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County thanks WWII veterans

By THOMAS DIMOPOULOS tdimopoulos@poststar.com | Posted: Monday, October 26, 2009 9:05 pm | (1) Comments

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Erin Reid Coker Erin Coker Erin Erin Reid Coker - coker@poststar.com World War II veterans Russ Ornsbee of Porters Corners and Tom Smith of Saratoga Springs talk before the start of the Saratoga County World War II Veterans Night on Monday at the Saratoga Springs City Center.

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Robert Young practiced shooting pennies off a fence post when he was 10 years old.

"I would get eight out of every 10," recalled the 86-year-old Schuylerville man. At the age of 18, with a World War raging overseas, he joined the Air Force and served in England, France and Italy.

"I was young. We didn't know any better," he said with a shrug, remembering a time when millions of his countrymen responded to their nation's call.

On Monday night, about 325 of them attended a gathering at the Saratoga Springs City Center to honor Saratoga County veterans of World War II.

It was the first gathering in the county of its kind and took nearly a year to put together.

Last December, the county Veterans Committee and the county Board of Supervisors began the process of producing a master list of veterans who live in the county.

The goal was to host a ceremony for veterans who served between Dec. 7, 1941 - the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor - and Dec. 31, 1946, the day President Harry S. Truman proclaimed the end of hostilities in World War II.

The initial list of 7,000 veterans was narrowed to about 1,400 who were believed to have served in World War II. Questionnaires were sent out, and the list narrowed further with respondents' families informing the county about those who had passed away and others who had left the area, said Bob Mitchell, director of the Saratoga County Veterans Service Agency.

Nationally, World War II veterans are dying at a pace of 1,000 a day. Locally, 50 veterans passed away just since invitations to Monday's gathering were distributed.

"It won't be long until we won't have many of them left," Mitchell said. "We wanted to honor them for their service."

From the current active list of between 600 and 700 veterans, 325 responded they would attend the ceremony. About 750 medals were created for distribution to the veterans. The medals feature the Saratoga County seal on one side and a World War II dedication on the other.

On Monday, the veterans came from different towns but were joined by the common bond of having served their country during World War II.

E.W. Cleveland came from Wilton, wearing his sergeant's uniform of 60 years ago. He served in the Pacific for 33 months.

Leo J. Bonneau Sr. came from South Glens Falls with his wife, Betty, at his side.

"In June, 1944, I turned 18. In September, I was in the service. Happy Birthday," said Bonneau, who served 26 months in the Army and spent time in the European theater as well as in the Pacific.

"Around the world, but I can't swim a stroke. And seasick - oh boy," he said, with a laugh. After returning home, the 83-year-old worked for General Electric for about eight years, bought a local dairy farm and eventually settled into a 29-year career driving a school bus for the Shenendehowa School District.

Arthur Gilbert came from Stillwater, hoping to reconnect with some of his old mates who served on the battleship Iowa in World War II.

"Four years and 10 campaigns all over the Pacific," Gilbert said, as the names of veterans scrolled across a pair of video screens that framed a stage draped with a 40-foot long American flag.

"We took President Roosevelt all the way to Dakar, Africa, to meet Stalin and Churchill. There were a lot of extra marines, and it was so secret that we didn't even know, at first, that he came aboard," Gilbert recalled.

"In World War II, it was a different America," said Sen. Roy McDonald, who was one of the guest speakers at the event. "Imagine you're some farm boy from Northumberland or from the Schuylerville area, and someone said you're going out to the western part of the country for training. Then you're going to Okinawa, to New Zealand, to North Africa.

"Why do you think they did it? They did it for you. They did it for me. They did it for all of us. I have a great deal of respect for them and their families for what they went through, and it's quite an honor to be with them tonight."

Posted in Local, Saratoga on Monday, October 26, 2009 9:05 pm Updated: 11:01 am. | Tags: Wwii Veterans,

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