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Honoring Oneida’s WWII heroes

001KaliByLine_CJohnson_newOn Saturday, May 21, 2016, from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. the Oneida Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 7784 will be leading the charge to honor the 14 known living Oneida veterans who served during WWII. The recognition ceremony will take place in the Radisson Hotel and Conference Center’s Wolf Room with numerous confirmed dignitaries expected to be in attendance.

The honorees are Vernon N. Ninham, Roy A. Huff, Warren R. Skenandore, Reginald Baird, Orval T. Gutzman, Kenneth Hill, James C. Begay, Rose A. Kerstetter, Luke J. Stevens, Walter Cornelius, Donald Denny, Ertle “Dempsey” Cornelius, Doyle Jourdan and Marion Doxtator.

“We’re doing this because a lot of our WWII veterans weren’t really honored like you see in New York with parades when the war ended,” Oneida VFW Post Cmdr. Cletus Ninham, Sr., said. “These small towns got overlooked and the vets we talked to didn’t get that chance or even a welcome home. In fact a lot of them came home right after the war ended and went straight to work. One of our guys got dropped off here in Oneida in the middle of the night at the train station. There was no welcome home or parade.”

Since the official end of WWII was nearly 71 years ago the urgency and the need to honor these heroes grows every day. “They’ve been kind of neglected and a lot of them are now in their 90s,” Ninham said. “So we want to recognize them before it’s too late.”

According to recent statistics reported by the National WWII Museum in New Orleans, of the nearly 16 million Americans who served the United States during the war there are only about 697,000 alive today. Of those roughly 430 WWII veterans pass away each day.

Many of the 14 Oneida veterans who were interviewed recently by the VFW displayed a range of emotions when notified that they are going to finally be recognized for their courage and sacrifices all those years ago. “Some of them got very emotional and overwhelmed when we were talking with them,” VFW Post Historian Chris Cornelius said. “Some of them are really excited as well. It was truly a great honor to meet and interview our community WWII veterans”

“It’s also important to do this so that our young people understand what freedom really means,” Ninham said. “A lot of people just really misuse it, too. Many of our veterans have received commendations and Bronze Stars for valor, and many of them don’t remember why they received it. I told them ‘You had to have done something very heroic,’ but they don’t remember.”

“Purple Hearts, Bronze Stars, Silver Stars, Combat Infantry Badges, we have some that fought in the Pacific, European and African Theatres,” Cornelius said. “Military records and awards are a piece to a puzzle of what our WWII veterans did to accomplish their mission. However records do not reflect experiences that can only be shared by firsthand accounts of events that took place that have been shared by some of the veterans that we interviewed. They are all heroes and deserve respect for serving their nations.  I say nations because Oneidas served as a member of the Oneida Nation and the United States.

“We also want to thank our numerous financial sponsors and donors who helped us along the way with this,” Cornelius said. “Bay Bank, Military Order of the Purple Heart Association, Oneida Sportsman’s Club, the Oneida Nation, OTIE as well as other members of the community who helped with donations, gifts and their time…if it weren’t for them none of this would be happening.”

The day’s events will include a formal military color guard opening, a speech by Oneida Nation Chairwoman Cristina Danforth, lunch, a speech by Ninham about WWII and the Oneida heroes, and a special gift presentation by the VFW to the 14 veterans.

If there are any other surviving Oneida veterans of WWII that the VFW is unaware of please contact Oneida VFW Post 7784 Historian Chris Cornelius at (920) 713-6422.

Tickets for the ceremony are $20. For more information about the event or to purchase tickets please contact Oneida VFW Post 7784 Quarter Master Andy John at (920) 655-4254 or (920) 833-2056.