophomores and juniors assembled today in the Lindquist Commons auditorium at the high school to hear stories and testimony from a group of brave men who served and fought during World War II.

The students read the book “Unbroken” for their summer reading about a WWII Air Force veteran who was downed in the Pacific Ocean and was imprisoned in a Japanese POW camp. Today they heard first-hand accounts of what the war was like from men who were on the ground.

“We gathered this group of World War II veterans to come in and to tell their stories and they’re really the last living witnesses to that period in world history. So any time you can bring history to life by bringing in primary sources, as they really are, and connect the generations we think that’s really valuable," said John Hickey, head of the history department at the high school.

“Who else is going to do it? Who is left to do it? Who will do it if not us? And maybe, just maybe, that’s a damn good reason why God saved us," said Sam Bernstein, of Randolph, who served in the Army and fought in the battle of Iwo Jima. “You can hear the boys dying and just saying, ‘Don’t forget us, don’t forget us. Ok this is it, don’t forget us.’ Remind the generations that are alive today only because of their debt,” Bernstein said as he choked up.

Morley Piper, of Essex, an Army First Lieutenant in the 29^th Infantry Division never used to like speaking about what he experienced landing on Normandy Beach on D-Day, but he said today he sees its importance.

“For years I never went out and talked about it at all. In recent years I’ve kind of loosened up a little bit through my family who want to hear the stories. It’s important as we’re getting older that the story comes out to not be forgotten so I’m glad to do these kinds of things when I can,” Piper said. “I think we need to save the reality.”

The men answered questions from some of the students such as what they did when they got home from the war.

Bernstein said that after the war most of the men who served wanted to go home and start a family and get married. “Well, V-J (Victory over Japan) Day came and that’s the thing I did. I went to school and while in school I met a girl and married her and thank God next month I’ll be married 63 years to the same girl,” he said to a rousing applause.

The men were also asked what their opinion is on the current war in Afghanistan.

Stanley Cohen, who served in the Navy's amphibious forces landing in North Africa, the South Pacific and Okinawa said, “The young men and women who are over there now in harm's way in my opinion should not be there. I’d like to see them brought home. Again, in my opinion, I don’t believe the average American citizen realizes that we’ve been at war for 10 years unless they have family in the military … the average American, I don’t believe was really concerned until the price of gasoline went up. I would like to see those people come home immediately.”

Piper said that it was good to be able to talk to the students so close to Veterans Day.

“It’s a great day for commemorating the veterans of all wars. It started out with World War I observance originally called Armistice Day and it was observed on 11 o’clock in the morning, that was when the guns fell silent. Which means that this year we’re going to celebrate it on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the eleventh year. It won’t happen again for 100 years. I’m going to be involved in a couple of ceremonies that day. It’s a day to remember those who served and those who died,” he said.

At the end of the assembly Bernstein left the students with praise because they state the Pledge of Allegiance each day in the morning. 

“I just want to remark, you did something a little while ago that was impressive to me. Because I saw men die for what you did this morning, I saw men buried because they couldn’t do it any more. You did it, don’t ever give it up, you pledged the allegiance and that is something. Don’t ever let anybody take it away from you,” Bernstein said.