Veterans recall Pearl Harbor through video memoirs at Alle-Kiski Valley Heritage Museum

When the late Mike Sopko enlisted in the Navy in 1943, he forged his dad’s signature.

The 17-year-old’s draft letter arrived in the mail at his Arnold home and his parents made him a deal ­— get your diploma and you can enlist.

“I (got early release) and left school in February to go to boot camp and then right to gunnery school in Maryland,” said Sopko, who recorded his memoir before his death earlier this year.

“From there I went to Gitmo and Pearl (Harbor). I spent the next 22 years in service, and a good 17 of them on some type of ship.”

To mark the 80th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, the Alle-Kiski Valley Heritage Museum in Tarentum will present excerpts from “Duty, Courage, Honor: The Alle-Kiski Valley Goes to War,” the veterans’ video memoir series recorded by John Bailey of New Kensington.

Since 2013, Bailey has recorded stories from 60 World War II veterans in an effort to keep their service alive.

“I thought it was a good idea to collect the recollections of people before we lost more of them,” Bailey said.

His free presentation will begin at 2 p.m. at the museum along Seventh Avenue. It will include video presentations of people with connections and memories of the Dec. 7 attack.

Sopko earned the rank of chief gunner’s mate in 22 years of service. A safety observer on four destroyers, two amphibious ships and an aircraft carrier, he spent his last military years aboard the Newport News, the flagship of the Atlantic Fleet for the Cuban Missile Crisis.

“I got off of there right before she went to Vietnam,” Sopko said. “The worst thing I ever saw was a carrier called the USS Wasp — it cut a destroyer in half during nighttime maneuvers.”

Scheduled to be included Tuesday’s presentation is a heavy bomber bombardier from the Creighton section of East Deer who spent time in a German POW camp after being shot down.

There also will be tales from a Tarentum woman who served in the Navy during Pearl Harbor and later became a real estate agent. She remarked that her first client in the 1960s was a Japanese man.

Bailey, an Arnold native, previously worked in radio and video. He document locals and their inspiring stories whenever possible, he said.

Bailey called himself fortunate to have interviewed Adrian Cronauer, the Pittsburgh native whose experiences as a military radio DJ in Vietnam became the basis of the film “Good Morning, Vietnam,” starring Robin Williams.

Most recently, he turned over footage by deceased veterans to two families who were unaware the videos existed.

“The subjects didn’t tell family and so, they were presented with footage of a loved one that they were entirely unaware existed,” he said.

The 75-minute program on Tuesday is limited to 30 people. Masks are required.

For more, call 724-224-7666.