BRIARCRIER
August 23, 2013
– Friday 12:15, The Briar's Restaurant, Briarcliff Manor Rotary
Club.
TODAY IN
HISTORY
1959:
President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed an executive order making
Hawaii our 50th state.
MEETING
LEADER – President Anne Cargill
PLEDGE
– Anne Cargill
PATRIOTIC SONG – Sy Yuter
PRAYER – Bishop John
HAPPY
THOUGHTS AND BUCKS: Ken, happy with ETA of April 2, not April 1, 2014 for his new grand child; Mike Sturm,
speaker, happy to be here; Scott, happy to be a member of club; Anne,
hopes Thursday operation on shoulder will be successful.
GUEST:
Prospective member Beth Hussain.
ROTARIANS
PRESENT AND ANNOUNCEMENTS - 15 Rotarians present. Via Ernie,
Community Day is September 7.
SPEAKER
AND SUBJECT – Mike Sturm on Italy battles during WWII
SUMMARY
OF TALK
Mike
Sturm, from Staten Island, delivered a talk about his recent 11
day
trip to Italy to tour the American World War II battlefields
from Sicily
to Rome. His interest in the Italian Campaign was
sparked by the fact
that his father's first cousin, PVT Sidney I.
Heistein of Mount Freedom,
NJ, was Killed in Action on 18 October
1943 during the Battle of the
Volturno River (13 - 18 October,
1943.) Sidney was an infantryman in
Company B, 15th Infantry,
the same company as Audie Murphy. Mike followed
his cousin's
footsteps from the Sicilian landing beach at Licata, to the
Italian
mainland. He described the bloody battle of the Volturno
River,
Sidney Heistein's last battle. Mike then spoke of his
emotional climb of
Hill 446 near Roccaromana, Italy, to recite a
memorial service where
Sidney and eight others from his
company died in a horrific artillery barrage.
The talk ended
with a plea that such sacrifices in the name of freedom
never be
forgotten. Mike can be contacted at mbsturm@gmail.com.
The
entire trip, as well as the Last Battle of PVT Sidney I.
Heistein, is
documented in photos at http://www.mikesturm.com.
This
Friday at The Briar's Restaurant -- What Marines Do by
Charles Paki
Elinor
Yuter, Reporter
Rachel
Leihbacher, Expediter
