Car cruise-ins are a staple of summer evenings, they always tend to bring people together. But one event is even more meaningful for a group of veterans who, although fought in different wars, have all served our country. 

 

 

"Crusin at the Wurlitzer" draws car enthusiasts to check out various makes and models of cars in Tonawanda, New York. But, it's also a social time for men and women who have served our country.

 

Casimer Bukowski, a World War II veteran is grateful for the weekly event, "I'm thanking the good Lord for all these people that I'm meeting here and being able to converse with and tell stories with and recollect my experiences with them all which is good for me.  I'm just over 100 years old and I'm enjoying my life immensely."

 

Bukowski served in the Army Air Corp from 1942 to 1945. He spent time in a German prison camp for fourteen months and had to march for 82 days from Germany to Poland. As B

 

ukowski explained, "I didn't know what to expect. I was alone, there was no one to converse with or find out what was what at that time, so I was kind of lost. But the longer I stayed a prisoner, the more acclimated I got and then things started moving rather fast for me and kept me occupied, so I had other things to concern myself with than just being a prisoner of war." 

 

Bukowski was not alone. William Dibble is 103 years old, he too served in World War II and fought in Africa and was a prisoner of war. As Dibble explained, "At the end of the island, we got pinned down and I spent 21 months as a POW."

 

Being a prisoner of war leaves a lasting impression, as does taking lives, just ask Bill Gosch who turned 101 this year and served for four years in the Marine Corp.  "It was an adventure and at the time, it wasn't a nice thing. I mean, I killed men and that hurt me, years after. Japanese, I killed nine.  bing, bing, bing, bing. I never thought about it until years later and here these guys, Japanese military and here they never had a chance to reproduce their own kind", said Gosch.

 

Every man and woman had their own reason for enlisting, some were drafted, others chose to enlist to carry on family traditions, like Richard Remele who fought in both the Korean and the Vietnam War.

 

As Remele explained, "My brother was in World War II and then he went to Korea and he got wounded and when he wounded, I decided I was going to go in and when I went in, I spent four years and it was good and bad, but I didn't go to college. So I thought it would be a good career and after four years, I decided to stay in. I made my mind up from then on out and I never thought about getting out."

 

While serving, some chose different careers for better pay, like Warren Richards who fought in World War II. As Richards explained his decision to become a paratrooper, "The pay then was only $100 a month, but if you had jump pay it was $50 more so that was my reasoning for joining paratroopers."

 

Although not as common, women stepped up to serve their country, like Natalie Baird Yaskow, who spent time at Parris Island, "We were sent down to Parris Island at that time and we were sent down to replace the men that were sent out to seas. They were the Marines that had been in for years."

 

No matter what war they served in, every veteran has their own story and they say they are happy they can lean on each other in all times, good and bad. As Michael Lindhurst described, "Veterans in general had no idea. They thought they did, but they didn't and some of them told war stories and they had no idea what they were talking about, you had to be there."

 

It's stories like these that veterans can share and find comfort in at the car cruise-in. John Long, another veteran said he couldn't be more thankful for this kind of event, "This is one of the greatest things that could be happening here, every Monday night like this because it's bringing the Veterans together and making everybody realize how great America is."