Heartfelt day of remembrance

BARBARA DIAMOND

Flags in Laguna flew at half-staff Monday in memory of those who gave

their lives in defense of America and the liberties Americans believe

are self-evident. The Laguna Beach Community Concert Band performed a

repertoire of stirring, Memorial Day music at Main Beach.

However, the usual ceremonies that are hosted by American Legion

Post 222 on Memorial Day at Heisler Park were held Saturday to

coordinate with dedication of the national World War II Monument.

It was a moving ceremony of remembrance. Local veterans shared

their experiences with an appreciative crowd. Larry Wohrman provided

a thoughtful musical accompaniment to the tribute.

“This was so much more interesting than speeches,” said Mayor

Cheryl Kinsman, whose own speech was short and sweet.

“This,” she said, hold up a shell, “is my most treasured

possession. My father brought it back from the Pacific. Today, I

think of how lucky I was and how lucky my family was that he came

back and I think of others who were not so lucky.”

The speakers at the ceremony were among the lucky ones, but they

remember their buddies and family members who didn’t make it back.

“We pay tribute to the 408,206 who did not return,” said post

Commander Bob Moore.

Moore served in the U.S. Navy in World War II.

“My very first time at sea and what did I hear -- ‘Prepare to

abandon ship,” Moore said.

His ship had malfunctioned, “dead in the water,” when a Japanese

submarine surfaced. For whatever reason, the sub dived without firing

a torpedo, called fish.

“Old timers said [the sub commander] either didn’t think we were

worth a fish or were out of torpedoes,” Moore said. “They were

insulted.”

Moore was on his way to the Aleutian Islands, where casualties

were exceeded only by Iwo Jima.

“Americans today are no different than they were then,” Moore

said. “They are always the greatest.”

Army Air Force veteran Don Black got his wings in 1942. He flew

250 missions, the record, over “The Hump,” in the China, Burma, India

Theater.

“It was the smallest and least important theater in the war,” said

Black. “But we kept the Japanese busy so they couldn’t go to the

Pacific Theater.”

In 1943 and ‘44, about 600 planes were lost flying “The Hump,”

keeping a supply route in the skies when the Burma Road was closed by

Japanese occupation.

“We called it the hump because the mountains were 25,000 feet

high,” Black said. “It has the worst weather in the world.

Thunderstorms were 50,000 feet high. With all that ice and

turbulence, who cared about a few Japanese Zeros (Japan’s fighter

planes).

“We flew 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Black said. “I

enjoyed every minute.

“I salute my comrades in CBI.”

Ken Anderson also was a decorated World War II pilot. Earl “Pinky”

Brown was “grounded.” He served with the 1st Infantry Division and

survived D-Day, the bloody battle on the beaches of Normandy.

“I thank the people who remember my comrades,” Brown said.

Ben Blount also survived D-Day and the invasion of Europe gave him

his greatest treasure, his wife Gigi, whom he met in Belgium where

she had served in the underground.

The Blounts were honored as Patriots of the Year in 1998.

“On June 6, 150,000 men and women were moved from England to

France in one day, and 30,000 vehicles,” said Blount, who retired

form the U.S. Army as a colonel. “My unit’s job was to clear

obstacles -- mines and explosive devices -- that would endanger our

troops or slow them down.”

He lauded the 4,500 planes that flew cover and the 5,000 vessels

that dropped the troops as near to shore as possible to reduce their

most vulnerable moments, the soldiers that dropped behind the German

lines to divert attention from the beaches and the allied troops that

fought side-by-side with the Americans -- and died with them.

“We miss our buddies,” said Blount.

Dave Connell remembers the war from two perspectives. As a

teenager, too young to enlist, he worked in the shipyards. Two years

later, at 18, he joined the U.S. Navy.

“We were a united country,” Connell said.

He joined the reserve when he was discharged and was recalled to

active duty in Korea, where he served another two years.

What a shame these memories were not recorded. Perhaps the city’s

Historical Society could take on the project.

Twelve million of the 16 million who saw service in World War II

died before their monument was built, many with stories untold.

Among them this year were Laguna veterans John Adams, Bill

Boynton, Felix de Weldon, Harvey Fenhaus, Novel James, Robert E.

Lewis, Mark Pines, John S. Thompson, Randall Bishop, Francis Cabang,

James Fender, Robert M. Hamill, Hugo Karpeles, Lawrence O’Boyle,

William Thomas III, James Vegenas, Robert Wheeler and Legion

Auxiliary Officer Freida Gordon.

Floral offerings, a tradition started by kind-hearted southern

women during the Civil War, were presented on Saturday by the legion,

and VFW posts, the auxiliaries, American Assn. of University Women,

Art-a-Fair, Canadian Veterans, Ebell Club, Festival of Arts, Laguna

Canyon Conservancy, and Laguna’s Club for Kids, Firefighters and

Police Employee associations, Friends of the Library and Hortense

Miller Gardens, Chamber of Commerce, Community Concert Band, Board of

Realtors, Garden Club, Rotary, Taxpayers Assn.,Visitors and

Conference Bureau, Woman’s Club and Resource Center, two Exchange

Clubs, the Sawdust Festival, No Square Theater, Patriots Day Parade,

St. Vincent De Paul, Village Laguna and the Neighborhood

Congregational Church.

Flowers also were presented in honor of U.S. Army Col. Stanley

Frances Flynn and in memory of Bud Morrison, Les and Frances Chatham,

Lt. Robin Andrew Priece, Captain Eric Barnes, Sgt. Carl Tertak, Ogden

Durler, Wesley, Nealon, Anthony Nealon, Michael J. Malone and Norm

Studart.

Col. Grant Valentine, a Laguna Beach resident, donated to Post 222

work by a local artist.

* OUR LAGUNA is a regular feature of the Laguna Beach Coastline

Pilot. Contributions are welcomed. Write to Barbara Diamond, P.O. Box

248, Laguna Beach, 92652, hand-deliver to 384 Forest Ave., Suite 22;

call (949) 494-4321 or fax (949) 494-8979.