More stories told
<p>Clifford Zierlein salutes during a flag raising ceremony while attending his first Navy reunionat Farragut State Park. Zierlein attended boot training at the Farragut Navy base in 1943 before being shipped over seas during World War II.</p>
<p>Navy veterans Al Sweetman, left, Gene Cooper, and Charles Lish, right, prepare to raise the Idaho state flag Saturday during a ceremony marking the 24th Navy reunion at Farragut State Park near Bayview. The even drew nearly 100 to the former Navy base.</p>
FARRAGUT STATE PARK - Bull Durham served 29 months aboard the USS Enterprise, pride of the United States Navy, the most decorated American vessel of World War II.
He worked the flight deck, launching and landing warplanes as the aircraft carrier pitched and rolled. Out on the dangerous seas of the Pacific Theater, Durham and thousands like him battled the Japanese Imperial Navy - and won.
"Every day when you woke up, you didn't know what was going to happen," he recalled.
Before shipping off, Durham went through boot camp at a cold North Idaho base called Farragut Training Station. On Saturday morning he returned, traveling from Boise to attend the 24th annual reunion at Farragut State Park, just off Highway 54 near Athol.
Dozens of World War II Navy veterans gathered for a ceremonial flag raising near the Museum at the Brig. Many wore blue windbreakers with the words "Where Fightin' Blue Jackets are made" stitched on the back, a tribute to Farragut. Most were very young in 1942-46, when the naval base - a hive of 50,000 sailors and civilians on the shores of Lake Pend Oreille - was the largest city in Idaho.
"All I remember is I came in February, so there was about four feet of snow on the level," Durham said. "We were just teenagers; you know how teenagers are. You're invulnerable. Nothing can happen to a teenager."
Three Farragut veterans - Gene Cooper, Al Sweetman and Charles Lish - raised three flags on the cross-shaped pole: The stars and stripes (at half staff, in honor of 9/11), the Idaho state flag and the dark blue standard of Farragut Training Station.
"I've been coming out here ever since (the park's) been open," said Joe Clay, a veteran from Coeur d'Alene. "We used to march down to Bayview here to row boats. It didn't bother me then, I was 17 years old. I took it in stride."
Clay served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam, applying the basic lessons he'd learned at Farragut, eventually earning the rank of chief radarman. He retired from the service after a 23-year career, and attends the Farragut reunion every fall.
"I didn't wanna be a deckhand," Clay said of his time in the Navy. "I wanted to learn something."
Following the flag raising and national anthem, several speakers addressed the veterans, their families and friends. Assistant manager Keith Jones said Farragut State Park receives about 400,000 visitors per year, many of whom browse the museum, check out the displays and learn about the park's history.
"The stories being told, and our commitment to telling them, definitely remains strong," Jones said.
To conclude the ceremony, veterans unfurled a giant American flag provided by Ron McIntire, owner of Super 1 Foods, and white homing pigeons were released into the sky. Trained by Kristin Strasburger of Spirit Lake, the pigeons circled high above the crowd before returning home to their roosts.
"I really liked (the reunion) this year," said Janice Lauer, the event's volunteer coordinator. "I think it went well. We edited the way we've done some things in the past."
The Farragut reunion takes place every year on the second Saturday of September. All Farragut veterans and the public are welcome.