thedrifter
12-27-07, 02:51 PM
Battle spurred veteran to make a difference
By Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell, Staff Writer
Article Created: 12/26/2007 10:06:50 PM PST
Pinned down on the beach at Iwo Jima for more than 36 hours during some of the fiercest fighting of World War II, Victor "Vick" Meneley resigned himself to the fact that he would not live to see the end of the battle.
But somehow through the grace of God the young Marine lived to walk off the island, he would later tell friends and family members.
For that feat, he always considered himself extremely fortunate, his son, Victor Meneley of Rancho Cucamonga, recalled.
"In his own soul that was a defining moment for him," he said. "And he decided he was going to live a long life and make a difference in the lives of others."
The young Marine who fought so valiantly at Iwo Jima and lived to tell the tale died Dec. 18. He was 94.
He was born June 29, 1913, in Atchinson, Kan., to Victor and Isabel Meneley.
They moved to San Bernardino six years later, because the family felt the sunny climate would be better for his mother's and sister's health. Both had suffered from respiratory ailments prior to the flu epidemic of 1918.
As a boy he hunted and hiked in the San Bernardino Mountains.
One of his favorite pastimes was hiking up the old dirt road from San Bernardino to Crestline.
"He would say goodbye to people at the bottom of the hill and greet them when they got to the top. He could always hike up faster than they drove up," his longtime friend Rhea-Frances Tetley of Crestline recalled.
At San Bernardino High School, he was too small to play football, so he instead served as the manager of the team.
He also met his future wife Vivian Ely at the high school.
They were married in 1936 during the Depression and because jobs were hard to come by, he became a printer, like his father.
"He did not want that job, but he had to make a living," his son recalled.
He was doing a six-year apprenticeship to be a journeyman printer in Los Angeles when World War II came along.
For a time he worked as an electrician in the naval shipyards in Long Beach, but in his heart he longed to be a Marine.
"He had admired the Marines since he was a boy and felt it was his duty to serve his country," said his son.
He was turned down when he initially tried to enlist, but finally ended up as a replacement troop for the 4th Marine Division in Iwo Jima in 1945.
It was there, during the battle that he decided if he survived he would spend the rest of his life making the world a better place.
Meneley was true to his word.
After settling with his wife and son in Whittier and resuming his career as a printer, he was soon active in the Boy Scouts.
He held many positions of leadership and received several awards for his service, including the highest award for a scouting volunteer, the Silver Beaver Award.
He also started one of the first Scouting programs for physically and mentally disadvantaged boys.
After his retirement from Adtype Printing in 1975, he and his wife returned to Crestline, the place he had hiked to, and loved, in his youth.
There he was soon active in veterans' affairs and other community organizations.
One of his biggest tasks was helping found Rim of the World Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9624.
"His effort gave area veterans a place to go," said Tetley. "He also helped many Vietnam veterans, who had previously been ashamed, embrace their military service."
He also started the annual Memorial Day service held at Lake Gregory.
"In the beginning he and a few other people would gather around the post office in Crestline to pay tribute to those who had died in past wars," said his son. "Thanks to his hard work, it became a big, well-orchestrated community event attended by 100 people or more."
He was also a twice past master of the Rim of the World Masonic Lodge No. 711 F&AM, as well as a member of the San Bernardino Scottish Rite. He received the Hiram Award in 1986 for his service to the Masonic Order.
Meneley was a charter member of the Crest Forest Senior Citizens Club, also known as Leisure Shores and a 30-year member of the Crestline Community Presbyterian Church, where he was an elder.
He was such an exemplary member of the community that he impressed young and old alike, said Tetley.
"The winter after the Old Fire, my son was stuck down the hill. He remembered Victor's stories of hiking up the side of the hill and hiked on up himself," she said. "He was such an inspiration. Someone who significantly improved Crestline in so many ways."
Meneley was preceded in death by his wife of 66 years in 2002.
He is also survived by his grandchildren David Meneley of Crestline and Jana Meneley of Anaheim.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at Crestline Community Presbyterian Church. Interment will be at 11:15 a.m. Monday at Riverside National Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, family requests donations be made to San Bernardino Children's Language Center, 4400 Varsity Ave., San Bernardino, CA 92407-4632
deborah.pfeiffer@sbsun.com
(909) 386-3879
Ellie
By Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell, Staff Writer
Article Created: 12/26/2007 10:06:50 PM PST
Pinned down on the beach at Iwo Jima for more than 36 hours during some of the fiercest fighting of World War II, Victor "Vick" Meneley resigned himself to the fact that he would not live to see the end of the battle.
But somehow through the grace of God the young Marine lived to walk off the island, he would later tell friends and family members.
For that feat, he always considered himself extremely fortunate, his son, Victor Meneley of Rancho Cucamonga, recalled.
"In his own soul that was a defining moment for him," he said. "And he decided he was going to live a long life and make a difference in the lives of others."
The young Marine who fought so valiantly at Iwo Jima and lived to tell the tale died Dec. 18. He was 94.
He was born June 29, 1913, in Atchinson, Kan., to Victor and Isabel Meneley.
They moved to San Bernardino six years later, because the family felt the sunny climate would be better for his mother's and sister's health. Both had suffered from respiratory ailments prior to the flu epidemic of 1918.
As a boy he hunted and hiked in the San Bernardino Mountains.
One of his favorite pastimes was hiking up the old dirt road from San Bernardino to Crestline.
"He would say goodbye to people at the bottom of the hill and greet them when they got to the top. He could always hike up faster than they drove up," his longtime friend Rhea-Frances Tetley of Crestline recalled.
At San Bernardino High School, he was too small to play football, so he instead served as the manager of the team.
He also met his future wife Vivian Ely at the high school.
They were married in 1936 during the Depression and because jobs were hard to come by, he became a printer, like his father.
"He did not want that job, but he had to make a living," his son recalled.
He was doing a six-year apprenticeship to be a journeyman printer in Los Angeles when World War II came along.
For a time he worked as an electrician in the naval shipyards in Long Beach, but in his heart he longed to be a Marine.
"He had admired the Marines since he was a boy and felt it was his duty to serve his country," said his son.
He was turned down when he initially tried to enlist, but finally ended up as a replacement troop for the 4th Marine Division in Iwo Jima in 1945.
It was there, during the battle that he decided if he survived he would spend the rest of his life making the world a better place.
Meneley was true to his word.
After settling with his wife and son in Whittier and resuming his career as a printer, he was soon active in the Boy Scouts.
He held many positions of leadership and received several awards for his service, including the highest award for a scouting volunteer, the Silver Beaver Award.
He also started one of the first Scouting programs for physically and mentally disadvantaged boys.
After his retirement from Adtype Printing in 1975, he and his wife returned to Crestline, the place he had hiked to, and loved, in his youth.
There he was soon active in veterans' affairs and other community organizations.
One of his biggest tasks was helping found Rim of the World Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9624.
"His effort gave area veterans a place to go," said Tetley. "He also helped many Vietnam veterans, who had previously been ashamed, embrace their military service."
He also started the annual Memorial Day service held at Lake Gregory.
"In the beginning he and a few other people would gather around the post office in Crestline to pay tribute to those who had died in past wars," said his son. "Thanks to his hard work, it became a big, well-orchestrated community event attended by 100 people or more."
He was also a twice past master of the Rim of the World Masonic Lodge No. 711 F&AM, as well as a member of the San Bernardino Scottish Rite. He received the Hiram Award in 1986 for his service to the Masonic Order.
Meneley was a charter member of the Crest Forest Senior Citizens Club, also known as Leisure Shores and a 30-year member of the Crestline Community Presbyterian Church, where he was an elder.
He was such an exemplary member of the community that he impressed young and old alike, said Tetley.
"The winter after the Old Fire, my son was stuck down the hill. He remembered Victor's stories of hiking up the side of the hill and hiked on up himself," she said. "He was such an inspiration. Someone who significantly improved Crestline in so many ways."
Meneley was preceded in death by his wife of 66 years in 2002.
He is also survived by his grandchildren David Meneley of Crestline and Jana Meneley of Anaheim.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at Crestline Community Presbyterian Church. Interment will be at 11:15 a.m. Monday at Riverside National Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, family requests donations be made to San Bernardino Children's Language Center, 4400 Varsity Ave., San Bernardino, CA 92407-4632
deborah.pfeiffer@sbsun.com
(909) 386-3879
Ellie