Melvin A. Sher, a former longtime Livingston resident who was active in the township, was lauded at a 100th birthday party on Sunday, October 29, at the Livingston Senior/ Community Center.Sher, who currently lives in Fair Lawn, was born on October 29, 1923, and graduated from Weequahic High School, Newark, in January of 1942. While he and his wife, Estelle, lived in Livingston, they were active volunteers with Meals on Wheels and Saint Barnabas Medical Center. Sher also did volunteer work for the Special Olympics and drove for the Livingston Senior Transportation. He was a member of the Livingston Veterans of F oreign Wars and J ewish War Veterans Posts; the Livingston Chapter of AARP (American Association of Retired People); and Livingston’s Sanford M. Schor Lodge of the Knights of Pythias.Served in Italy During WWII After graduating high school, Sher enlisted in the armed forces. He recounted his World War II experiences in a 2002 book, “Wars Remembered,” compiled and published by the Livingston VFW Post 2856. Below is his account.•••I enlisted in the Army Air Force on December 15, 1942 and took my basic training at Fort Dix, New Jersey. I was then sent on to Atlantic City for further AAF training.I was later permanently assigned, as one of a group, to assemble recruits coming into Atlantic City from the railroad station and marching them to their respective hotels.After about three months, I requested reclassification. Following some testing, I was sent to Seymour Johnson Field in Goldsboro, North Carolina as a clerk-typist. Not satisfied with that position, I requested to go to a technical school. I was again reclassified and sent to Radio Mechanics School at Truax Field in Madison, Wisconsin for 18 weeks. I did well and after finishing the course, was sent to Chanute Field in Illinois for an Electronics course of six weeks. When the course was almost completed, I was asked if I wanted to go on to radar. All taking that course were investigated by the FBI, radar being a secret thing at that time. I was sent to Boca Raton, Florida for pre-radar of five weeks, and upon completion, was then selected to go on to specialize in radar navigation. I had a title of radar mechanic navigator at the completion and received my corporal stripes after this course.I was sent to Bari, Italy and assigned to the 782nd Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) of the ...
