In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed that November 11 would be an annual day to celebrate U.S. veterans of war. Veterans Day honors all those who have served in the United States Armed Forces, both in wartime and peacetime, acknowledging service, recognizing sacrifice and honoring patriotism. In short, it is a day to thank living veterans for their service and contributions to national security and willingness to serve our nation.
At The Avenues Crofton Park, we have about a dozen veterans living with us and we like to honor them, including with our annual luncheon, Wall of Honor, and in featuring veterans in our newsletters periodically. This year, we caught up with David S., who, along with his wife, Pat, have been residents at The Avenues for several years now.
David, 97, served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Having grown up in Trinidad, the Colorado native enlisted voluntarily while he was only 17, one year below the minimum enlistment age of 18. When he enlisted in December 1944, it was the height of the Pacific naval war with the Japanese.
He first was assigned to the Naval Training Station in Great Lakes, Illinois, where in addition to boot camp he was trained in engineering duties, critical for operating the mechanics of large naval ships, which included tasks such as carpentry, maintaining the boilers, managing the water supply, pumping, purifying, and dispensing it, and more.
From boot camp, David shipped out to the San Francisco Bay area. The ship he was stationed on was ordered to San Diego to pick up troops to transport to the Pacific islands. The U.S. was preparing to take the offensive to the Japanese after devastating losses that occurred at Pearl Harbor in 1941. During the attack, dozens of U.S. ships were either severely damaged or sunk, and more than 2,000 U.S. troops were killed by Japanese bombers.
Between that attack in 1941 and the time David was deployed in 1945, the U.S. Navy had built up its force and technology capabilities tremendously. The ship David was stationed on arrived in Pearl Harbor for a one-day stop before continuing to be part of a large fleet that bombed Wake Island, a location that had a U.S. military station that had been taken over by the Japanese military (surrendered by the Japanese later in 1945). “While in the region, I met an Army pilot who took me up to check out the various Pacific islands from above. That was something,” he said.
He was then part of a massive U.S. naval fleet that steamed toward Japan in preparation for an invasion. Within the convoy were two cruisers carrying the atom bombs eventually dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. As the fleet neared Japan, the Japanese surrendered. David says his ship was diverted to pick up Prisoners of War to transport them to a large Navy Hospital. He made his way back to Pearl Harbor, and then headed toward Los Angeles, beginning to assist in the return of troops home from the Pacific region. Within 100 miles of L.A., his ship was ordered to make its way to the Brooklyn Naval Yards, via the Panama Canal, a several thousand-mile diversion. In New York, he was given the choice to continue on to Iceland or be honorably discharged as troop levels were being reduced. He decided it was time to return to land and he traveled West by train.
David’s time in the military, and the engineering skills he picked up, helped him find work after the war: in docks in Denver, for 22 years at Rocky Flats Plant in nearby Arvada, and in Russellville, Arkansas.
After returning from Arkansas, David settled in Colorado where he raised a son and two daughters. Years after the war, David and Pat returned to Hawaii for a two-week vacation.
The staff and residents of The Avenues thank David and all the veterans living in our community for their service this Veterans Day.
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