Another Memorial Day worth remembering
Memorial Day was a living history day for me. Of course Memorial Day is to honor the war dead, and that was the very purpose of all of the ceremonies in this neck of the woods, but hearing from people who experienced war, and those at home with loved ones in harms' way, adds a depth to the service of our fallen.
Service members who attended the ceremonies were present at the battles of Iwo Jima, Guadalcanal, Inchon, Chosin Reservoir, TET and Fallujah, as well as World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, and those who served important roles here at home. In his speech, Marine Corps League's George Minas said that for every combat soldier there were 10 in support during World War II. I heard the same thing about Vietnam. So those stateside warriors are every bit as important as those on the front lines.
The salty sailor of World War II, Jim Shepard, told a story at the ceremony at Independence Point about two survivors of a Navy ship in World War II. A torpedo struck the ship and continued out the other side. One sailor managed to jump into the water and swam to a safe distance from the sinking ship and saw a head appear near the ship. That man swam over to him. He asked where he had been on the ship, and the second man replied that he had been in the engine room where the torpedo hit and escaped through the hole the torpedo made. These were the only two who survived. The ceremony continued with the rifle salute, taps and then the ceremonial wreath Jim makes every year was launched in Lake Coeur d'Alene to honor those who died at sea.
The next ceremony was at St. Thomas Cemetery for the Catholic War Veterans, preceding the Mass for Memorial Day. Here I learned about a young soldier who was assigned to a super secret mission for the first detonation of the "H" bomb on Enewetak atoll in the Pacific Ocean on Nov. 1, 1952. He told me that parts of the bomb were delivered by three separate shipments instead of one, in case of espionage. Research reveals that the 62-ton "Mike" device was essentially a building that resembled a factory, and was not intended for airborne delivery, but as an "extremely conservative experiment to validate the concepts used for multi-megaton detonations." The young soldier is now a Korean War vet and told me that the parts of the bomb were delivered by sea, air, and, you guessed it, submarine. He told me that his letters home were highly redacted and his mother commented when he got home that there was very little information in those letters. She was happy when he got home safely.
Alice Rankin, widow of my friend Ronald Rankin, attended the ceremony at Forest Cemetery and enlightened me about Ron's service in the Marines. As you probably know, Ron was one of the "Frozen Chosin" Marines. He was a staunch supporter of veterans, and was our County Commissioner from 1997 to 2002. He was a combat vet of World War II and Korea, a member of the VFW and the Marine Corps League, and appointed curator of the Veterans Memorial Plaza in 2004 at the Kootenai County Administration Building. He was responsible for developing this memorial "to create a lasting memorial to honor the service and sacrifice of Kootenai County veterans" during his tenure as Commissioner. On May 30, 2005, the memorial was renamed "The Ronald D. Rankin Veterans Memorial Plaza" by the County Commissioners. A friend to all, Ron was laid to rest on Oct. 12, 2004.
At Memorial Gardens later in the day, names of 37 veterans who died this past year were read, with ringing of the bell after each name. Some 300 people were in attendance, and the weather was perfect. The Pappy Boyington Marine Corps League sponsors this ceremony, and unique to this ceremony are the Young Marines, who marched in formation parallel to the League color guard and post in formation directly across from the League honor guard. As usual, the Auxiliary had a meal ready for us, giving us a chance while we ate to tell war stories and talk about the days of "C" rats, MREs, and the ubiquitous P-38 can opener we all had on our dog tags. It was a great day to celebrate life as well as honor our fallen comrades.
Jack Evensizer is a resident of Dalton Gardens.