CENTRE — Last Thursday during the monthly meeting of the Cherokee County Historical Society, a group of over 60 listened intently as three local World War II veterans recounted memories from over six decades ago.

John Livingston, Robert Nelson and Billy Godfrey were the special guests at the meeting, held in a meeting room at the Gadsden State-Cherokee campus.

Livingston, 92, served on several ships while an officer in the U.S. Navy from 1942-1945, including the oil tanker USS Sabine and the water distilling ship USS Wildcat.

Nelson, 85, was only 18 when he was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1943. He served in the infantry as a replacement soldier in the 3rd Division, where he saw action from the invasion of Italy in 1943 to a location just a few miles from Hitler's “Eagle's Nest” retreat in Berchtesgaden, Germany, after the war in Europe ended in May 1945.

Nelson said one of the most prized possessions for Army soldiers serving in Europe at the time was a German Lugar pistol, weapons which he said were hard to come by – usually.

“I'll bet I got mine easier than anyone else,” Nelson recounted. “We were marching down the street in Germany and a woman walked up to me and handed me one.”

Godfrey, 91, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps, drew several laughs from the crowd. He told humorous stories about his experiences in boot camp at Parris Island, S.C., and also about his service on the Marine aircraft carrier USS Cape Gloucester in the South Pacific in 1944-45.

There were also some serious moments.

Livinsgton recalled once seeing a Japanese kamikaze plane attack a ship just ahead of his. Nelson remembered one of the battles he was involved in against German troops as being “hell,” and Godfrey said he recalls looking from his ship at the mountains around Nagasaki soon after the second atomic blast and seeing “one side of the mountain still green, and the other all burned up.”

After the three finished their stories, event organizer Jason Clowdis recognized several other veterans of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam who were in attendance.

Clowdis also handed out a few door prizes, including a copy of Godfrey's book about his life entitled “Here Come the Marines.” The book is available at the Cherokee County Public Library.

Clowdis said he was thrilled with the turnout and hopes to invite more veterans to share their memories in the future.

“We had more show up than we expected,” he said. “We're thinking about making this an annual event.”

Clowdis recorded the entire evening and plans to make DVD copies available for purchase by the general public in the near future.

To find out more about the Society, visit their website at www.cherokeecountyhistory.com or call Clowdis at 256-557-5230.