WWII heritage group still going strong after 20 years | News, Sports, Jobs

Staff photo / J.T. Whitehouse
David Frank of Poland, one of the founders of the World War II Heritage Group, looks back at the past 20 years and the many stories that have been shared by veterans.

CANFIELD — The World War II Heritage Group turned 20 this year, having hosted many veterans from World War II, Vietnam, Korea and Iraq as its mission of “hearing from those who were there” continues.

The WWII Heritage Group can trace its beginnings to the Civil War — not the 1860s, but the modern day re-enactments of the era. It started with two local men who have a passion for history.

Poland Seminary High School Class of 1971 graduate David Frank decided to continue his education at Youngstown State University. He got a job working in the open hearth at U.S. Steel in Youngstown to help pay for his college. He majored in business administration but would have preferred a teaching degree in history.

“But back then (1975) history teachers were only making around $6,000,” Frank said. “So I went into the insurance business and worked for Butler, Wick and Co.”

He spent 22 years there, took a semi-retirement and is still involved in the insurance side. Over his work career, he said his love for history took him and his good friend Mike Myhal into the hobby of Civil War re-enacting.

“We started war re-enacting in 1988 because we knew the 125th anniversary of Gettysburg was coming up, and we wanted to be sure we were ready for it,” Frank said. “We started with the 7th Ohio Volunteer Militia, which saw action on both the east and west theaters.”

From the 7th OVM, Frank went on to join the 19th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, which was mostly the western theater of the Civil War. A prominent local officer from that group was Col. James Madison Nash, who once resided in the present- day War Veterans Museum house in Canfield.

Frank and Myhal joined in with the Civil War Roundtable and would meet at the War Veterans Museum. The group grew to almost 30 and then, like so many re-enactment groups, divided into other units. The 19th OVI is still around today, but Frank started looking at other eras and took part in World War I re-enacting near Scotland, Pa. In 2010, he phased out of the Civil War era.

In 2002, along with Myhal, Frank went on a new path.

“Mike and I were heavy into the Civil War and would have loved to have spoken with a real Civil War veteran,” Frank said. “We thought about their stories all gone, and realized our World War II veterans are disappearing, and their stories are going untold as well.”

MEETING PLACE

In June 2002, Myhal and Frank formed the World War II Heritage Group, which had its first meeting in Austintown. The first session was not that great, so it was moved to another site, which ended up being costly. The third session was moved to Canfield and a catering service called Colonial Catering on Lisbon Street (U.S. Route 62).

Frank said the business later changed names to A La Cart Catering, and it became the perfect venue for the group’s mission for more than 20 years. People pay a fee for the dinners, and the facility can hold up to 80. Frank said the average number is between 40 and 50.

“In the beginning, it wasn’t hard to find (guest) speakers,” Frank said. “It was fairly easy to get someone in the first 15 years.”

After that, it started to become more difficult. Myhal had moved to Columbus and the WWII veterans were getting harder to find, but Frank and the group never gave up on its mission.

“With every veteran that speaks, we record them and make a DVD with the proper scenes attached,” he said. “We give one to the family and put the other in our library. We keep a library of those who have spoken at our monthly meetings so their stories are preserved.”

Member Gary Reel said speakers open up when sharing their stories.

“Each has their story, despite passing of time and diminished memories of a complete story,” Reel said.

“Since World War II veterans are mostly gone, we have moved on to Korea and Vietnam, which offers a better memory. Having past speakers on videotape provides a library of history that hopefully will be shared with young folks,” Reel continued.

VARIED VETERANS

Frank found that those who attend the meetings didn’t have a problem with hearing stories from veterans of the Korean and Vietnam wars, as well as Iraq. At the October meeting this year, Korean War paratrooper Bill Blascak spoke on his life. The Girard native was drafted in 1952 and was assigned to the 503rd Airborne Regimental Combat Team.

The November speaker was Steve Papalas, a retired Niles history teacher who spoke on American graves in Europe and in the Pacific. His presentation featured foreign cemeteries that serve as the resting place of fallen heroes.

On Dec. 19, the WWII Heritage Group will host a presentation on Pearl Harbor. Anyone wishing to attend can contact Frank at 330-757-0515 or by email at [email protected] for reservations. The cost is $16 per person, which includes the meal.

For the future, Frank said the World War II Heritage Group may have to morph into a new group.

“We may have to change our name to the Veteran’s Roundtable,” Frank said. “And that would include the Vietnam, Korea and Iraq-era veterans, hearing their stories before they are all gone. After all, the organization is not the story, I am not the story. These (veterans) are the story.”

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