Tampa veterans' stories compiled in book

There might be no better place to listen to war stories than a mobile home park in Florida, where many veterans live out their lives in sunshine and peace.

That's the idea that struck Ed Bedore, a retired Navy Seaman 1st Class who served during World War II. His community of the Regency Cove mobile home park off Gandy Boulevard in South Tampa is rich with veterans, and stories pour out like fine wine from a vintage cask.

Bedore is the carafe, collecting those stories and putting them in print. "The Veterans of Regency Cove: An Anthology of Memories," was handed out Sunday afternoon after a moving program that left many of the 140 people in the park's clubhouse in tears.

"It was tough pulling stories out of them," Bedore said before the program. He said such communities are fruitful mining grounds for veterans' stories and he hopes others will take up his labor across the nation. He said he doubts he will follow up his first book.

Asked if he is proud of his work, he paused.

"I am," he said.

The completed product contains stories from scores of veterans living in the park, filling the pages of the spiral-bound book. Photos are a big part of the story. He said 135 books were printed, and all of them were sold.

The South Tampa Fellowship church paid the publishing costs and donated the $1,000 collected from book sales to Hope for the Warriors, an organization that supports wounded veterans and their families.

About 50 veterans whose stories are in the book were on hand for Sunday's program and book distribution.

Betty Sargent was among them. She is a retired U.S. Navy WAVE who wore her uniform "for the first time in 55 years," she said. How does it feel to have her story in the book?

"I think this is the greatest thing going," she said.

The collection of war stories was penned by the 83-year-old Bedore, his wife, Dee, and good friend Sandra Ross, a retired schoolteacher from Chicago who joined the project because she is experienced with computers.

Together they gathered stories from about 80 veterans in the park, including a few dozen who served in World War II.

With that war's veterans dying at a clip of about 1,500 a day, Bedore said those wartime memories are being lost and he wanted to do something about it. In October 2010, Bedore began his scribing.

The stories collected from Regency Cove range from feats of heroism to more mundane tales. There are recollections of Korea, Vietnam and conflicts as recent as the invasion of Grenada in 1983.

Bedore said it doesn't matter whether a veteran saw action or served as a typewriter jockey.

The program included a presentation that showed photos from World War II and subsequent military engagements, and ended with taps being sounded. Retired veterans snapped to attention and saluted.

Elaine Belba cried. Her husband, George, has his Navy photo on the cover of the book, and his story about serving during the Korean War is told inside.

He died three months ago to the day.

"It's difficult, especially when you hear taps," she said. "It's a tough day for me."