Robert Collins (l) listens as Benjamin Franko displays a German bullet made of wood. The words from the history books at Metuchen High School came to life on May 17 as four war veterans visited to tell the students about their experiences.
The students welcomed Benjamin Franko, who served in the Army during World War II; Robert Collins, who served in the Marine Corps during the Korean War; John Gazda, who served with the Navy during the Korean War; and John McCabe, who served in the Army during the Korean War. Two other veterans, Robert Flaherty, who served with the Army during the Korean War, and William Bransfield, who served with the Marine Corps inWorldWar II, were invited but could not attend. Gazda read the students a letter from Bransfield.
English teacher Kathleen Sullivan invited the veterans, all longtime Metuchen residents. Her class recently worked on a project involving veterans and the American flag, and students wrote essays on the topic “What the American Flag Means to Me.” Also, in anticipation of Memorial Day, students, staff and the veterans beautified the area in front of the school by planting flowers around the American flag during their class period on May 22.
“I also wanted to do this in honor of my father, Anthony Petrella, who served during World War II, and my uncle, who died during the war,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan’s students were joined by those from Chris Giddes’ history class. Also, students from the food service classes made an American flag cake for the veterans. Senior Robert O’Connell painted a large picture of an American flag, which was signed by the students and presented to the veterans.
Franko told the students he was just 18 years old when he was drafted into theArmy in September 1943. He served until October 1948 with the 83rd Infantry Division. He was awarded two Purple Heart medals during his time in the service.
“I saw some terrible things,” he said. “It was scary.”
Franko was there during the Battle of the Bulge, which occurred Dec. 16, 1944, in the wake of DDay, the invasion of Normandy, France. The German army launched a counteroffensive that was intended to cut through the Allied forces in a manner that would turn the tide of the war in Adolf Hitler’s favor. “You dig fox holes and move out,” he said. “This is what we continuously did.” Franko said a soldier is trained physically during boot camp. “Not mentally,” he said. “They don’t teach you how to deal with your emotions. You are imbalanced. I am alive today because I did what I had to do.”
These things that he had to do to stay alive resulted in warnings that he would be court marshaled and jailed for disobeying orders, but he always received second chances.
“You have to use your own brain,” he said. “[For example] Shells were coming in at us in Luxemburg and we were ordered back to the front lines; however, I told my crew of 15 men to go sleep down in the cell, and there we stayed.”
Franko said that years after the war, he located the soldier who saved his life after he was injured during the Battle of the Bulge. “I was hit at 5:30 a.m. and I didn’t even know it at first,” he said. “We still talk every month.”
Franko, at the age of 19, came home from the war an amputee. He lost one a leg from the knee down.
“I was in a dilemma,” he said. “I was a 19-year-old amputee out of high school.”
Franko used the G.I. Bill and studied at Villanova University. He married a nurse, and they have been married for 62 years.
Bransfield was 18 when he enlisted in the Marine Corps. He served as a demolitions specialist during World War II. He landed on the volcanic island of Iwo Jima on Feb. 23, 1945, two days after the Battle of Iwo Jima began, and was there when the American flag was raised.
Collins said the survival rate was very low for a demolitions specialist.
“Pretty much you are a live-meat gunner. He still doesn’t know how he is alive today,” he said of Bransfield.
Collins enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1946 and served until 1948 in the 2nd Division Infantry. His tour included the Mediterranean area. He also served during the Korean War from 1950 to 1952.
“My time in the service, I learned to appreciate American government,” he said.
McCabe was born in Dublin, Ireland, and came to the U.S. in 1947 to live with his uncles and aunts.
“I got my visa on [Abraham] Lincoln’s birthday,” he said. “I found work in downtown New York City.”
Then his uncle told him that he received a letter from President Harry Truman regarding registry for the draft. At the time, McCabe said he did not know about the invasion of Normandy, the 82nd Airborne Division, or what a parachute was.
“I said, ‘Oh, that’s nice,’ and asked what that was,” he said, adding that he learned pretty fast what the draft meant.
McCabe became a parachuter with the 82nd Airborne Division, but he was not deployed overseas. McCabe said he still gets goose bumps when the American flag is brought out.
“The flag means a lot to me, and I can’t believe how much I benefited because of the flag,” he said.
Flaherty served in the Army’s 2nd Armory Division from 1948 to 1949 and was recalled in 1951 when North Korea invaded South Korea.
Gazda enlisted in the Navy in 1948 and was recalled for the Korean War. He served abroad on a small aircraft carrier, the USS Sicily, which could carry 24 fighter planes.
Gazda said he enlisted before the draft because he wanted hot meals and a warm bed. He provided copies of newspaper articles and newsletters from his time in the service.
High school junior Frank Albergo and freshman Jayli Rojas said they were inspired by the veterans’ stories. Pat Coleman, a senior, said he grew up in Ireland and comes from a military background.
“My father, my uncle and my brother served,” he said. “My brother served in the United States Marine Corps in Iraq and Afghanistan. The stories from the veterans about World War II and the Korean War have been amazing.”
Jeffrey Melendez and Brandon Rivera, both juniors, saluted the veterans.
“Their stories are fascinating, and I can’t even image the horrors that they have been through,” said Melendez.