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Overcast The 70th anniversary of V-E Day
Malverne/West Hempstead vets recollect the era
This May 8 marks the 70th anniversary of VE Day — the end of World War II in Europe.
To pay tribute to the occasion, and in honor of those from the Greatest Generation who fought in it, the Herald reached out to some of the remaining WWII servicemen in our area to give us a glimpse of their incredible lives and sacrifices during that monumental time in United States history. These are edited excerpts of their fascinating stories:
Roger Eastman, 93
West Hempstead
“I was in the Navy and served on the Destroyer Escort USS Weber. We were doing North Atlantic anti-submarine duty. We made eight trips back and forth between the east coast the Mediterranean and were very fortunate. We didn’t lose a single ship that our convoy escorted over.
We were also the first ship into Nagasaki after the atomic bomb, except for the minesweepers of course. We were shuttling back and forth to get the Japanese prisoners of war – our people – back to the hospital ship and back to the United States.
I was a flag controller, which had to do with remote control of the firing of guns on the ship. I would have to stand watches, I’d be four hours on and then 8 hours off. I would be the one steering the ship based on the orders from the captain. The captain would call the orders and I would adjust the turns on the wheels, and guide the engine room to activate the rudders and the controllers."
Morris “Sonny” Geller, 93
West Hempstead
"This year is the 70th anniversary of my getting wounded in the war. I was in the 16th Cavalry in the third Army under General Patton. My outfit did a lot of reconnaissance for him and the outfits we were attached to, mostly in Germany.
I was a radio operator in an armored car, and got blown up in Germany on the autobahn on April 1, 1945 when we ran over a mine. I got the worst of it, my lieutenant got blown out of the turret, didn’t get hurt and saved my life because he pulled me under the car. There were SS fighting all around us. They figured I was half dead anyway because the truck was on fire — so was I for a while.
