LITTLE VALLEY — The Cattaraugus County Veterans Service Office and County Museum are teaming up on a project to video the recollections of World War II and Korean and Vietnam war veterans.
County Museum Curator Brian McClellan was pleasantly surprised to find a $20,000 addition to the museum’s modest budget when the county budget was approved just before Thanksgiving.
It turns out Legislator Norman Marsh of Little Valley, an Air Force veteran of the Vietnam War, asked for the appropriation when he saw the rate that World War II veterans were dying. He wanted to give veterans a chance to tell their stories.
Marsh met in Little Valley with Veterans Service Director Steve McCord and Department of the Aging Director Cathy Mackay, where they brainstormed about the project.
McClellan met last week with Marsh and McCord to discuss the project further and make some preliminary plans for a kick-off.
“Norm wants to make video recordings of as many veterans as possible, beginning with any World War II we can get and expanding to Korea and Vietnam,” McClellan said. “We are looking at a kickoff for the program some time in May.”
McCord said with so many World War II veterans passing away, their stories are being lost.
“I hear these stories on a regular basis,” he said. “We want to sit down with any veteran that wants to tell their story and we will record it. We’ll make a copy for the veteran’s family. It made sense to involve Brian and the county museum.”
McCord said the decision was made to prioritize World War II and Korean War veterans due to their advanced age. “We don’t want to discourage Vietnam and other vets.”
Details are still being worked out.
“I will probably start out as an interviewer, then we’ll let the story go where it goes,” he added.
For example, McCord said one Korean War veteran told him about fighting at the Chosin Reservoir in November and December 1950, after U.S. and United Nations forces pushed the North Korean army out of the south and almost to the Yalu River, the border with China.
The Chinese attacked into the mountainous region, escalating the war, during a period of bitter arctic-like weather.
“He told me their unit was all suffering from frostbite,” McCord said the veteran who was at “Frozen Chosin.” “Their commanding officer told them to use their bayonets to cut the skin on their fingers. The blood would keep their fingers from frostbite.”
Another veteran wounded in the same battle told McCord he was placed on a wagon piled with the bodies of dead soldiers, but he wasn’t dead.
A submariner told McCord a story about sinking to the bottom of the sea and living to tell about it.
McCord predicts some veterans will want their stories to be told, while others are more private. Many veterans haven’t told their families some of the things that they recall from their service.
“We’re going to be looking for volunteers who want to be interviewed and talk about their military history,” McCord said.
He plans to present the plan to officials of the Cattaraugus County American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars. The plans will also be posted on the county website.
McCord said the group is looking to kick off the program at the County Museum in Machias on Armed Forces Day, May 15.
“It’s really interesting to har some of these stories,” Marsh said. He’s a former county legislature chairman and mayor of Little Valley.
Marsh hopes to begin scheduling veterans for interviews in February or March. “Anyone who was in the military would be eligible to participate — whether they were overseas or stateside. We are going to start with World War II vets.”
Copies of the interviews will be placed in the county museum, the Veterans Service Office would keep a copy and a copy would be given to the veterans for their family.
Set up different parts where we could.
An Air Force veteran who was stationed in Vietnam from May 1967 to May 1968, Marsh isn’t sure he’ll participate.
“I don’t know if I have anything to say or not,” he said. “Steve and I were talking about our experiences. It’s really interesting to hear some of the stories.”
Marsh recalls his father-in-law telling him about his unit’s battle into Germany in World War II.
“It’s a shame we didn’t get him on tape,” he said. “I’d like to get as many veterans on tape as we can. It’s important to get their stories out there.”
He added: “Hopefully, they’ll talk to us. I’m looking forward to getting started.”
McClellan said the project is still in the planning stages, noting that Marsh “has been wanting to do something for some time.”
He said the county museum has video recordings of about a dozen World War II veterans talking about their experiences, which was done about 12 years ago by Vincent Oliverio, a BOCES teacher. Ellicottville BOCES students built a cabinet for the DVR and recordings. It was donated to the museum in 2008.
“This will expand on what Vince has done,” McClellan said. “Things will be a little different with the pandemic,” and elderly veterans will be safe, he added.
Veterans who want more information or wish to be placed on a list to participate should call McCord’s office at 701-3298.
(Contact reporter Rick Miller at rmiller@oleantimesherald.com. Follow him on Twitter, @RMillerOTH)