Sharing military experiences

WELLSBURG - Brooke High School students on Monday showed their appreciation to area veterans and learned of the experiences of several who served in various eras, from World War II to Operation Iraqi Freedom.

About 40 students in advanced placement history courses and the school's History Club gathered in the school's lecture hall to hear about the military experiences of six local veterans: John Chernenko, a World War II Army veteran and former prisoner of war; Bill Harris, a World War II Navy veteran; Jeremy Harrison, an Army Reservist who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom; Jim Davis, a Marine Vietnam War veteran; Gene Camilletti, an Air Force veteran who served during the Korean War; and Tom Innocenti, an Army Korean War veteran.

The discussion was kicked off by U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., part of the Take a Veteran to School Day program coordinated by the West Virginia Cable Telecommunications Association, including Comcast, Suddenlink Communications and Time Warner Cable; and the History Channel.

Brooke High School was one of 13 high schools in West Virginia to participate.

Rockefeller, who serves on the Senate committee on veteran affairs, said spending some time with the veterans and others is a fitting way to honor Veterans Day and can help many, including himself, to gain a better understanding of the situations and feelings men and women in the nation's military have encountered.

"All of this is being taped and individual histories are being taped and will go to the Library of Congress, which is where it belongs," he added.

Rockefeller said veterans often are reluctant to share their memories, particularly of their darker experiences, and Harrison noted it's rare for representatives of more than 70 years of military eras gather to speak.

But the veterans did share recollections, good and bad, of their time serving their country.

Harris, a Cameron native, said following 12 weeks of basic training, he returned home for a week's leave. He said as he prepared to return to the Navy, he wondered, "Will I ever get back?"

Despite such fears, Harris said he knew he would be "defending the greatest country in the world."

Harris said he was serving on a destroyer escort, one of six in a Naval convoy bound for Europe, and was turning in at 4 a.m. one day, after working a midnight watch, when he heard "a terrific explosion."

The source turned out to be a German submarine that had infiltrated the convoy, he said. When the sub surfaced 25 yards from Harris' ship, his commander called for the crew to strike it with the ship's ramming bow, Harris said, and another destroyer escort picked up the survivors aboard the enemy vessel.

Chernenko, a Wellsburg native and former state Senator, recalled fighting in the Battle of Mortain, a six-day battle in which 760 American troops defended a strategic hill in France from thousands of German troops.

The Germans were armed with tanks, grenades and flamethrowers, but the U.S. troops fought on and additional ammunition and medical supplies had to be dropped to them by aircraft after a few days, he related.

There were many casualties, but the troops received orders not to surrender as long as they had a round of ammo and a bayonett, Chernenko said.

Not long afterward, he was shot. "I must have flown 50 feet, and I saw stars," related Chernenko, who said he awoke in an Army evac. hospital. Years later he learned one of the nurses who cared for him there was Annabelle Hayward of Beech Bottom.

Camilletti, a Wellsburg native, said he entered the Air Force hoping to fly aircraft, but because he had taken several science courses in high school, he was chosen to serve as a medic during the Korean War.

He was trained to serve in a Mobile Army Surgical Unit, like the one seen in the television show, "M.A.S.H.," but the war ended in a truce and he wasn't sent.

But while working at the Army's Fort Sam Houston Hospital in San Antonio, Texas, he saw many casualties from the war, including soldiers who were "burned so bad, it would almost make you cry to see them."

A Warwood native, Innocenti said he was very young and naive when he enlisted in the Army during the Korean War, hoping to see both new places and combat.

But he soon found the conditions and climate of Korea very unpleasant. Summers were blazing hot and increased the soldiers' risk of getting various diseases, and winters were brutally cold, Innocenti said.

The troops wore heavy thermal boots to protect themselves from frost bite, but their own perspiration, from rigorous activity, would seep into the boots and freeze, he said.

Innocenti said he will never forget how the continuous sound of gunfire and explosions was interupted by silence when a truce was reached at 11 p.m. on July 27, 1953.

Davis said he also was young when he entered the military and was deployed on his 20th birthday to Vietnam.

Though he'd always wanted to be a Marine, it was a difficult time for him, in part because his daughter was 6 months old before he saw her, he said.

Davis noted public sentiment about the war was negative, and many of its veterans were criticized or ridiculed when they returned home.

"We were the baby-killers. There were protests," he said, then advised the Brooke High School students, "Don't let this happen again."

Harrison, who now serves as a social worker at the Wheeling Veterans Affairs Center, said he and other members of the Army Reserve's 459th Engineering Company were entroute to Bagdad when they became lost in a blinding sandstorm for about a day. After being rescued by a Marine infantry battallion, the group was involved in reconstructing a bridge leading to the Iraqi capital while under enemy fire.

Daniel Sabatino, a senior from Colliers, said, "It was pretty cool listening to all of their stories." He added he'd like to learn more about the Korean War.

Levi Moore, a senior from Follansbee, said it was nice to meet the veterans and hopes other students will have the opportunity to meet and talk to someone who served in the military.

Crysta Black, a junior from Colliers, said she found the discussion very interesting. Her great-grandfather served in Vietnam and spoke little about it but was proud to have served.

The discussion followed a schoolwide assembly at which many veterans from various eras were asked to stand for recognition. Among them was Leonard Ellis of Follansbee, who served in the Battle of Iwo Jima.

Ellis was presented a U.S. flag folded during the program by members of the Ohio Valley Veterans Memorial Squad.

First Judicial Circuit Court Judge James Mazzone told students veterans come from all walks of life, but all share a common desire to defend their countries' freedoms.

Mazzone told students, "The next time you see a veteran, thank him for keeping you free."

Also participating in the assembly were: the Brooke High School Band, including trumpeters Mark Lewis and Zach Carroll, who performed taps, under the direction of Erin Steffy; Brooke High School Choir, directed by Nicolas Taylor; student and Tri-State Young Marine Emily Richmond, Brent Kimball and alumnus Jared Harlan, who sang; and students Harley Marsh, Taylor Stuck and Taylor Aitken, who shared their writings about veterans and America.; and Toni Shute, the school's principal.

Veterans Day programs also were held in Follansbee and Wellsburg this week.

(Scott can be contacted at wscott@heraldstaronline.com.)