"The Greatest Generation."

[thedrifter]

07/15/2005
At Bristol Vets Home, a joyful reunion for Marines
By MATTHEW CONYERS

BRISTOL - They are called "The Greatest Generation."
They didn't create some silly invention or crafty gimmick. Nor did they design a new, more powerful SUV. Rather, they rep-resent a much simpler time when heroes won and villains lost.

More importantly, for many they symbolize an era when or-dinary people did extraordinary things.

On Wednesday, members of the South County Marine Corps detachment showed their appre-ciation for this generation and every generation of veterans by delivering an assortment of do-nations to the Bristol Veterans Home. The event cumulated a four-month-long benefit drive designed to raise awareness and collect items for veterans need in their day-to-day lives.

The ever-increasing high cost of living that has plagued veter-ans in Rhode Island for years. Veterans currently are charged up to 80 percent of what their income is for living in the home, giving few resources for them to pay for daily necessities. Among the items donated to the 240 veterans were suspenders, summer shorts, telephone cards, stamps, golf shirts and hats.

For drive volunteer and Ko-rean War veteran Clifton Chap-pel, the day marked a fitting end to a worthwhile experience.
"It was a thrill to do it," said Chappel. "It was a fantastic op-portunity to help these heroes of ours, and we are going to keep it going as far as I am concerned. We will make it an annual thing."

Administrator for the Bristol Veterans Home David Kirchner believes the donations physi-cally and mentally will give the residents a big boost.

"Some of them don't have families or live way out of state, and this helps them so they don't have to spend their own money on stuff like that," said Kirchner. "They love the fact the detachment did this, that is as simple as I can put it. They love the interaction, they love seeing new faces."

Kirchner also feels that the accomplishment stands as a tes-tament to the will of Marines.

"This is what Marines do; they set a goal and they go out and accomplish it," said Kirch-ner. "They exceeded our expec-tations greatly in what they brought."

The detachment received do-nations from several league members, as well as Brewed Awakening coffeehouse, South-ern New England AAA, and Ocean State Job Lot in South Kingstown. Job Lot gave the group 50 percent off on all their purchases.

"It's incredible, they really did it," said chief of health sys-tems William Camara. "It's amazing that they were able to get so many boxes of dona-tions."

"The local businesses in town helped our cause perfectly," said Chapel.

Fellow volunteer Donald Brown, detachment comman-dant Earl Grant and drive chair-man Robert McGale accompanied Chappel. For all it was an experience that they won't soon forget.

The most notable of those moments came when the veter-ans interacted with other veter-ans. Wearing their customary red jackets, black pants and red hats, the Marines made their way through the entire facility sharing hellos and memories. It was obvious that McGale and the others felt honored to be in the company of these men and women. In one incredibly mov-ing moment, a wheelchair-bound Marine veteran was pho-tographed with the detachment members. The only sign of the veteran being aware of what was occurring came after McGale proclaimed he had been in the Korean War, as well. To this the veteran gave a grunt and opened his eyes wide to McGale.

Later on the veterans shared another poignant moment with a bedridden soldier who had fought in the battle of Pork Chop Hill. The veteran, declared his favorite song "God Bless America," to which the crowd around him emotionally saluted.
"There is always a strong tie between veterans whether they are active or not," said Camara.

The Marines searched the whole facility for each and every comrade.

"The Marines are an inter-esting fraternity because they always stick together no matter how long," said Kirchner. "These guys here appreciate when anybody wants to come in and give them a little attention. They don't have to come baring gifts, they just enjoy someone to talk to."

All the visitors were im-pressed by the facility, which houses veterans from every era and war. Hidden quietly in the hustle and bustle of Bristol, the home rarely receives the atten-tion it deserves.

"It's a beautiful facility," said Chappel. "If I had to go some-where, I would hope that it would be here."

Chappel and counterparts, however, don't seem ready to pack it in any time soon. In-stead, they are content for now at least with honoring and aiding a group that should never be forgotten.

"In a word: thank you," said Kirchner. "It's very generous."

Ellie

[Clyde D Beaty]

Our Congressman here in San Antonio had a coffee and refreshments, alog with Large TV of the WWII Memorial in DC. That was good of him and the firts time I heard the application of the label "The Greatest Generation" applied to Vets of WWII and Korea. It did not settle real well with me- and I was of both wars in the Corps--and upon thought I felt it was wrongly applied to us! My parents were the Greatest in that they had gotten us clothed, fed, educated, and inspired with Great American Spirit of we can over come and make good out of this hard scrabble of life- and it was damned hard for lots of them! Like my dad a 100% Disabled Vet from WWI with only one half lung left -TB got the 1 and 1/2 lungs gone, dust bowl hit hard at same time economiuc crash hit and my folks back and forthed to California: chopping cotton, working in vinyards, packing and drying houses, fruit groves, date packing- wherever could get work and the Model T would get us to- and none of us: my mom, and us three kids did not get TB- were turned away and burnt out when tried to get in to school in California, so they taught us to read by kerosene lamp-- and momma worked her tail off as daddy couldn't exert any effort without hemmoraghing, so she did work for the two of them--all 3 of us kids got University degrees and higher education, and were fiit for duty with US military..Our Depression generation parents were the Greatest of Generations- and very proud too!

[thedrifter]

Roll call will be last for Marines
George Gannon
Daily Mail staff
Friday August 26, 2005

For one last time Saturday, the 20th Engineers of the United States Marine Corps Reserve will stand at attention for roll call.

These old men were once teenagers who were grabbed out of high school before they finished to go to Korea.

When roll call comes around Saturday night during a ceremony at Coonskin Park, they will stand up, hear their names read, then sit back down.

Their careers as Marines will officially be over. These men haven't been on the battlefield in years and most retired or left the corps decades ago, but they lived the Marine Corps motto: Semper Fi or "always faithful."

When they sit down that final time, just as if reveille had just finished playing, they'll ceremonially pass the torch.

"We're just stepping aside," said Keith Davis, 71, a preacher and retired sergeant with the 20th. "We're letting the youngsters and the Marines of today take over for us."

Davis, a Dunbar native who was drafted in 1949, doesn't mince words when he talks about how much time he and his fellow soldiers have left.

Of the estimated 81 Marines who will be there -- veterans of the Korean War, Vietnam and a host of other covert and high-profile U.S. offensives around the globe -- Davis might be the youngest.

Bill Withrow, who also served in the 20th Engineers, said Saturday's event will be a chance for the guys to get together, tell some old jokes and share stories.

"You're reminiscing about things and kind of admitting the passing of your youth," Withrow said.

Every year, they bury a few more men from the 20th. Every year, the obituaries have a few more names of men who fought at Iwo Jima and Guadalcanal during World War II and at the Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War.

They're slowly, but surely, fading away, Davis said.

"The next roll call, sir, is going to be up yonder, to put it in plain English," he said.

Roll call is special. These guys have been gathering, off and on, for the last 55 years and they've never done the roll call. Even when they had their last major gathering, 25 years ago at the Daniel Boone Hotel, they didn't do a roll call.

But that doesn't mean these guys can leave it all behind.

Davis said if anybody ever tried to burn Old Glory in front of a Marine or launch an insult at the corps, the results wouldn't be pretty.

"They'll be picking themselves up off the deck," he said. "That's not a threat. It's a promise."

But Davis, retired business manager at West Virginia Public Broadcasting, said these men are more than rough-and-tumble fighters.

These guys were eyewitness to some of the most important events of the 20th Century.

Most have stories just like Davis. As a student at Dunbar High School, he was called to duty in September 1949, cutting short his senior year.

He can remember boarding a train at the depot in South Charleston along with 230 other young men. Gov. Okie Patterson joined them and shook each of their hands.

Withrow said about 100 family members and friends gathered at the depot to wave goodbye.

"I'm not sure if they were waiting to see us off or make sure we left," said the Jackson County resident.

They were then hustled off to Korea and, like Davis, many saw more action than anyone would ever want to see on the frozen fields near the Chosin Reservoir in 1950.

An estimated 2,500 United Nations soldiers were killed during the battle and another 7,500 suffered from frostbite.

Davis said soldiers from the 20th Engineers could give full color accounts of these events.

"If you talk to these guys, you'll be talking to history," he said.

Contact writer George Gannon at 348-4843.

Ellie