Local Vets' War Stories to be in New Museum Exhibit

Jasper Booth of Bedford was a member of the 80th Airborne Anti-Aircraft Battalion who died on D-Day—the infamous day in 1944 the Allied troops invaded Normandy, France, and began a march across Europe to defeat Hitler.

Booth served and died alongside his fellow countrymen—and his brothers—William, Howard, Leonard and Francis Booth, five of ten children born to Mr. and Mrs. Jasper Booth, Sr. The five sons never returned home from World War II.

Dominick Carone, 90, a current Beechwood Road resident and native of Bedford Hills, was in World War II's Battle of the Bulge and had an up-close encounter with General Patton. 

It's their stories—and those of other local World War veterans—that the Bedford Hills Historical Museum wants to bring to life for residents.

"There aren't that many members of that generation left, and we want to honor them. And if they’re not alive, we will honor their families and tell their stories," said Ellen Cohen, a museum board member who has been

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To that end, the museum is seeking artifacts, memorabilia and oral histories from residents who have either experienced the war first-hand, or have memories from relatives or friends. They held an open house on Sun. Nov. 11 to share with the public what they've unearthed so far, and to publicize their ongoing quest for stories and artifacts from local residents and the world wars. 

For example:

• Wartime medals and a bayonet carried by Carone—whose wife, Angelina, was one of the founding members of the Bedford Hills Community Players.
• War uniforms from the family of John Dinin, current town justice.
• Insignia from the family collection of Stanley Telega, a local resident and museum board member whose family ties to Bedford go back to the year 1680.

In addition to Telega and Cohen, other committee members working on mounting the new exhibit, scheduled to go up this spring and officially titled "Bedford Hills at War: Commitment and Sacrifice World War I and II," include Dick Schmitt, Elin Sullivan, Stephanie David, Crysta Jones and Kerry Erlanger.

Cohen explained that Erlanger, who by day works on NPR's oral history preservation program, StoryCorps, has been researching the stories behind the names on the war memorial plaque in Bedford Hills.

"We plan to feature five or six local residents and their stories— [a Bedford Hills resident who was a WWII pilot] plus all of the materials we're collecting. We hope to open the exhibit in the spring, in time to bring school groups over to the museum so that young children can learn about and appreciate the wartime history right in their hometown," said Cohen.

Telega said those materials included wartime scrapbooks found at the old American Legion (now the Bedford Hills Community House) that have been replicated and bound for museum-goers and include news articles from the New York Herald from 1914 –1919.

In addition, the museum will display ration books that show how much gas and sugar locals were allotted each month and a program for a welcome home celebration for WWII soldiers held at the Community House on July 13, 1946.

Telega said he thought residents young and old would get a lot out of the exhibit—by learning about the wars, they wouldn't forget about the sacrifices made by soldiers and those at home.

"Many local vets came back from that war and never spoke about it, because of the things they saw," he said. "We hope to pull those stories out of them or find those stories and share them."

If you have stories or artifacts to share for the musem's upcoming exhibit, email BHHM@bedfordhillshistorical.com.