Pam Dudding
Contributing writer
Veterans come in all sizes and shapes, yet the one thing that is most common is their pride in serving their country and their determination to continue to fight for its freedom, regardless of their age.
At the National D-Day Memorial ceremony in Bedford, there were some World War II veterans who were still able to attend.
Just being around them seemed to give one a “shot in the arm” so to speak of what true patriotism is really about. Their bulldog determination, positive attitude and sincerity of heart for their country and service seemed to make those who spoke with each of them stand a little taller, and yet almost want to bow with sheer admiration.
Some of these World War II veterans shared a little of their service.
The World War II veterans present were asked to come to the front, so that they could be recognized and honored, though in speaking to them, honor for them was not what they would ever ask for, only to honor those comrades who did not make it ‘home’.
The 29th division band played the tune of “We Are Brothers” as these veterans were escorted to the front “for recognition and a great appreciation for the cause of freedom.”
For the few that came forward, out of the midst of the applause for them, those present could still hear a voice loud and clear with no microphone shout, “I got a good voice and I want to thank all of y’all!” The veteran was in a wheelchair. The applause grew louder.
Richard Morris, 89 years old, served 21 years in the Marines and retired in 1973 and still lives in North Carolina.
“Semper fi was good enough for me!” he exclaimed with a smile.
“They tried to draft me about a year after I had already joined the Marine Corps. I was out in California getting ready to go to Korea and my dad called me up and said I have a draft notice for you. I told him I did not think I was coming back to North Carolina to check out whether or not I was eligible to be drafted,” he shared with a laugh.
“I have been fortunate and blessed and have come to know some really great people,” Morris added.
“I came home and some of my friends didn’t and just recently I had a friend to commit suicide; I had no idea,” he said with great sadness.
He mentioned how important care packages were when he was in Vietnam.
“It’s a little bit of home!” he exclaimed. “In our area it went to the men who were in the foxholes not to the ones that got to eat meals every day.”
Morris shared that he had a picture of what they did one Easter.
“We took sea rations and dressed them up, colored some eggs and acted like we were having a hometown Easter,” he said. “I still have that picture. We had to keep thinking positive.”
When he sends out letters including to congressman, he uses his closing line, “Just remember that in all we lost that there are no winners in wars only survivors.”
Ernest Fulcher, a young 96 years old, joined the Navy in 1944 from Cherokee, West Virginia.
“I was not drafted, I enlisted, and I seen a lot of action,” he shared. “I went into Germany, France, and I was going back to Germany through France standing at the boat when they called the war off.”
Jack Castle, 97, is from Botetourt County in Troutville and said he was in World War II in Korea in 1944 and came out in 1946.
“I went to Merck University, and I have a degree in psychology. Then I went back in as an officer in the Korean War. I was on recruiting duty in Roanoke. The former governor Holton and I were in the Navy together,” Castle said. “When I came out from the military, in my civilian life I took a job as a head of the welfare reform program in the state and directed that. We were trying to break the cycle.
Ron Roscveare is 82 and served in the Navy from 1957 to 1961 on the US Bigelow DD942. He served six years overall and two on active duty.
“I was the radar man and watched for submarines, airplanes, or other ships,” he said. “We were also the recovery ship when they first started shooting capsules into space. They were shooting monkeys up before they ever sent a human up. We were supposed to pick up the monkey. Overall, it was a good experience as I seen about half the world.”
James Arrington from Rocky Mount served in the National Guard and Army National Guard seven years as a medic. He was drafted at age 18. He was there with his service dog, Oreo, who was black and white.
He shared a couple stories of him and some boys getting in trouble.
“We have been out on the boardwalk stationed at Virginia Beach and been out partying all night and a buddy of mine had two hot dogs left so when we brought them back and had a thing in the hospital tent kind of like a microwave,” he shared. “He put his hot dogs in there and the lieutenant came in the next day for inspection and when he opened that door and found them two hot dogs in there with the utensils he said when we get to the top of that mountain, we are going to dig the latrine.”
“So, after we got the tent set up we had to dig the latrine for the whole bunch,” he said laughing.
Then he added, “but we did get to ride in the little Jeep up the mountain.”
However, he said, “Then we got caught because we let some of the boys hold on to it because they were getting tired walking. So, we let them hang on to the side of it and we got caught again.”
Charlie Walker served in Korea from 1952 to 1953. He came back from Korea as a Sergeant and went to the reserves and retired from the serves as a major, serving 26 years. He was in the tanks and said, “I can tell you, it’s cold as a devil in the winter in Korea and hot as blazes in the summer!”
Daniel Villerial served in the Marines, in Europe in 1948 and called back to the Korean War in 1950.
“Here I am now, living in Bedford at 94!” he exclaimed with the biggest smile, standing erect in his uniform. His mind was as sharp as a tack.
He was a sharpshooter with a rifle and a pistol and said, “I have a trigger finger!”
Originally from southern Milwaukee, Wisconsin he said that he is now a southerner and “have been since 1950 and I can say y’all!”
One veteran shared that he was in the kitchen with two other buddies having dinner.
“So, where I am sitting at, I can see the stage area and here comes Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Joy Bishop and Sammy Davis Jr. Frank Sinatra comes back to where we are sitting at, sits down and says we are going to have a pint together and pops the cork of champagne and we drank with old Frank Sinatra buddy!” as he laughed telling his story. “So, 15 minutes later here comes Marilyn Monroe, and I’ll tell you when you see her outside of the movies, she looked beautiful! She was happy as a lark waiting for JFK to come in. Yes, I have had moments.”
“I also remember when JFK got killed and we had a big parade for him in D.C. For the number of people that were there it was very quiet…so quiet! A sheer reverence showing respect for him,” he said. “However, when Doctor Martin Luther King got killed it was real chaos. I thought World War three was going to happen. I got called up at 2 o’clock in the morning and as I was coming into DC, you could see flames rising as things were burning from people starting fires. I got down to police headquarters and there’s 5000 police there. They are boarding buses to go to certain areas of DC. We got to the point of 14th Street which was the very bad area. There was smashed up automobiles with broken glass and fires. They started rounding up some of the perpetrators. We put a stop to things within three days.”
John Owen is 101 and still going strong. He served with the 313th Infantry Regiment – 79th Infantry Division that landed on Utah Beach June 14, 1944, D-Day + 8. After helping to capture the great port of Cherbourg, they moved to other parts of France. He received the Silver Star Medal for valor in combat and the Purple Heart for a gunshot wound in the arm. It was his first visit to the Memorial.
His friend that assisted him, Don Saville, shared, “He has ten children and 30 some grandchildren and one great-great grandchild. When I went to visit him a couple weeks ago, he was mowing his lawn. He held his fingers up and said I have one more lap and told me to go sit on the porch. I told him somebody sees me sitting on the porch and him mowing wouldn’t be too happy.”
Though Saville is not a veteran, both of his grandfathers were WWII Veterans.
“So, I carry on through tradition,” he said. “We have a network of people that helps us to do a lot of great things called the Veteran Biographies Foundation and we can be reached at www.veteranbios.com.” Their motto is “None to ever be forgotten.”
The attendees stayed around the veterans for quite a while, asking questions, taking pictures, thanking them for their service.
Honor for country was strong and one could feel it in the air.
