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World War II Veterans To Speak At Public Event Saturday

The Fenton History Center’s Vets Finding Vets program will host a public event in which six area World War II veterans will recount their experiences from the war at Jamestown Community College’s Scharmann Theatre on Saturday at 2 p.m. P-J file photo by Gavin Paterniti

Back by popular demand, a group of area World War II veterans will appear publicly to discuss their individual and shared experiences during the great global conflict.

Six veterans will tell their stories at Jamestown Community College’s Scharmann Theatre at 2 p.m. Saturday in an event sponsored and coordinated by the Fenton History Center’s Vets Finding Vets program.

The event, moderated by Greg Peterson, co-founder of the Robert H. Jackson Center, is a communitywide follow-up to an event that was held at the Jackson Center for area high school students on March 22. In attendance were students and teachers from the Clymer, Falconer and Frewsburg school districts, who heard a presentation on various aspects of the war by Steve Appleby, SFC U.S. Army Retired, director of the World War II museum in Eldred, Pa.

Barb Cessna, Vets Finding Vets program coordinator, said the resulting press from the March 22 event aroused much interest among the general public, inspiring her to coordinate another event that was open to the community at large.

“The six gentlemen we have joining us this weekend were among the 10 we had in March, and they’ll again be recounting their experiences for us,” Cessna said. “We’re really looking forward to presenting this to the community because these vets are all in their 90s and there aren’t too many of them around to hear from anymore. But these guys in particular have been great and active, and they’re eager to do this because they want people to understand about World War II and what it was like to live through it.”

Cessna said Peterson has spoken with each of the veterans prior to the event, and will guide their narration through his pre-drafted line of questioning. She said the event is intended to take attendees chronologically through the events of World War II as told by the veterans’ firsthand accounts, where applicable.

Saturday’s event is free and open to the public, and is of interest to all age groups.

The Vets Finding Vets program is free to all enrolled veterans. Plans are underway to expand the program to include a facilitated book discussion and to make use of the City of Jamestown’s veterans database. The Fenton History Center research center, located at 73 Forest Ave. in Jamestown, is handicap-accessible. Service dogs are welcome. Vets Finding Vets looks forward to expanding its group.

For more information about the Vets Finding Vets program, and to find out how to enroll, call the Fenton History Center at 664-6256 during hours of operation or email veterans@fentonhistorycenter.org.

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