In March of 2022, Dorseyville Middle School eighth-grader Eloise Johnson (now a rising Fox Chapel Area High School ninth-grader) interviewed 96-year-old Pittsburgh area native Eugene Khorey about his experiences during World War II. Khorey was born in Latrobe, raised in Munhall, and was a 1944 graduate of Munhall High School (now known as Steel Valley Senior High School).
A Bronze Star recipient, he served in the U.S. Army 86th Infantry Division (known as the Blackhawks), arriving in Europe in March of 1945. He served in the Battle of the Bulge and Ruhr Pocket. The Blackhawks liberated the forced labor camp at Attendorn, Germany, in April 1945. Khorey was then stationed in Japan from 1945-1946.
When he returned home, he worked at U.S. Steel Homestead Works, went to college, and then served as a social studies teacher and administrator, mostly in the Pittsburgh Public Schools. He retired in 1985. He was married to the late Margaret (Yanyo) Khorey for 62 years, and has three children, eight grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.
A video featuring Eloise’s interview with Khorey has been posted online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrgKELsQdfo. The filming was done for the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh’s Generations Speaker Series as part of the Yom HaShoah Interview Series, “The Liberators and the Liberated.” The interview was arranged through the Pittsburgh-based LIGHT Education Initiative.