SEPTEMBER 2020 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 9
IN THE NEWS
WWII 75 YEARS ON
DEADLIEST WAR’S SURVIVORS
L. to R.: WWII veterans Seymour Lederman, Edwin Pyser, William Lauter, and Bernard Rader. (Photos by Joe Nuzzo)
BY JOE NUZZO
September 2 marks the 75th anniversary
of the end of World War II, the
deadliest war in human history, but
many commemorative ceremonies
were canceled this year due to the
coronavirus pandemic.
The Press interviewed several local
WWII veterans who survived the war
that killed more than 70 million people
worldwide. The veterans recalled being
among troops that stormed the beaches
of Normandy to push the Nazis back
from France to Germany, liberating
concentration camps where 6 million
Jews were killed during the Holocaust,
battling Imperial Japanese forces in the
Pacific, and more.
“WWII created what we now call “the
Greatest Generation,” said Andrew
Parton, president of the Cradle of Aviation
Museum and Education Center,
which has a WWII exhibit for the
anniversary. “They serve as a tribute
to the sacrifices made to help preserve
the freedoms we cherish today.”
More than 10 million Americans were
drafted and another 5 million volunteered
to serve until Germany surrendered
on May 7, 1945 and Japan followed
suit four months later. Here are some of
their stories, as told by a few of Long Island’s
remaining World War II veterans.
CAMP LIBERATORS
Seymour Lederman, 90, of Smithtown
was 15 when he forged his birth
certificate to enlist in the U.S. Army in
1944. He was assigned to the 14th Tank
Battalion, where he was a gunner on
a Sherman tank. Months later, his division
landed on the second day of the
invasion of Normandy at Omaha Beach.
During the Battle of the Bulge, Lederman’s
tank hit a mine and caught fire.
He was pulled out by his sergeant, but
the rest of his crew were killed. Lederman
was later hit by shrapnel from a
German grenade.
After two weeks in the hospital, Lederman
— still in bandages — was assigned
to a new tank crew, who held the Ludendorff
Bridge, which allowed Allied
forces to cross into Germany. From
there his tank crew helped liberate the
Dachau concentration camp.
“It was the worst sight you would ever
want to know,” he recalled. “Bodies of
men, women, and children piled up
high … their eyes were open like they
were looking at you saying, ‘Help me.’”
Ninety-four-year-old Rosalino Catalano
of Farmingdale witnessed similar
horrors after he was drafted into the
Army in 1944 and assigned to the 87th
Infantry Division. His unit landed in
France, pushed their way into Germany,
and was one of the first to liberate
the Buchenwald concentration camp.
“There were bodies stacked up one story
high,” he recalled. “It was a terrible
scene to see that. Thank God we got
to the camp and were able to free the
people that were still alive.”
His unit then helped liberate Dachau
shortly before he was wounded in the
Battle of Bulge.
POW SURVIVOR
Bernard Rader, 96, of Freeport, was
drafted into the U.S. Army in 1943 and
assigned to the 94th Infantry Division,
which almost immediately saw combat
in France.
About a month later, German troops ambushed
his unit and he was badly injured.
Prior to being captured, Rader asked a
fellow soldier to bury his dog tags because
they indicated that he was Jewish. After
47 days in a German hospital, Rader was
involved in the first prisoner exchange
between U.S. and German troops.
After recovering, he became an Army
medic until he was discharged. He was
later issued the French Legion of Honor
award, France’s highest award.
FLYING FORTRESS FIXER
Edwin Pyser, 96, of Greenlawn, was
19 when he entered the Army Air
Force in 1941, the year Japanese
forces bombed a U.S. Navy base in
Pearl Harbor, drawing America into
WWII.
He was assigned to an air base in London
where he worked as an aircraft
mechanic on the B-17 Flying Fortress.
He got the planes air ready when the
aircraft returned with combat damage,
all while enduring the constant
threat of German air raids.
“Our fear was the buzz bombs,” he
recalled. “They also had a secret
weapon which would come down
quietly and blow up a whole block.
But the buzz bombs were fearful
though, because you could hear them
coming.”
THE PACIFIC FRONT
Ninety-eight-year-old William Lauter
of Huntington volunteered to join the
Navy in 1942. After basic training, he
was assigned to the submarine USS
Bluefish, then reassigned to the USS
Ray, on which he completed eight
patrols in the Pacific. He rescued 23
downed pilots and sank a total of 58
Japanese vessels through the end of
the war.
Their victories came with great cost. At
the end of the war, 672,000 Americans
were wounded, and 405,000 Americans
had lost their lives.
Editor’s note: Rosalino Catalano died
on April 24.
“It was the worst sight you would ever want to
know,” said Seymour Lederman.
/LONGISLANDPRESS.COM
