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WWII Veteran from Cicero Helps Onondaga County Mark the 70th Anniv. of the End of WWII

Scott Willis, WAER News

  Onondaga County did its part to keep the Spirit of ‘45 alive Friday with a day of festivities marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War two.  Officials kicked things off with the unveiling of a new 10-photo display at the War Memorial that will be available until August of 2016.  U.S. Army Air Corps veteran Ed Zaluski of Cicero was there, and says his journey began when he was a teenager in 1943.

" I wanted to go in when I was 17, but they wouldn't take me. My grandmother wouldn't sign, so I had to wait till I was 18. In the meantime  I went back to school, North Air Defense Training Command, I started going there working on engines. I wanted to be a mechanic, which eventually I did."

The men and women who serve our country often return with stories for the ages.  Pictures might be a starting point, but Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney says she values the importance of veterans being able to give firsthand accounts, which won’t be the case when they’re no longer here.

Credit Scott Willis, WAER News
Director of Onondaga County Veteran Service Agency Corliss Dennis, Ed and Betty Zaluski, and Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney walk down the hallway of the War Memorial to view all the photos on display

That in mind, Zaluski says it really came down to just one thing out on the battlefield.

"All these pictures are true. There is no reason why  they would say 'that guy died for this or that.' They died for a reason for the Japanese, they just wanted us all dead. But it is just luck, everything you do in war cause you are out to kill each other is just luck."

Friday's celebration continued with a self-guided tours of veteran displays  including the new photos, an ice cream social and  a 40’s themed party at Everson Plaza.   

Credit Scott Willis, WAER News
Ed Zaluski looks over at the iconic photo of battle of Iwo Jima which he fought in

PHOTOS IN THE NEW WWII DISPLAY

Available to the public from now until August 2016

The pictures include the following:

Battle of Guadalcanal (August 7, 1942 - February 9, 1943)

Battle of Iwo Jima (February 19 - March 26, 1945)

D-Day Normandy Invasion (June 6, 1944)

Doolittle's Raid (April 18, 1942)

Invasion of Saipan (June 15 - July 9, 1944)

United States Army Corps (1941-1945)

United States Army (1941 - 1945)

United States Coast Guard (1941 - 1945)

United States Nave Seabees (1941 - 1945)

Scott Willis covers politics, local government, transportation, and arts and culture for WAER. He came to Syracuse from Detroit in 2001, where he began his career in radio as an intern and freelance reporter. Scott is honored and privileged to bring the day’s news and in-depth feature reporting to WAER’s dedicated and generous listeners. You can find him on twitter @swillisWAER and email him at srwillis@syr.edu.