thedrifter
11-08-07, 06:21 AM
Article published Nov 8, 2007
Vet's memories help spark day of remembrance
By Wayne Peal
STAFF WRITER
Lou Rodgers is no fan of war - he's seen it, up close, at its worst.
But he is big supporter of U.S. military veterans, being a veteran of two wars.
This Veterans Day, the Southfield resident asks everyone to take a moment to remember those, like himself, who have answered the call.
"People should know of the sacrifices our veterans have made to preserve our way of life," said Rodgers, who will take part in a countywide veterans celebration at 2 p.m. Saturday at A.J. Desmond & Sons in Royal Oak.
The Highland Park native was just a few months out of high school when he enlisted in the U.S. Marines during the early days of World War II.
Within months, he took part in the Battle of Tarawa, a November 1943 amphibious landing that came to be known as the bloodiest battle of the entire Pacific campaign.
"They thought the tide would be in (when we landed) but it was out," Rodgers recalled. "We were sitting ducks."
Indeed, more than 1,000 Marines were killed in the four-day battle while less than 150 of the more than 4,500 Japanese troops and Japanese and Korean workers on the island survived.
Rodgers' later WWII service was much less horrific as he later served as an military police officer in Hawaii but his days on Tarawa Atoll would remain with him.
By war's end, he was ready for a new life.
"I was going to mortuary school and ready to begin my career when the call came again," he said of his recall to active duty during the Korean conflict.
"My thought was, haven't I just served?"
That time, however, he didn't see combat, He was sent instead to Puerto Rico where Rodgers, now a sergeant, trained other Marines.
Mustered out for a second time, he returned to the Detroit area where he began a family which would come to include four children and nine grandchildren. He would also resume his now 54-year career in the funeral home industry - he was the Rodgers in the longtime area firm of Vasu, Rodgers & Connell, before it was acquired by Desmond in the early 1990s.
The Veterans Day program will include official representatives from Birmingham, Berkley, Bloomfield Hills, Huntington Woods, Royal Oak and Troy, among other communities, and will be the second annual for the Woodward Avenue home.
"So many of our families include veterans, including people currently serving in the military, that we thought it was only appropriate," said Paul Connell of Birmingham, Desmond's executive vice president.
The Troy Police Color guard and U.S. Rep. Joseph Knollenberg (R-Bloomfield Township) and state Sen. John Pappageorge (R-Troy) are also expected to attend.
Military memorabilia, including items from Rodgers' own collection, will be on display.
The nation, of course, is at war again and Rodgers understands that the Iraq War has proved controversial and divisive.
But he remains supportive of the men and women fighting that war, soldiers and marines who daily are facing the kinds of things he once faced on a small strip of land in a vast ocean a long time ago.
Ellie
Vet's memories help spark day of remembrance
By Wayne Peal
STAFF WRITER
Lou Rodgers is no fan of war - he's seen it, up close, at its worst.
But he is big supporter of U.S. military veterans, being a veteran of two wars.
This Veterans Day, the Southfield resident asks everyone to take a moment to remember those, like himself, who have answered the call.
"People should know of the sacrifices our veterans have made to preserve our way of life," said Rodgers, who will take part in a countywide veterans celebration at 2 p.m. Saturday at A.J. Desmond & Sons in Royal Oak.
The Highland Park native was just a few months out of high school when he enlisted in the U.S. Marines during the early days of World War II.
Within months, he took part in the Battle of Tarawa, a November 1943 amphibious landing that came to be known as the bloodiest battle of the entire Pacific campaign.
"They thought the tide would be in (when we landed) but it was out," Rodgers recalled. "We were sitting ducks."
Indeed, more than 1,000 Marines were killed in the four-day battle while less than 150 of the more than 4,500 Japanese troops and Japanese and Korean workers on the island survived.
Rodgers' later WWII service was much less horrific as he later served as an military police officer in Hawaii but his days on Tarawa Atoll would remain with him.
By war's end, he was ready for a new life.
"I was going to mortuary school and ready to begin my career when the call came again," he said of his recall to active duty during the Korean conflict.
"My thought was, haven't I just served?"
That time, however, he didn't see combat, He was sent instead to Puerto Rico where Rodgers, now a sergeant, trained other Marines.
Mustered out for a second time, he returned to the Detroit area where he began a family which would come to include four children and nine grandchildren. He would also resume his now 54-year career in the funeral home industry - he was the Rodgers in the longtime area firm of Vasu, Rodgers & Connell, before it was acquired by Desmond in the early 1990s.
The Veterans Day program will include official representatives from Birmingham, Berkley, Bloomfield Hills, Huntington Woods, Royal Oak and Troy, among other communities, and will be the second annual for the Woodward Avenue home.
"So many of our families include veterans, including people currently serving in the military, that we thought it was only appropriate," said Paul Connell of Birmingham, Desmond's executive vice president.
The Troy Police Color guard and U.S. Rep. Joseph Knollenberg (R-Bloomfield Township) and state Sen. John Pappageorge (R-Troy) are also expected to attend.
Military memorabilia, including items from Rodgers' own collection, will be on display.
The nation, of course, is at war again and Rodgers understands that the Iraq War has proved controversial and divisive.
But he remains supportive of the men and women fighting that war, soldiers and marines who daily are facing the kinds of things he once faced on a small strip of land in a vast ocean a long time ago.
Ellie