Veterans share their stories with Goldey-Beacom College students

Barbara Watson was only 16 years old when she joined the Army Nurse Corps during World War II. She lied about her age to get in.

Tony Sbraccia, serving in the Navy, hadn't seen his brother for six months when he spotted him walking down a street in Japan. 

Another resident at The Summit retirement community in Hockessin had flown more than 40 missions over southeast Asia. One man conducted research on bullets before marrying his wife, a Wren in the women's branch of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. 

Those are the types of stories Goldey-Beacom College students have been gathering this spring to compile into a book on the veterans of Summit. The senior living facility is less than two miles away from the college's campus and was built in 2015. The book will be unveiled in November, during Summit's annual Veterans Day celebration. 

The project started with the college's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee but has since grown, assistant athletics director Jeremy Benoit said. The student organization Lightning Studios will be making a short video about the veterans, while students in the lit club will transcribe their interviews. 

"I want our students to learn about what life was like for them," Benoit said describing the project. He grew up around seniors, and his mother worked as an activities director for a facility much like The Summit. That's what inspired him to forge a relationship with the senior living community, where he thinks students will learn valuable life lessons by talking to the residents. 

"When you have an opportunity like this, half a mile from your college, it seems silly not to take advantage of it," Benoit said. 

Last week, students spent the better part of Friday morning talking to the residents and chronicling their histories. 

Watson, now 92, said after she lied about her age and joined the Army Nurse Corps, she was assigned to St. Albans Naval Hospital in Long Island, New York. 

St. Albans sprung into existence in 1943, during World War II, and was decommissioned in the 1970s. Its peak capacity was 4,642 patients. 

"You had to be 19," Watson said, explaining that she had graduated high school early and didn't want to just sit at home for three years until she was old enough to serve. 

"Another girl, a classmate of mine, was also 16," she said. 

Down the hall, 79-year-old twins Peter and Samuel Ferrara were telling Goldey-Beacom sophomore Deondre Pearsall what it was like to serve in the National Guard. 

They enlisted together, following in the steps of their father, who served in the Navy during World War II, and their grandfather, who served in the Army in World War I. 

"I think it's a good thing to talk about it," said Peter Ferrara, who is about 15 minutes older than his brother. 

"When I reflect back on it, we Ferraras are really proud we did our part," Samuel Ferrara said.

Samuel Ferrara served in one of several National Guard units dispatched to Berlin by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, he said. 

Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in 1958 delivered a speech in which he demanded the Western powers of the United States, Great Britain and France pull their forces out of West Berlin within six months.

This ultimatum sparked a three-year crisis that culminated in 1961 with the building of the Berlin Wall.

"President Kennedy deployed a lot of units to show the strength of the U.S. over there," Samuel Ferrara said. "I went from being in the National Guard into the Second Army." 

Later, his son became part of the international peacekeeping force in Lebanon after the U.S. brokered a ceasefire between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel. 

The Ferraras said they hoped their stories inspired the college students to serve their country, as part of either the military or something like the Peace Corps. 

Though both hoped for an end to all military conflict, they weren't sure it would ever come. 

"Every year that goes by, it seems someone in the world wants more than they have," Samuel Ferrara said. 

Pearsall, after talking to the twins, felt like he had a new perspective on military service. 

"It definitely makes me more grateful to be an American," he said. "It helped me understand that as an individual, like them, I could make a difference. It was very inspiring." 

"Their stories made me feel more patriotic ... We haven't had a draft in so long, I think people have lost sight of what we had to fight for." 

Geoff Stone, a junior majoring in English, was taking pictures and recording video of the interviews. 

"You can really see they enjoy sharing their stories with someone who cares," he said. "It's always a great start to the day." 

Scott Thomas, program director for Independent Living at The Summit, said the experience has been wonderful for everyone involved. 

He called the veterans "our Summit heroes." 

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Contact Jessica Bies at (302) 324-2881 or jbies@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @jessicajbies.

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