Remembering veterans: Retiree collecting service memories in informal book

By: GARY WARTH - Staff Writer | Saturday, November 5, 2005 9:02 PM PST ∞

Veterans Day used to be just another holiday for Mimi Baca, who knew few vets in the 25 years she lived in Silicon Valley. But after moving to north Escondido four years ago, Baca discovered that many of her neighbors in Champagne Village were veterans. She was also surprised that the group was not acknowledged with any special events at the manufactured-home community.

"I looked at the social calendar, and it didn't have anything for them," she said. "I thought, 'This is a big, big omission.'"

Baca, retired from a career in public relations, has since 2001 helped organize Thanksgiving dinners where vets eat for free and sit at tables of honor. Because many Champagne Village residents visit their families during Thanksgiving, the dinners are held in early November, in conjunction with Veterans Day.

The dinners also see the release of annual updates of a remembrance book, now in its fifth year, for her neighborhood veterans. Baca said she would like to help other retirement communities that are interested in makng similar books for their own veterans.

"I asked all the vets to answer the question, 'How has the service impacted the rest of your life?'" she said about the genesis of the book she created with loose-leaf binders.

More than 30 veterans responded, usually typing just one or two pages. Their comments often were brief, and just as often touching and intriguing. Ranging from World War II to the Gulf War of 1991, the vets wrote about freezing on ships in the open sea, fighting Germans in the Battle of the Bulge and writing home to their families and spouses.

Most aren't the stuff of heroic action movies, but simple tales of dedication, loyalty and the hardship that came with answering their country's call.

Three of the men ---- Warren Denny, Roy Hanna and John McClain ---- have died since their stories originally appeared in Baca's book, a reminder that time is running short for projects like hers.

More veterans have moved into the neighborhood, however, and each year before Veterans Day, Baca has expanded the chronicles with inserts or new books.

World War II memories

Roy Hanna, now deceased, served in the Army from 1944 to 1946. Like several veterans who submitted remembrances to the book, he said much in the few words he wrote.

"I served two years in the Black Forest in Germany, fighting three major battles, including the Battle of the Bulge," he wrote. "We lost hundreds of men there. I was so fortunate to return to the United States without a scratch. Praise the Lord! Only 13 men in the 100th Infantry survived."

Charles Bartlett served in the Army from February 1943 to December 1945 and was in Gen. Patton's Third Army.

"I just did what had to be done," he wrote in a brief entry. "After the Battle of the Bulge in Europe, I came back on a recuperation furlough on the Queen Mary, and I knew I just didn't ever want to go back."

Russell Dunkerton, who served from 1944 to 1945, also was a member of Patton's Third Army.

"We went into combat in Metz, Germany, then to Soarbrucken, then to Bastogne, on loan to Field Marshall Montgomery's forces and back to Germany, assigned to the 8th Armored Division," he wrote. "We were within 90 miles of Berlin on the autobahn when the war ended.

"Our division was the first infantry combat division to return to the States after the fall of Germany."

Norman Peterson went from the Air Force Band to the Army infantry during World War II.

"We landed in Marseilles, France, in 1944, fought 153 days without break through France, Germany, Battle of the Bulge, Austria," he wrote. Eventually, he left the front lines to become a Special Services officer, providing entertainment for the division.

"The service taught me about life, living and dying," he wrote. "Only eight of the 216 in our heavy-weapons company made it through the war. I never expected to be a survivor."

Bernard Guthrie served in the 106th Infantry Division in Europe during World War II and fought the Germans in Belgium.

"We were ordered to pull out and enter Germany to attack a town, and the 9th Armored would relieve us. We marched in the freezing rain and under mortar fire. I hit the ditch alongside the road and froze dry about three times. We got to the town and started to move in when German Tiger tanks came in the other end, so we had to let them have the town."

Two days later, his division was on top of a hill, firing down on the Germans, who then found a higher hill and fired back.

"Now word came down that we were going to surrender," he wrote. "This was not a popular decision. We all felt mad and ashamed."

After their surrender, the Americans were taken to a German prisoner of war camp. After six months on a diet of turnip soup and black bread, Guthrie had lost 50 pounds. He had been accused of sabotage, threatened with a firing squad and sent to a camp run by Hitler Youth.

"I had found that I could live through things that I formerly would have believed impossible," he wrote. "I had the confidence of survival and the ability to lead and command. I was able to handle responsible positions. I also learned that you don't accomplish objectives by yourself, but you have to depend upon others to be part of your plans."

Other conflicts

David Cherry, a Canadian immigrant who has moved from Champagne Village since writing his entry, served in the Navy Reserve from 1964 to 1966.

"I served at the time the conflict in Vietnam was heating up," he wrote about his three tours on a ship taking Marines to Southeast Asia. "After release from the service, the years that followed brought the war protests, a lack of patriotism and self-respect. Seeing the unsettledness and discontent of my fellow human beings was a shock to me. I was disappointed in people."

Cherry said he looked back with pride on his service after leaving the Navy Reserve.

"We were joined in a united purpose," he wrote. "That camaraderie and singleness of purpose have woven themselves into the fabric of my life experience. It is with that spirit that I have approached my jobs, relationships, even my family."

Milos Koutsky was a commander in the Navy Reserve, with active duty from 1957 to 1969. He retired in 1996, and some of his most memorable moments were not about combat.

While assigned to a helicopter anti-submarine squadron deployed aboard the USS Yorktown, he helped in the rescue of 53 merchant sailors from a British freighter and was aboard the ship when it escorted President Eisenhower's battleship to Taipei in 1960.

In 1968, he again was aboard the Yorktown when the ship portrayed the Japanese carrier Akagi in the movie, "Tora, Tora, Tora."

"It was a blast working the flight deck launching and recovering those aircraft made to look like WWII Japanese combat fighters," he wrote.

That December, Koutsky was aboard the Yorktown when it recovered the Apollo 8 crew after its splashdown.

Bruce Cripe served in the Marine Corps from 1969 to 1965, including six years of active duty during the Vietnam War.

After three months on Okinawa, he was sent to relieve the 2nd Battalion, Ninth Marines in Vietnam, who had been ambushed and almost wiped out. By the time his battalion arrived, however, an Army unit had responded, and Cripe never made it to Vietnam. Many of his classmates did ---- and never made it back.

"We lost several pilots from our class of 1969, and we had two POWs, one of whom returned and who had spent time with John McCain in the 'Hanoi Hilton,'" he wrote.

During Desert Storm, Cripe's unit was about to be deployed to Saudi Arabia.

"Most of our unit was activated and I was in the last group to depart on a Saturday," he wrote. "The war ended on Thursday of that week, so I missed that boat, too."

An Army couple

Grace Foley served in the Army Medical Corps from 1943 to 1946, with duty in China, Burma and India.

One of the first 1,000 registered physical therapists at the time, she was assigned to a hospital at the base of the Himalayas, where she treated 75 patients a day.

"One day, I had an unusual request from the chief surgeon of the hospital to hold the hand of a patient who was having stitches removed from his eye," she wrote. "The doctor knew it would be painful, and that having a woman present would keep him from screaming and kicking. That patient was Tom Foley, and we have been holding hands ever since!"

Tom Foley served in the Army and Air Force from 1942 to 1946.

"After crashing a plane in the Burmese jungle and walking out, I was placed in an Army medial hospital a few miles from my base," he wrote. "There I met a physical therapist, Lt. Grace Woodworth. I convinced her to become a long-lasting side effect from my accident, and we have enjoyed a marriage lasting these 57 years!"

After leaving the service, Foley started an air cargo line serving the Caribbean and Central America. He later became president and CEO of a large national company.

Non-veteran also contributes

Paul Burchett wrote about serving as a civilian with the Cold Weather Test Detachment, a secret operation in Alaska established after the Japanese occupied southern Alaska in World War II.

The group was stationed in Fairbanks, Alaska, and tested the cold-weather abilities of 34 new military aircraft, including B-17s, A-20s and fighters such as P-38s.

As a specialist from Douglas Aircraft, Burchett was responsible for running tests on five classes of airplanes.

"Due to the nature of purposely seeking severe weather to run the tests, we had plenty of close calls," he wrote. "As an example, one day the crew, pilots and myself were testing the C-47 windshield de-icing when the oxygen failed and we all passed out at about the same time.

"We were in a slight dive, and shortly the oxygen system came on again. All of us had vicious headaches, but fortunately we had been flying at about 27,000 feet with no mountain peaks around. Many others who were testing other aircraft were not so lucky and never returned to Wright Field from a day of testing."

Burchett and other civilians on the project dressed as officers, except for their caps, and took the same risks as enlisted men. While the names of officers who were killed in the tests are on record, Burchett said no such list exists for the civilians. Through the Freedom of Information Act, he has been has been trying to compile a record of all civilians who were lost during the cold-weather tests.

"We are also attempting to seek recognition as veterans along with 37 already-recognized similar groups of civilians who served in WWII," he wrote.

Last Sept. 27, Congressman Darrell Issa introduced into the Congressional Record his own tribute to Burchett and other civilians of the Cold Weather Test Detachment.

"Civilian employees, Mr. Burchett and his colleagues voluntarily worked alongside our servicemen during the war," Issa wrote. "They endured extreme weather conditions and worked to ensure the safety of our pilots and our planes in the frigid temperatures of Alaska. The contribution that Mr. Burchett and his colleagues made to support the war effort will not be forgotten.

"Mr. Burchett, now 90 years of age, has led a remarkable life. Until recently, his work at Ladd Field was classified. This is why I now wish to recognize that work and commend Mr. Burchett on a lifetime of dedicated service to his nation. He deserves our respect and gratitude."

Contact staff writer Gary Warth at gwarth@nctimes.com or (760) 740-5410.