From the September 23, 2010, Pittsburgh Tribune Review by Richard Robbins.
Donald Brown, 86, of Acme, Pa., attended the 28th and last reunion of 850 shipmates from the USS Card (CVE-11) an escort aircraft carrier that served in both the Second World War and Vietnam. Only 12-13 were coming to this weekend's reunion in Washington, DC.
Said Brown, "I won't see my old salts anymore." And the expression in his eyes said more than words could ever do.
Bernie Spozio of Jeannette, Pennsylvania, said the same thing about his old Army outfit that fought in the Philippines and Okinawa. He got together two weeks ago "probably for the last time."
The Department of Veterans Affairs said that as of May 2010, there were just over 2 million World War II veterans still alive. Each day, approximately 850 members of the "Greatest Generation" dies.
Brown's two "best buddies" were Merle "Lover Boy" Craig and Andy Ross Bunch of Earlington, Kentucky. The three old veterans keep in touch and visit each other.
Brown recently moved into a senior residence. After the war he lived in Acme and was a heavy equipment operator until he retired at 80. Brown met his wife of 50 years, Eunice, in Washington, DC, not long before the Card, an escort carrier and sub hunter, shoved off for duty in the North Atlantic and later the Pacific. They met in Union Station where he was preparing to take the train to Baltimore where the Card was anchored. They were married for fifty years.
Back When Folks Were Married and Stayed at the Same Jobs for a Long Time. --GreGen
The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.
The name of his friend was Andy Ross Bunch not "Punch"
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ReplyDeleteThank you for the name. I take it Andy Bunch must be a relative. One of those Greatest Generation men.
ReplyDeleteHeroes All. --GreGen