A U.S. Marine Corps World War II veteran led a presentation and discussion about the battle for Okinawa at the Military Museum on Saturday afternoon June 16.
Dan Orsini, 91, of South Glens Falls, was a master sergeant and member of the White House Honor Guard team which escorted President Franklin D. Roosevelt on numerous occasions before he was deployed to the Pacific for combat operations.
His discussion was preceded by a presentation of the film “Okinawa Uncensored.” Dan Orsini engaged the audience with his personal experiences in this ferocious combat action that cost thousands of American and Japanese lives.
The program is the latest presented by the Friends, which last November named Orsini and two other World War II service members as Veterans of the Year.
Friend’s board member Gene Corsale, a Korean War veteran, helped organize and coordinate the program, and was assisted by Saratogian reporter Paul Post. Orsini is one of the 40 local veterans featured in Post’s book, “Soldiers of Saratoga County: From Concord to Kabul.”
Among the audience of fifty were other World War II veterans and family members who joined in the discussion and added their own experiences and thoughts.
Speaking about the seven years he served in the Marines, Orsini said “I have a lot of good memories,” and then added “we lost a lot of good people.”
Included below is a video from the event. You can see all of the Friends videos by clicking here.
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