Vets agent steps up WW2 recognition efforts

Whenever Veterans Agent Tony Andreotti meets or visits with a World War II veteran, a part of him still sees the strapping young soldier in uniform that he remembers from his childhood in Canton.

Veterans Agent Tony Andreotti receiving the 2012 Dr. Richard Elkort Citizen of the Year Award.

Mostly, however, Andreotti sees the veteran as he is today — a retiree, a grandfather, perhaps even a great-grandfather — and he inevitably begins to wonder how much of the man’s story has been documented and preserved for future generations of Americans to know and appreciate.

“These guys, you have to remember, were my heroes,” explained Andreotti, himself a veteran of the Korean War. “I saw them leave in the 1940s. I saw them leave town and then come back — some to different towns, but it doesn’t matter — they came back and helped build their communities.”

Now, more than 60 years later, Andreotti is doing all that he can to recognize these boyhood heroes of his, knowing full well that their numbers are dwindling rapidly, with an estimated 850 WWII veterans dying each day, according to recent government estimates.

This phenomenon is not a new one of course — the number of attendees at annual reunions has been declining sharply for years — but it has hit Andreotti especially hard over the past few months as he attends more funerals and recognizes more names in the obituary pages.

Recently, he began a new initiative in which he honors one or two local vets at the start of each of his monthly “coffee hours” at the Canton Town Club. The last two honorees were Army Corporal Edward Estey, who served in the European Theatre, and Martin Dorian, a machinist’s mate third class in the U.S. Navy who participated in the Pacific Theatre.

Other honorees thus far have included Marine Staff Sergeant George Sykes, who saw action at Okinawa in the Pacific Theater; Army Sergeant Robert DeYeso, who participated in the Rhineland Campaign in the European Theatre; Army Air Force Sergeant Dan Berardi, who took part in 50 bombing missions over targets in Europe; Navy officer Harold Drake Jr., who participated in the invasion of the Philippines and Iwo Jima; and Army veteran Nicholas Bartone, who participated in the invasion of North Africa.

Andreotti said he came up with the idea a few months ago while attending the funeral of a fellow veteran. As he sat in the church and listened to the speakers, he noticed that the man’s family and friends said many “wonderful things” about him, but very little had to do with the man’s military background.

“It gave me the idea that something has to be said, and I’d like to see it said while they are alive,” explained Andreotti. “So I thought, ‘Let’s bring them in and let’s talk about them, and let’s tell them how we feel about them while we can.’”

As part of these brief recognition events, Andreotti also has the veterans themselves come up and share a little bit about their wartime experiences.

“Sometimes it’s the first time they’ve said anything and they’re in their late 80s,” noted Andreotti. “A couple of them brought family members and their families heard their stories for the first time — that was amazing.”

“I think it’s the end-of-life journey that they’re going through,” he added. “They’ve probably always wanted to say something. Finally, you stick a microphone in their face and they open up, and so far it’s been very interesting.”

Andreotti said there are many other interesting stories still left to be told and documented — stories like that of Dr. Nelson Batchelder, the longtime Canton primary care physician who “may be the last person alive who witnessed the [war crimes] trials at Nuremberg.”

Then there are those veterans who have kept their stories to themselves. Andreotti said in some cases these are people who may have been a cook on base, for example, and do not feel that they did anything [significant].”

“But everybody had their job,” he insisted. “We won because of everybody. If [General] Patton’s army won all of these battles in Europe, so did the truck driver who brought the ammunitions up to the front.”

Ultimately, Andreotti would like to collect information on as many World War II veterans as possible. That way, he can continue to recognize the remaining survivors while also retaining the information for a “final salute” when they do pass away.

The latter project, which consists of a brief write-up and a photograph in the Canton Citizen, was started around the same time as the coffee hour ceremonies, and Andreotti is hoping to have family members of WWII veterans assist in the effort.

Specifically, he is encouraging families to locate the veteran’s discharge papers (DD 214), which lists not only the dates of service but other important facts about the individual’s military career, including battles and campaigns as well as decorations and citations.

For many Canton veterans, Andreotti already has this information on file at the Veterans Services Department or has a way to obtain it; however, he said the discharge form is an excellent resource for families who “want to know something about what their loved ones experienced.” Furthermore, by obtaining the department and component that the person served with, they could then do an internet search and learn more about what they were going through at a particular point in the war — whether they participated in an island invasion or a bombing in Germany, for example.

Aside from obtaining basic information about each veteran’s military experiences, Andreotti is also hoping to collect a service photograph from as many families as possible, thus enabling him to print a complete “final salute” at the time of each veteran’s passing. A photograph of the veteran in uniform would be ideal; however, any photograph, including recent ones, would gladly be accepted.

Andreotti’s World War II recognition program is an ongoing initiative, so photographs can be dropped off or mailed at any time to the Canton Veterans Services Department, located at the Williams Estate at 92 Pleasant Street.

Those who would like to obtain a free copy of a loved one’s discharge papers can do so by contacting the Military War Records Office of the Adjutant General at 508-233-7780. Discharge papers for veterans who were not residents of Massachusetts can be requested online via the eVetRecs system at vetrecs.archives.gov.

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Posted by Jay Turner on Jul 12 2012. Filed under News, Town Government. Both comments and pings are currently closed.