WWII vet wants the true story told

BY MICHAEL J. RUDOLF

Wyoming County Press Examiner

TUNKHANNOCK - A local World War II veteran believes it's important for younger people to understand the conflict he served in.

That's why Norm Werkheiser gave a presentation to the Tunkhannock Rotary Club on Thursday about his experiences in the war.

The day after the event, Werkheiser explained that there are many misconceptions about the war. And because there are so few World War II veterans still alive, first-hand information is becoming scarcer.

"You have to realize that the average World War II veteran is 87 to 88 years old," Werkheiser said. "And unless you are 67 years old, you weren't even born when the war started."

Werkheiser called his presentation to the Rotary Club "World War II as I saw it." During his talk, he donned his old uniform and displayed some of the weapons and equipment he used, plus some that were used by German soldiers.

Werkheiser, 82, was just 16 when the United States entered the war. But two years later, in 1943, he was drafted and shipped to Europe to serve in the infantry.

He fought with the 87th Division, Third Army, across central Europe. His unit battled its way eastward through Germany  until it met up with Russian troops advancing from the opposite direction near the Czechoslovakian border.

Werkheiser spent much of that time on the front lines. He considers himself fortunate that he never had a battle injury.

"I was lucky. I came through the war without a scratch," he said. "Not to say I didn't have a few close calls."

But it was painful to see his fellow soldiers - men he had become close friends with - wounded or killed right next to him.

Werkheiser said although they were young, the troops understood why they were there.

"We knew we were fighting for world peace and for our allegiance to our country," he said.

Over the years the meaning of World War II has become distorted or lost, Werkheiser believes. He said he recently learned that little or no information about the war is taught in schools, and some of what is taught is inaccurate.

"The young people don't know and they've had some misinformation on what it was about," he said.

For example, he said he heard of one school that was teaching that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in response to the United States dropping atomic bombs on Japan.

He added that popular media, such as movies and books, tend to exaggerate or even fabricate events, leading to more confusion.

"A movie needs a hero," he said. "But in the war, everybody was a hero."

Werkheiser said his old unit encourages veterans to speak publicly about their experiences so that the true story doesn't get completely lost. Once all of the World War II veterans are gone, only the history books will be left to tell the story, he said.