Pentimento

CASU7 detachment at Quillayute NAS 1944

CASU7 detachment,
originally uploaded by webduckie.

Today I was able to pinpoint the location of where this photo was taken using my dad's Service Memories book. My mom must be commended too for adding all the documentation to the book.

Dad's book says that he was transferred from Sand Point NAS to Quillayute NAS 06 March 1944. Since this picture was taken in September of 1944, it is likely they were in Quillayute.

As a side note, 26 January 1944 Dad was home on leave (from service in the South Pacific on New Caledonia) to get married 05 February 1944 at his in-law's home in Seattle.

Retsil Veteran's Home Ongoing Donation Requests

WA Veteran's Home, Retsil

My most recent DAR email requested some items for ongoing donations to the WA State Veteran's Home at Retsil, WA. Rather than retype the email, I am going to paste it in this article. For more information and directions to Retsil you can click this link. There are just three Veteran's Home's in Washington State. One in Port Orchard, another in Orting, and the third in Spokane. Of course, you don't need to be a member of the DAR to donate.

Ongoing: Assorted reading magazines - ladies, outdoor, fishing, hunting, gardening & travel (especially Europe); costume jewelry, and jewelry box; dressed baby dolls (boys and girls); fine grade sand paper; assorted books - law books, history books with pictorials of European countries, especially Great Britain.

I might add, another very important area with respect to donations are items for Auction Day. The auction is held once a month and all birthdays for the month are celebrated on auction day as well with a birthday cake. Doreen Hendry and I noted how very engaged the residents became during the auction, and the bidding was lively! Bidding favorites include books, small picture frames, cans of mixed nuts (very popular) and other snack packages, games, CDs, DVDs, packages of socks, and almost anything one might believe would be of interest to the residents. Last month someone donated a small, room size refrigerator! So the choices are limitless.  
     
Time sensitive: 2 bags of tootsie roll pops, by April 15; Krusteaz pancake mix (15 pound bag), two 32 count packages of value pack dinner plates and a 2 burner electric top indoor hot plate, by April 30th.
 
2  dozen plain Easter sugar cookies for the residents to decorate to be dropped off at Retsil. (Please e mail me if interested in baking cookies. I don't have a drop off date yet).  

Last, items for spring and summer crafts. I will deliver all donated items collected at the meeting Saturday to Retsil next Wednesday, my usual volunteer day. Or, alternatively, donations can, of course, be dropped off directly to Retsil. If dropping off, don't forget to mention "DAR donation" and report all donations on your pink sheet!

As always, many, many thanks to you all for supporting Retsil and our veterans. Our efforts are very much appreciated. 

Regards,
[name deleted for privacy]
Chairman, Veteran Affairs 

Can I See Your Meat Tag?

You learn something new every day. At least, if you're me you do. I was having a discussion with our son yesterday about tattoos and since he has been gone from home for almost 20 years, I asked if he had a tattoo. He said he didn't, but that back in 1992 when he got orders for Somalia he had thought about getting a "meat tag" on his ribs.

meat tag

n. identifying information such as name, Social Security number, religion, blood type, etc., tattooed on a soldier’s body [below your left armpit].

Of course, he had to stop in the middle of his conversation to explain to me what a meat tag is, and why he would want one on his ribs. As it turns out, it is something very practical that some of the military (mostly infantry) do so that they can be identified should they be maimed in some way. To be a little more graphic, if you are blown to bits by an IED and all that remains is your torso, they can use your meat tag to determine who you are.

Greg didn't have to go into combat in Somalia, but he did get shot at in Mogadishu. Not hit, but that means he just got lucky. I'm still mad about that.

They Make Me Smile And Cry

During our drive over and back to Idaho this last week, we were proud to encounter two opposite ends of the military spectrum: An old veteran, and some of our newest ones.

Heading east, through Snoqualmie Pass we passed a convoy of Army trucks and support vehicles. Most likely they were heading to Yakima to the training area there. Jim and I never said a word to each other, when we saw them, but we both knew what we were going to do. As we passed them, we both waved to every single truck. It was a "thank you" wave, and they all knew we felt that way. Not every vehicle that passed them waved to them (shame on those people!) but you could tell when they did. Each soldier in battle gear was giving us a warm wave back. Nothing more than a slight gesture, but I hope they knew it was accompanied by a silent prayer to keep them safe and well, both here and wherever they might be going in the future.

We were going to visit our friends in Idaho, the husband in the family having just retired after 30 years in the Navy. My husband just retired from working for the Navy, so they have certain common topics of interest. We had a very nice visit and our friend Robert showed us his wheel he had made to display his medals and service stations. The flag in the box has flown over every duty station and ship he has been on, including at the South Pole where he wintered over one year in the 1990's.

But Robert is not the "old veteran" referred to in the title of this post. Instead, he was a man we saw in the restaurant in Orofino. As we were about half way through our lunch this gentleman came in the restaurant and was seated a couple tables away from us facing the Clearwater River, as we were. He had on a ball cap but with my limited vision I couldn't make out what it said for sure. I did see a ship on it (I thought it said Callahan?), and some writing, but the angle at which the man was sitting made it hard to read. I didn't want to seem like I was staring. If it was the O'Callahan, then he might not have been a WWII vet, but a later one. I am so bad at judging ages these days.

I told Jim what I had seen and that the man was having coffee and a dessert. It was later in the afternoon, so it might have just been something to tide him over until dinner. In any case, it popped in my head to tell our waiter to add that man's bill to ours, and so when the waiter came back to check on us, that's what I told him. I had asked him if the man was a WWII veteran and he said "I don't know". Inwardly, I was a bit incredulous that in these times of nothing sacred that the waiter hadn't even taken in the writing on the man's cap, but no matter. We finished our lunch and left knowing that we might have made a nice man smile that day. Our waiter told us as we left that he would tell the man it was us. I really didn't care. I love doing stuff like that for people when we can.

On our way back west, again in the area of the pass, we saw a different group of soldiers, this time in desert colored vehicles. Our actions were the same (waving), and their reactions were too. But one soldier sticks in my mind. A young guy near the top of a turret raised his right arm in recognition of our waves. That was what made me cry. So young, so proud, and appreciative of our acknowledgment of their service.   

Admittedly, I am a bleeding heart Patriot, and proud of it. And very proud of those who have served or are currently serving our country. Semper Fidelis! (our son is a prior service Marine).

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