2016
A tribute to Johnson County area veterans
A DAILY JOURNAL PUBLICATION
SALUTE: A TRIBUTE TO JOHNSON COUNTY AREA VETERANS
MAY 28, 2016
RAYMOND SMITH Page 4
MIKE THOMPSON Page 6
DOUG BROWN Page 8
DON ROACH Page 10
PAUL & SAM COTE’ Page 12
HESTER COWARD Page 14
WINTON ARMSTRONG Page 16
WILBUR HARVEY Page 18 Celebrating our veterans
CALVIN HIGGENS Page 20
RON ELLIS Page 22 TO ALL THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO ARE CURRENTLY SERVING OR WHO HAVE SERVED OUR COUNTRY, THANK YOU!
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Salute
MAY 28, 2016
VETERANS, WE SALUTE YOU! May is National Military Appreciation Month Congress designated May as National Military Appreciation Month in 1999 to ensure the nation was given the opportunity to publicly demonstrate its appreciation for the sacrifices and successes made by our servicemembers past and present. May was selected because it has the most days set aside for celebrating and commemorating our military’s achievements. These days include Loyalty Day, which was established in 1921; Victory in Europe (VE) Day, commemorating the end of World War II in Europe on May 8, 1945; Armed Forces Day, created in 1949; Military Spouse Appreciation Day, established in 1984; and Memorial Day. Memorial Day, the only federal holiday in May, is celebrated on the last Monday of the month. The day, dating from the Civil War era, traditionally has marked recognition of those who have died in service to the nation. With Memorial Day coming up on Monday, the Daily Journal salutes all those who have served, or are currently serving, in our armed forces. Thank you!
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Salute
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MAY 28, 2016
RAYMOND SMITH
ARMY
Franklin man thought he was ‘going some place to die’ By Jennifer Willhite Correspondent
R
Photo by Don Meyer
aymond Smith was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1951. The United States was entering its second year of involvement in the Korean War and the draft was still in place. Smith’s older brother, Virgil,was killed in World War II. And just as Smith was starting to deal with the loss, he got a notice in the mailbox that he would be drafted. Smith was inducted at Fort Custer in Michigan before being shipped to Fort Riley in Kansas for his infantry training. Smith spent another three months at Fort Bliss in Texas before beginning the long journey to Korea via stops in California, Hawaii and Tokyo. The 85-year-old Franklin resident said that as a member of the First Calvary Division and subsequently the X Corps that he knew he would be on the front lines. Death is on your mind when you realize you’re destined for the front lines of a war zone and it is just a few hours away, Smith said. “I knew where I was going, what else could be on your mind than, ‘I’m going some place to die,’” he said. “And the thought stays with you.” As if being thrust onto the front lines weren’t enough of a shock for the shy 20-year-old, the weather wasn’t exactly cooperative either. Smith recalls when he left Fort Bliss in
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MAY 28, 2016
Texas it was 104 degrees. As he stepped onto Korean soil for the first time, it was 20 degrees below zero. With inadequate clothing, frostbite was a constant threat, and all you could do was to pile on the blankets and clothes, he said. Smith and his fellow soldiers slept in shifts with the engines in their trucks running to keep them from freezing. The greatest challenge the soldiers faced was twofold: stay warm and stay alive. “You had your buddies, and your buddies are like brothers,” Smith said. “And you would do anything to help them, and they would do anything to help you.” War changes you, he said. And Smith and his fellow soldiers were no different. Smith recalled a flight back to Korea from rest and recuperation in Japan. He and several other soldiers were in what were commonly called “flying boxcars,” but the technical name was a C-119. Smith said the plane that was in front of them flew into a mountainside, killing 42 passengers. Suffice to say, Smith
“WHEN
Raymond Smith Age: 85 Birthplace/hometown: Franklin Residence: Franklin Years of service: 1951-1953 Branch of service: U.S. Army Assigned unit: X Corps 50th Automatic Weapons Duties: Machine gunner; tank commander Rank: Staff Sergeant Military honors: Presidential Unit Citation; United Nation Campaign with three stars. Family: Wife, Sue; sons, James and John; daughter, Mary Jo Copeland
was hesitant about getting on another flying boxcar. While working on the airstrips in Korea, Smith witnessed another incident that has stayed with him. “I saw a C-47 plane as we were on one end of the airstrip,” he said. “The Chinese were on the other end. As the plane came in and was hauling out wounded, for some unknown reason, the plane turned over and burned everyone alive.” Given so many horrific sights and then seeing the enemy moving as one large human wave toward him
HE CAME HOME, HE WAS REAL JITTERY.
5
and his fellow soldiers on the front lines, Smith said all you wanted to do was fire your gun. There was no time to think. “There was no good time,” he said. “The best I had was when they told me I was rotating back to the United States.” Smith served 19 months in the Army and came home a changed man. He was no longer the shy young man he was before. He talked much more than he ever had before. His first night home, he was awakened by a thunderstorm rolling in. He immediately jumped out of bed because he mistook it for artillery fire. “For at least two weeks, I stayed out in the backyard,” he said. “Mom had a lilac bush out there, and I would unfold the army cot at night and crawl under that lilac bush and snooze away.” Smith said he had become so accustomed to being and sleeping outdoors it was difficult to readjust to the creature comforts of home. And because of what he’d
ANYTIME
experienced overseas, his nerves weren’t exactly steady either. “When he came home, he was real jittery,” said Sue Smith, his wife of 62 years. “Anytime he heard a car backfire, he would duck down.” Sue Smith said it is important for family, friends and loved ones to be patient with service members who return from active duty. “We don’t know what they go through, and I’m sure he hasn’t told me a lot of things that happened,” she said. “It is hard to talk about.” Smith admitted his first thought after being told he was coming home was about his buddies. As much as he wanted to come home, he hated leaving them there. Looking back on his experience, Smith said he wouldn’t do anything differently. But to those who are enlisting in the U.S. military today, Smith has a few words of advice. “Keep your nose clean,” he said. “Go by the rules. It’s discipline. I don’t think it hurts anyone. I don’t necessarily think you should be forced into service, but anyone who goes, I think it will help them.”
HE HEARD A CAR BACKFIRE, HE WOULD DUCK DOWN.”
— SUE SMITH
ON HER HUSBAND,
RAYMOND SMITH
The Johnson County Republican Central Committee along with our Town, City and County office holders remember and thank our soldiers, past and present, for their dedicated service to our Country and State on Memorial Day.
PAID FOR BY THE JOHNSON COUNTY REPUBLICAN CENTRAL COMMITTEE
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MAY 28, 2016
MIKE THOMPSON
ARMY
Nineveh man learned duty, leadership, selfless service By Jennifer Willhite Correspondent
P
atience may be a virtue, but it is certainly a valuable lesson the military has taught Staff Sergeant Mike Thompson. After spending more than 20 years in the Army, Thompson said the experience has made him wiser and more resilient. Thompson grew up around the military. His late father, Gene, was a U.S. Army paratrooper and other family members were also servicemen. The 42-year-old Kokomo native
grew up watching iconic films like “Top Gun,” which fueled his love for airplanes and the military. Early on, he decided he wanted to become a pilot, but his eyesight kept him from that dream. “So I decided if I couldn’t fly them, I’d jump out of them,” he said. He met with an Army recruiter as a senior in high school and shortly after graduation, Thompson was on a plane to Fort Jackson in South Carolina for eight weeks of basic training. Certified as an ammunition specialist who also had his jump wings, Thompson spent
Photo by Don Meyer
June 1-10 Retire Tattered Flags
WE HONOR VETERANS & Every Family We Serve
Drop off locations:
Greenwood Public Library 310 S Meridian St.,
Greenwood City Building 300 S Madison Ave
Bargersville Town Hall 24 North Main Street
Trafalgar Town Hall 2770 West State Road 252
Edinburgh Public Library 119 W. Main Cross St.
Johnson County Veteran’s Affairs Johnson County Courthouse
Johnson County Recycling District, 900 Arvin Rd., Suite A, Franklin
We salute all soldiers, especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice. They will always be remembered in the hearts of those they loved...
And in the hearts of those who cherish freedom.
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Greenwood Chapel 481 W. Main St. Greenwood, IN 46142 (317) 881-2514
Chapel of the Chimes 1234 Prospect Street Indianapolis, IN 46203 (317) 632-9431
Stirling-Gerber Chapel 5950 E. Thompson Rd. Indianapolis, IN 46237 (317) 783-3653
Salute
MAY 28, 2016
four years at Fort Bragg in North Carolina as a part of the 82nd Airborne Division. The paratrooper says jumping out of a plane the first time wasn’t so bad. After all, they’d prepared for it. It seemed as though the jump “just happened,” but Thompson said the second jump he took got to him. He admitted he was a little afraid because he knew what he had done before, and couldn’t believe he was doing it again. It is the military experience as a whole that helps shape who you are, Thompson said. “The pride and commitment and all the things they teach you,” he said. “Leadership, duty and selfless service, it all comes together and makes you who you are.” Colleague and friend Brandon Davis said Thompson has served as his mentor for nearly two years, and Thompson is definitely someone you want in your corner. Describing Thompson as a natural-born leader, Davis says being around him is always a learning experience. “What it is about him and what he’s taught me about leadership is transparency,” Davis said. “You say what you mean and you do what you say you’re going to do. Knowledge is power and it needs to be shared.” Thompson said one of his greatest memories of serving overseas is the beautiful ocean, which is a direct contrast to the sand. He would never trade the experience of serving with his friends
Mike Thompson Age: 42 Birthplace/hometown: Kokomo Residence: Nineveh Years of service: 1992-present Branch of service: U.S. Army Assigned Unit: 38th Sustainment Brigade Rank: Staff Sergeant Military honors: Paratrooper; Meritorious Service Award Family: Daughter, Kendra Stutzman
on foreign soil for anything in the world, he said. “I hate to say this, but when you go overseas and you don’t have an enemy to fight or a focus, we really got bored, if you will,” he said. “You had to get ingrained in the day-to-day operations. I think that was one of the hardest challenges, along with being away from my family.” He recalls his parents signed for him to enlist with the promise he would pursue a career that would offer him opportunities in the civilian world. Thompson agreed. He said some people can join the military for a period of time, complete their obligation and go back to being a civilian. But for others, it is a bit more complicated. “I think it is a calling,” he said. “Public service and serving mankind is part of who you are. When you make it a career, it is powerful.” And it is that calling that others notice when
SERVICE AND SERVING MANKIND IS PART OF WHO YOU ARE. WHEN YOU MAKE IT A CAREER, IT IS POWERFUL.”
— MIKE THOMPSION
EDINBURGH Wright-Hageman Public Library
WE SALUTE ALL OF OUR
VETERANS!
Thank you service men and women, past and present, for all of your sacrifices.
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they are around him, as well. Davis said Thompson not only knows how to build and mend bridges, but he is someone whose presence you want to be in. “He has this sense of integrity that must be maintained at all times,” Davis said. “He has to maintain who he is.” Thompson said if he could offer one piece of advice to young people who are considering joining the military, it would be to do your research. It is important to identify which branch of service best suits you, he said. “Find out all the jobs the military offers in the different branches, then look at what you want to do,” he said. “Try to align your values and things you want to do, and then try to put that in alignment with the jobs the military offers.” If given the opportunity, Thompson said he would not do anything differently. As with anything in life, there is sometimes a fanciness, an allure or shininess to an experience at first. And the military is no different, Thompson said. But once the shininess wears off, it’s a lot of hard work and things change. But the hard work you put in is worth it in the end, he said. “The military will offer you your worst day you’ve ever had,” he said. “But you will also have the best day you ever had.”
Thank you to all veterans for protecting our freedom!
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“PUBLIC
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Salute
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MAY 28, 2016
DOUG BROWN
ARMY
Chaplain cared for soldiers’ hearts, spirits, souls By Amy May Daily Journal staff writer
A
merican statesman and soldier Gen. George C. Marshall, in a 1941 address at Trinity College, said, “The soldier’s heart, the soldier’s spirit and the soldier’s soul are everything. Unless the soldier’s soul sustains him, he cannot be relied on and will fail himself, his commander and his country in the end.” That has been Doug Brown’s guiding mission during his 30 years as an enlisted soldier and a chaplain with the Indiana and Tennessee National Guard, as well as federal service. Brown is a pastor at Amity Baptist Church, about four miles south of Franklin. He comes from a family that prioritized military service. His grandfather, father and two uncles all served, as do his two sons. “I always felt that because I enjoyed freedom and respect the price people paid for freedom, I too wanted to be a part of that,” he said. “I was called as a minister of the Gospel before I joined the military. As I grew in my faith, I felt God was moving me in that direction.” He joined in 1984 with plans to become a chaplain. A chaplain is a commissioned officer, but Brown chose to first join as an enlisted soldier and go through that training. He served nine years enlisted and 21 years as a commissioned officer. “I’m glad I did it that way. It was tough, but it made me a better, more caring and experientially informed soldier, I think.” He endured enlisted boot camp and advanced individual training for an enlisted occupational skill. Then, as a chaplain candidate, he attended chaplain officer basic course. He also attended civilian schools during the early years of his service, graduating from both Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, in 1987, and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1997. Military chaplains serve several purposes, he said. “They maintain a ministry of presence, reminding the soldier there’s a greater good than war. Because there is evil, there will always be war,” he said. “Chaplains also nurture the living,
Photo by Amy May
care for the dying and honor the dead,” he said. Chaplains are a resource and are a special support staff officer for the commander. As special staff, they are available to help the commander offer religious services or to give the commander insight on religious matters pertaining to the soldiers in the unit or the country the unit happens to be in. He has seen many changes in the chaplaincy and the military’s treatment of religion since he joined. Thirty years ago, there were primarily just three main recognized faiths: Roman Catholic, Jewish and general Protestant. “Now, there is a plethora of faith groups; culture and society is changing. The U.S. Army used to be one of the more conservative organizations in the country,” Brown said. Today, commanders and chaplains may grapple with whether to allow a Sikh to keep his beard (generally against Army regulations, but recently that ban has been lifted) or if a Native American can use peyote (a hallucinogenic) in a traditional religious
ceremony. The military has members who follow a variety of faiths, as well as agnostics and atheists. The Army endeavors to respect their first amendment rights. The chaplain advocates for the religious rights of those in the military, but with the understanding that in some cases, the needs of the mission will supersede the soldier’s first amendment right on a temporary basis. For example, Brown said, the peyote ritual might be permitted for a soldier on leave, but would not be allowed in the training environment or on the battlefield. Chaplains are also pastoral counselors; a caring ear to listen to the concerns of soldiers about where they are going and what they are leaving behind. “Any time you have a soldier who goes onto the battlefield, they feel real life and death issues, such as ‘Can I kill someone?’” he said. The chaplain also has the duty to inform families that their loved one has died, a task that still upsets Brown.
“I still have dreams where I get that 2 a.m. phone call. ... The Army is very good at being the first to share the news with a family; we go to great lengths to not let a family’s awareness of loss come from anyone other than the Army. I can still remember the looks on their faces,” he said. “Those looks will live with me the rest of my life.” Unlike what may be depicted in old war movies, chaplains do not go out on the battlefield and give last rites to dying soldiers, Brown said. In fact, chaplains are unarmed, so they would be a hindrance on the battlefield – a person other armed soldiers would need to protect. Chaplains serving in a war zone stay in forward operating bases and do their duties there. Brown has served all over the country, trained at a dozen different bases and traveled an estimated 60,000 miles just in 2004. His military service even physically separated him from his wife, Dr. Stefani Martin, for about six years. He was serving and traveling while she was in medical school, so time together was rare, he said.
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MAY 28, 2016
Brown remembers Sept. 11, 2001. He was in the Indiana National Guard but not on active duty. He was watching the news broadcasts of the attacks and turned to a deacon at First Baptist Church, where he was serving at the time, and commented, “I might be taken away.” Brown’s service for Global War On Terrorism began soon after 9/11, when Maj. Gen. Martin Umbarger sent chaplains to some of the homes of families of deployed soldiers. In 2004, soldiers in his unit were training and serving all over the United States, so Brown traveled and divided his time between them. In 2004, his unit served at seaports up-loading military vehicles and equipment to go to the Middle East, and then offloading vehicles and equipment that were sent back, many of them scarred from bomb blasts and snipers. “We had to endure seeing some of the ugly after-effects of war,” he said. Brown was never deployed overseas, although he volunteered to do so four times. To this day, not going causes him “great angst,” he said. He is a “fuzzy patch,” a slang term for a soldier who has not served overseas.
“UNLESS
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Doug Brown Age: 55 Birthplace/hometown: Washington Park, Illinois Residence: Mount Auburn Years of service: 30 combined federal and state Branch of service: Army Assigned unit: Combat, Combat Service Support, Medical Unit. Camp Atterbury; Fort Hood, Texas; Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Served on or trained at 10 other Army forts as well. Duties: Chaplain, 56A Rank attained: Nine years enlisted Doug Brown and his wife, Stefani. Submitted photo infantry, E2-E5, 01 to 04, Major, bachelor and master of divinity degrees Military honors: MSM (4), Army Commendation (2), Army Achievement (2), GWOTSM, ASR, etc., and other service medals from both Indiana and Tennessee Army National Guard Family: Wife, Dr. Stefani Martin. Three grown children from previous marriage, one in college, two in active military.
“I was told ‘Doug, you’re doing more good here (at Atterbury).” He served at Camp Atterbury for more than five years. “In one of our duties as chaplains, we’d spend countless hours at the airport to meet the returning and departing units. I’d watch them come
back and on occasion some would literally kiss the ground,” he said. Brown does not regret his participation and believes the wars in the Middle East serve a greater good. “Evil will show itself. Unless people are willing to rise up and protect the rights and dignity and freedom of
people, evil will win,” he said. “If America ceases her inner goodness, if she doesn’t support goodness and right, then we will lose our right to go to war. We must embrace the good and dignify humanity, for those are worth fighting for … I feel extremely blessed. I’m very proud to be an American!” There are three groups he thinks of, prays for and honors daily, Brown said. No. 1 is his sons, who are both activeduty military; one in the Air Force and one in the Army. “I also want to give a shout out to all those who are currently serving here or abroad. I want to give a third shout out to the families who’ve lost loved ones. They are never alone. They are alive in our thoughts and prayers and we have a deep appreciation for their sacrifice. “I also would be remiss if I did not mention Camp Atterbury. During the main Global War on Terror years, Camp Atterbury was chock full of solidly good people, both military and civilian. Many will never know how so very excellently well that post served during those years. I say to them, thank you for letting me have a part in it with you.”
PEOPLE ARE WILLING TO RISE UP AND PROTECT THE RIGHTS AND DIGNITY AND FREEDOM OF PEOPLE, EVIL WILL WIN.”
— DOUG BROWN
Indiana Masonic Home at Compass Park
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MAY 28, 2016
DON ROACH
ARMY
German occupation no vacation By Jennifer Willhite Correspondent
W
hen Don Roach was 21 years old, he was drafted into the U.S. Army. He said he knew for quite some time that he would be drafted because anyone who was capable was going overseas to fight. Initially, Roach went into D-Company, which specialized in heavy weapons, such as machine guns, mortars, bazookas, etc. Before it was all said and done, Roach was a part of a tank company, which fell perfectly in line with his interest in becoming a mechanic. The Odon native said initial orders were cut to send his unit to Korea. But while the unit was Photo by Mark Freeland still at Camp Atterbury, near Edinburgh, the
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MAY 28, 2016
U.S. military was still occupying Germany. Since the 28th infantry division was in Germany during the war, orders were recut and Roach would spend the next 15 months with his unit in Germany. “We lived in Hitler’s SS troopers’ barracks,” Roach said. “They had nice tile floors, hardwood in the rooms. It was beautiful. We really lucked out.” Roach admits the U.S. troops took over “everything over there,” and their presence wasn’t entirely welcomed. There were some remaining Nazis who were resentful of the U.S. troops’ presence, he said. But the German people as a whole didn’t care for the Nazis’ company and preferred the U.S. troops over the British. “The little town where I was at they hated the British,” the 86-year-old Franklin resident said. “Because the British were doing a bomb run and they were supposed to bomb an industrial area and bombed a residential area instead. That was cause for some animosity.” It was a dislike that was freely demonstrated. One evening, while at a local tavern, Roach and some fellow GIs gathered to have a few drinks. The barkeep didn’t care for U.S. troops, but gave Roach and his buddies a pass because they were tank drivers and mechanics. It seemed the barkeep had a soft spot for German tanks and respected those who took care of them. “One of our guys was in the bathroom on the second floor and a German followed him in there,” he said. “The German threw our friend out of the window.” The gentleman survived, but this was one demonstration of the German’s lack of tolerance for the occupation.
Don Roach Age: 86 Birthplace/hometown: Odon Residence: Franklin Years of service: 1951-1953 Branch of service: U.S. Army Assigned unit: 28th Infantry Division Duties: Tank driver; mechanic; gunner Rank: Sergeant Family: Wife, Barbara; son, Eric Roach; daughter, Shannon Smith
A typical day began around 5 a.m., he said. You would either end up cleaning weapons, working on a tank, or whatever the commander wanted you to do. If you were unlucky, you might find yourself on a 20-mile road march with packs weighing 50-100 pounds. Although he suffered with bad knees that would quickly swell under the exertion, Roach said he never gave up on the marches and would keep walking through the pain. He ended up becoming the unofficial barber for his unit. It all started with a pocket comb and a pair of paper sheers. A fellow soldier asked him to cut his hair, so Roach did. Three weeks later, the soldier returned asking for another trim. It wasn’t long before Roach ordered a pair of electric clippers from the former Sears and Roebuck store in Chicago. Charging his fellow soldiers 35 cents per haircut, Roach made enough money that when he returned home he was able to buy a used 1949 Chevrolet coupe. Once Roach learned the ins and outs of tank maintenance, all he wanted to do was be a mechanic.
I
Proctor Park
n the tranquil beauty of an open field in the center of Johnson County lies an 11 acre amazing tribute to our beloved Veterans and our Hometown Heroes. It is the hidden jewel of Johnson County.
Proctor Memorial Park was formally dedicated on May 3, 2008 and is a small but sincere means of thanking all of our Military personnel, those who have served and those currently serving. This park is a tribute to all Veterans; those living and deceased. It also honors the families of these brave men and women for their sacrifices as they have been called upon to face separation from their loved ones. There is no greater country in the world than this the United States of America. We are so blessed to call this home and we are forever in your debt for willingly defending our freedom, protecting our borders and keeping us safe.
mond Miller WWII Veteran 1st Lt. Ray
“Not all heroes have nu mb ers on their jerseys.”
11 He said he was offered the chance to stay enlisted, but turned it down. “In this mind, all I wanted to do was fix cars,” he said. “I spent 40-some years as a mechanic when I came home.” It is his father’s gift of being able to fix about anything that Roach’s son, Eric, wishes he had inherited. Describing his father as a very giving man, Eric Roach said his dad has transitioned from fixing cars and trucks to repairing computers for family and friends. Initially, Eric Roach served as his father’s teacher, showing him the ropes of computer repair. Now, the son readily admits he seeks out his father’s help with projects that leave him stumped. “Throughout my whole life there’s never been anything he couldn’t fix,” Eric Roach said. “He’s just traded his wrenches for a keyboard now.” Today, Don Roach is very involved with the Indiana Masonic Home veterans organization. Not only does he help with the organization’s annual Veteran’s Day celebration and keep records of all the veterans who live alongside him in the community, but he also offers a tech savvy slide show and presentation for the veterans who are honored each year. He says the military took him in as a shy kid and made him a man. Roach said he firmly believes every young man should experience at least two years in the military — whatever branch it may be. “It makes good men better men,” he said. “You should go in there with the attitude that you are going to enjoy it and be the best soldier you know how to be. Walk the straight and narrow. Be good at it and get as much rank as you can.”
Proctor Park is also a tribute to all of our Hometown Heroes; those men and women who serve and protect our communities as police officers, firefighters and emergency responders. These are the brave men and women who rush into danger when others are running out. These public servants sacrifice on a daily basis as well, as they put our needs before those of themselves and their families.
In 2012 the Hoosier Heroes Wall was added. This wall bears the name of every Indiana life that has been lost, while in service, since 9/11. Sadly there are more than 200 names on this wall. In 2014 the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated. Indiana lost more than 1,500 lives during the Vietnam War. Parents and grandparents take children to the park and point out the name of a relative who has served our great country and explain to them the pride and honor that comes with serving as well as the potential sacrifice and cost of doing so. Families are comforted knowing that their loved ones will not be forgotten and that they are remembered in a place that celebrates life and honors their service. Proctor Memorial Park is a place of honor and remembrance, a place of reflection and thanksgiving, a place of community and celebration. A place where visitors are encouraged to reflect on the lives and sacrifices of those so honored and remembered and give thanks for all those who continue in their footsteps. www.newwhiteland.in.gov or contact Maribeth Alspach 317-535-7500
As your family celebrates this Memorial Day, I urge you to make a trip to
Proctor Park
499 Tracy Road, New Whiteland
spend some time reflecting on the heroes that live right next door.
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MAY 28, 2016
PAUL AND SAM COTE’
AIR FORCE
Photo by Mark Freeland
Married life in the military had pros, cons By Jennifer Willhite Correspondent
I
f there’s one lesson the military and more than 40 years of marriage has taught Paul and Sam Cote’, it’s that you have to be understanding and resilient. And never, ever give up. Paul describes his reason for joining the U.S. Air Force in 1970 as “typical” for that period of time. Since the military was still instituting the draft, during this time via a birthday lottery, the then 20-year-old decided to be proactive and choose which branch of service he’d serve in rather than be drafted into the U.S. Army. “I was reasonably sure I was going to get drafted, so I thought, ‘Let me check it out,’” he said. “I went and saw an Air Force recruiter and very quickly found myself enlisted and gone.”
Sam Cote’
Paul Cote’
Age: 64 Birthplace/hometown: Franklin Residence: Franklin Years of service: 1972-1992 Branch of service: Air Force Assigned unit: Lackland AFB, Texas; Keesler AFB, Mississippi; Hamilton AFB, California; Peterson AFB, Colorado; Misawa AFB, Japan; Eglin AFB, Florida; Kunsan AFB, Korea; Fort Smith AFB, Michigan; Kapaun Air Station, Germany; Hill AFB, Utah. Duties: Administrative Rank: Technical Sergeant Military honors: Air Force Commendation Medal Family: Husband, Paul; son, Jeffrey; daughter, Annette Lehman.
Age: 65 Birthplace/hometown: Worcester, Mass. Residence: Franklin Years of service: 1970-1990 Branch of service: Air Force Assigned Unit: Lackland AFB, Texas; Sheppard AFB, Texas; Clark Air Base, Phillipines; Peterson AFB, Colorado; Misawa AFB, Japan; Eglin AFB, Florida; Kunsan AFB, Korea; Fort Smith AFB, Michigan; Kapaun Air Station, Germany; Hill AFB, Utah. Duties: Administrative Rank: Master Sergeant Military honors: Air Force Achievement Medal; Small Arms Expert Family: Wife, Sam; son, Jeffrey; daughter, Annette Lehman
Sam said she enlisted at 20 years old because she wanted to do her part in the war effort. Dissatisfied with how her studies were going at the
University of Evansville, Sam returned home to Franklin and worked at Dairy Queen. One day her mother sat her down
and inquired about what Sam was intending to do with her life. She pointed out that, as a young child, Sam was often attracted to the military pamphlets at the post office and would bring them home. “We checked around and found the group that was a little more picky about the women they took was the Air Force,” said Sam, 64. “I enlisted and had my 21st birthday at basic.” Sam said that during her work as a personnel officer in outbound assignments who helped facilitate the deployment of so many soldiers to Vietnam, she often wondered if the soldiers would be able to come home. It was a notion that she says truly haunted her. Both Paul and Sam landed positions as military personnel before their paths ever crossed at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado in September 1973.
MAY 28, 2016
Sam said she went over to finance to pay a bill shortly after arriving at Peterson. Paul was there and offered to give her a ride back to the women’s dormitories that evening. Sam accepted. The two spent a few hours talking at a local bar before Paul said he had to get her home so he could go bowling with his league later that evening. The two continued their courtship for the next few months. Shortly before Christmas 1973, Paul received orders he was to deploy to Japan. “Back then, if you weren’t married you had to say goodbye or get married,” Sam said. The couple married on Pearl Harbor Day (Dec. 7). “We got to spend our first wedding anniversary in Japan,” said Paul, 65. “Which only proves the Air Force has a sense of humor.” Looking back, Paul said he believes getting married made him and Sam more career oriented. Both were fairly comfortable with the military system, which had been good to them up to that point. The couple’s records were flagged so if one was considered for an assignment, the other was automatically considered, too. All newlyweds have an adjustment period. But the Cotes believe they had a bit of an advantage — as far as being military spouses goes. Despite the early morning calls, the pair would see one another on a regular basis since their offices were usually in separate buildings, but close. “We understood each other,” Sam said. “When he would get called at 2 a.m., I would also get called. We both would get up early and go and were doing
Salute the same things.” Early on, the couple agreed they would not have children for at least five years. Shortly before their sixth wedding anniversary, the couple welcomed their son, Jeffrey, to the world. Not too long afterward, they had a daughter, Annette. Each took turns with the kids, Sam said. If a child was sick, she would stay home, and the next time he would stay home. It became an intricate balancing act. And then the children were getting bigger and the orders kept coming, which would dictate where they’d move to next. The constant moves didn’t matter too much to the kids, until they were old enough to realize how upsetting it could be to be uprooted from friends. “I sometimes feel guilty for dragging them through it,” Sam said. If you ask either about the challenges they faced being married, they will agree that most of the challenges came from outside the marriage. “I can’t say we were regarded with great fondness,” Paul said. Military men whose wives were not military were unable to bring their spouses with them when they moved, which caused some resentment between them and the Cote’s and other married military couples. For Sam, it was more the tiffs between military and civilian wives. “Military wives and civilian wives have been and always will be like oil and water,” Sam said. “There was a certain string of jealousy in the Air Force for us.” The biggest benefit of being married, aside from
13 the doubled income, was that neither felt they had to explain things to the other one because they were on the same page. To other married military couples out there, the Cote’s have twofold advice. No matter what happens, even when the water starts to get warm, you cannot walk away, Sam said. “You have to give 100 percent,” she said. “You have to stick around and endure.” Paul views marriage as a great opportunity and challenge at the same time. “It is absolutely necessary — even more so in civilian life — that a military couple support one another,” he said. “It is vital when both are in the military. There is no way to make it otherwise.” After more than 40 years of marriage with deployments to six different Air Force bases in the United States and abroad, neither said they would do anything differently if given the chance. “I love the fact that I am proud of the fact I spent 20 years serving this country,” Sam said. “I wouldn’t change it for the world because I’m one of these people who loves this country more than anything.” Paul said if there is one lesson the military has taught him that he will never forget, it is the importance of embracing change. “You realize when you’re in the military that you are a part of an individual unit, but you won’t be part of it forever,” he said. “It isn’t like in the civilian world where you go to work with a company for 20 years. Every base is different. Every set of conditions is different and you have to adapt. What on earth is spending your life with someone for 42 years about if not change?”
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MAY 28, 2016
HESTER COWARD
NAVY WAVES
She saw the world, made sure sailors got their mail By Jennifer Willhite Correspondent
V
olunteering to be a part of the U.S. Navy’s WAVES during the end of World War II offered Hester Coward the chance to not only do her part to help the war effort, but it let her see the world from the West Coast. Shortly after Coward graduated from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, she graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in library science. She was quickly recruited for an open position at the Indiana University Library in Bloomington. Books were her love, and she enjoyed her job immensely. Near the end of World War II, Coward’s brother, Herbert, joined the U.S. Navy and was stationed in Annapolis, Maryland. “Here we were in the middle of the war,” the 94-year-old Greenwood resident said. “And I got patriotic.”
The then 23-year-old Coward chose to enlist in the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service unit of the Navy. “I decided to go into the U.S. Navy because my brother was in the Navy,” she said. “And I looked better in blue than in U.S. Army colors.” The enlistment process wasn’t as streamlined as Coward thought it would be. After meeting with a recruiter in Bloomington, she was sent to Indianapolis to meet with a physician to be medically cleared. Everything checked out until the physician noticed she had an overbite. “He said, ‘Sorry, we don’t take overbites,’” Coward recalled. “I was surprised an overbite would disqualify someone from military service.” She returned to the Bloomington recruiter, who then sent Coward to Cincinnati for a second medical check, which she passed without difficulty.
Photo by Mark Freeland
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MAY 28, 2016
Coward attended basic training at Hunter College in New York. Once you were there for a few weeks, you became part of the caretaking staff, Coward said. While her fellow WAVES were assigned to kitchen duty, Coward’s background allowed her to work in the library. She says she was very excited for the opportunity, but it didn’t turn out exactly as she’d hoped. “I thought I would be passing out books all day long, which was what I was used to doing,” she said. “But the chaplain who was in charge of the library handed me a dust cloth and said, ‘You can dust the books.’” Coward said it was quite a letdown. But, on the upside, she got a lot of books dusted for the two weeks she was there before she shipped out to San Francisco. When she arrived in California, Coward learned she would work in the post office, which was located in an old John Deere building and relatively close to the port. The new recruits were initially
Hester Coward Age: 94 Birthplace/hometown: Marietta, Ohio Residence: Greenwood Years of service: 1945-1946 Branch of service: U.S. Navy WAVES Assigned unit: Fleet Post Office, San Francisco Duties: Sorting mail Rank: Mailman Third Class Family: Sons, Thomas and Robert Jr.
housed in a former ladies’ hotel, which was soon remodeled as WAVE barracks, just up the street from the post office. “We sorted mail,” Coward says. “A lot of it. Being on the West Coast, it was mostly for the sailors on ships.” Coward said there was a system in place that involved the use of a locator that would tell the ladies where to send the mail for a certain ship. Each piece of mail had to be placed in the right bag, so it would make it to the right station, she said. It was a controlled environment that
“SOME
15
required the utmost secrecy, she said. “Some of them were coded, and you had to go in a special room where they would tell you where the ship was,” Coward said. “You would just know the name of the ship was coded and they would tell you what bag to put it in.” Essentially, it was a basic 9-to-5 job. But the experience gave her an opportunity to see places and meet people she wouldn’t have had the chance to before. “I got to travel all the way across the country,” she said. “I was a world traveler. And it’s been something good to talk about for forever.” Debbie Tielking has known Coward for nearly six years and says Coward doesn’t speak too often about her military experience. But she believes Coward’s experience has helped contribute to her strong constitution and determination to stay active. Whether she’s out walking, attending the symphony or volunteering one day a week at the
Johnson County Public Library, Coward is constantly on the go. To be so active and independent at her age definitely sets an example for others, Tielking said. “She loved her Navy career very much,” Tielking said. “A lot of people look up to her. She’s always on the go and nothing stops her.” One of her fondest memories of her service was being in downtown San Francisco on V-J Day in August 1945. Japan had just surrendered, and the city by the bay was electrified with energy reminiscent of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Coward said. “The atmosphere that day was, ‘Whoopee! Whoopee!’” she said. “There were a lot of sailors kissing girls, but I didn’t get kissed. It’s just as well.” Soon after V-J Day, Coward received an honorable discharge from the WAVES. After taking three months’ vacation, she went to work at the library at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
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MAY 28, 2016
WINTON ARMSTRONG
NAVY
Signalman relayed messages between ships, port By Amy May Staff writer
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orld War II started when Winton Armstrong was completing his senior year at Richmond Academy, a boys high school in Augusta, Georgia. The school was a military high school. “We wore uniforms and drilled and everything. We had rifles, too, that we didn’t shoot,” he said. Armstrong said he knew he would likely be drafted, so he planned to enlist. His grandfather encouraged him to choose the Navy. “He said ‘I don’t want you in the mud holes,’” he said. “The war started in December. I graduated in June and I enlisted in the Navy in July.” Part of his training brought him to Indianapolis, where the boy from the south met Dixie Nix, who later became his wife. Armstrong learned to be a signalman. “I learned to send messages with flags between ships and ports. That’s how it was done then,” he said. He used semaphore, which employs flags and body positions to convey a message. Signalmen also used a light to flash Morse code messages. Radio was not as widely used and not secure, Armstrong said. Signaling with flags was done to help ships navigate in the harbor, to send messages to each other at sea and sometimes, just to say hello to fellow sailors. After training, Armstrong was given a choice as to where he wanted to serve. He was almost assigned to the Merchant Marines, but he chose submarines instead. He was assigned to USS R-18 SS 95, a World War I-era submarine. The 150foot long sub had no name, just a number and a crew of 50 men. It patrolled the Atlantic Ocean and the Eastern Seaboard, protecting the supply ships headed to England, as well as guarding the Panama Canal. The sub was based at St. George Harbor in Bermuda, and the crew spent time in training missions with the American destroyers based nearby to help their crews practice finding submarines. Armstrong was later sent to the West Coast and assigned to the USS
Photo by Amy May
Peto, a 311-foot-long craft with a crew of 80. It patrolled an area from Pearl Harbor to Midway Island. The United States was bombing Japan and the Peto’s mission was to locate and rescue American pilots who had to ditch their aircraft. The pilots navigated on sight, and the last landmark before flying over open sea was Marcus Island, which was under Japanese control. A pilot and crew might be stranded
on a small island or atoll. Planes flew overhead to drop them supplies and a boat to get to the submarine. Armstrong said one time, the Peto could not get very close because the island was mined. The rescue plane dropped a sailboat for the stranded crew. “But no one knew how to sail or get the engine running. It took them six hours to get to us,” he said. Another time, they found their pilot floating on a one-man life raft. He
had been in the ocean for four days and was delirious and dehydrated. He refused to accept the line when they threw it, insisting that his friends were over the next wave. Someone had to swim over and get him, Armstrong said. The Peto saved 12 pilots and sunk 12 Japanese ships during its World War II tour. One day, the Peto got within a mile of Marcus Island and raised the periscope to look at it. A Japanese sub was nearby and fired a torpedo at them. “You could hear it go by. It sent chills up your back,” Armstrong said. It missed the Peto, but Armstrong suspects it was a warning shot. The sub also had to avoid mines, which were approximately 8 feet wide with spikes. Touch a spike and it goes off. They could be anchored at the desired depth to target a ship or a submarine. “It could put a dent in a ship,” Armstrong said. “You just had to hope you’d see them.” Living and working on a sub is interesting, Armstrong said. The sleeping berths were stacked four or five high with very little head room. If you were lying on your back and wanted to turn over on your stomach, there was no room to roll over; you had to get out of bed and get back in. There were no windows, only the periscope, but Armstrong never got claustrophobia, he said. “I remember the closeness of the other people and the machinery, but don’t remember having a problem.” Generally, the subs would stay under water all day and surface at night to charge the batteries and pull in fresh air. He got to see some of the sights in the Pacific, including Mount Fuji in Japan, but it was through a periscope. The direst danger, not counting enemy torpedoes and mines, was if someone forgot to close the torpedo tube’s outer door. The two-foot-round hole could fill with water and flood the sub. When Armstrong was on his first sub, the crew got caught in a hurricane. The sub was going from Bermuda to New London, Connecticut, and was about halfway there when the storm hit.
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MAY 28, 2016
Winton Armstrong Age: 92 Birthplace/hometown: Augusta, Georgia Residence: Greenwood Years of service: 1942-1946 and 19511952 Branch of service: Navy Assigned Unit: USS R-18 SS 95 submarine, USS Peto submarine, USS Nereus tender ship Duties: Signalman Rank attained: Signalman 1st Class Military honors: Defense Medal, Victory Medal, Atlantic and Pacific Campaign medals Family: Wife, Dixie Nix Armstrong (died in 2011)
17
on the USS Nereus, a submarine-tender ship, which is like a “It is most interesting to be in a submarine in a floating repair shop for the subs. The Navy’s mission was to hurricane,” Armstrong said. “There were 50-foot waves. It maintain a presence to keep China at bay, he said. filled the bridge like a bathtub.” “We never knew where their sympathies lie. We didn’t do The captain tried turning the sub, but that made it anything but make an appearance,” he said. weave. Then he decided to submerge, but the waves are He returned from under water, too, and continually pushed the deployment and worked at craft up and down. It the newspaper a couple made it to New London, more years before going to but not without damage. an advertising agency to Armstrong was create advertising art and discharged in 1946, but photo retouching. remained a member of Later, he became an oil the reserve. He came to painter and recreated Indiana, picked up Dixie dozens of scenes from his and went back to Navy days, as well as Augusta, where they painting still-lifes, married March 16, 1946. landscapes, people and Armstrong was a animals. He gave away talented artist and got a most of his art. He has job at an Atlanta committed to oil the scene department store as a where the Japanese commercial artist, while torpedo almost hit the Dixie worked as a Peto, as well as a scene ving on the USS Peto. ser ile wh s thi de secretary. Armstrong ma where the sub has Dixie’s parents visited surfaced and the men are on the bridge, waving an t h e yo u n g c o u p l e a n d she got so American flag to the American plane above so that it homesick that they decided to move to Indianapolis. doesn’t bomb them. Armstrong found work at the Indianapolis News as an Some of his WWII paintings hang in Indiana Military artist. In those days, he said, photography was rarely Museum in Vincennes. There is a memorial there for the used, especially in the advertising. He drew the products USS Grayback, one of 52 U.S. submarines lost in WWII. To for the ads. memorialize the vessels and their crews, each state was During his work there, the Korean War began and assigned a submarine memorial for one of the crafts. Armstrong was recalled to the Navy for one year. He served Indiana’s submarine is the Grayback.
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MAY 28, 2016
WILBUR HARVEY
ARMY
Chaplain was nearly 40 when he enlisted By Jennifer Willhite Correspondent
A
s the Vietnam War raged halfway around the world, Wilbur Harvey preached to his congregation of nearly 500 at the Disciples of Christ Christian Church in Indianapolis. Harvey had been preaching at the church, known locally as Garfield Church, for nearly 10 years and had expressed interest in seeking a change. So when church elders approached him about taking his message to Vietnam, the then 39-year-old Indianapolis resident was more than open to the idea. After discussing the opportunity with his wife, Laura Mae, Harvey accepted the opportunity. It was fairly well-known that during the Vietnam War, there was a shortage of chaplains. So Harvey was eager to do his part. During basic training, though, he momentarily reconsidered his decision.
Photo by Don Meyer
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MAY 28, 2016
“I was surprised when I was crawling on my belly under live fire in that mud hole in Fort Dix, New Jersey,” he said. “I began to think, ‘This old man doesn’t belong here.’ And that was a crisis for me.” Harvey traveled by ship to Vietnam and found himself stationed at an airbase in Saigon. He recalls going to what was known as Flower Street, a two-block-long location where you could buy fresh-cut flowers. In search of flowers to put in the chapel, Harvey said he was surprised to see a couple with two small children defecating in the gutter. “We couldn’t live that way because we would die of disease,” he said. “They were resistant to a lot of things that we weren’t.” Another unseen threat Harvey and his fellow military personnel were told about was hepatitis, which was a huge problem due to the unsanitary conditions. “You watched where you ate and certainly didn’t drink the water,” he said. Green bananas and warm Coca-Cola were essentially the dietary staples because they were relatively safe to consume. But, to this day, Harvey says he can’t bring himself to drink another warm Coke.
Wilbur Harvey Age: 88 Birthplace/Hometown: Indianapolis Residence: Greenwood Years of service: 1967-1971 Branch: Army Assigned unit: Chaplain Rank attained: Chaplain Honors: Bronze Star Family: Daughters, Beth Shepard and Peggy Duncan; sons, Mack and Mark.
When he returned home on leave once, he met with his congregation. They didn’t say much other than to ask him to please not wear his uniform when he returned, he said. For the first six months, while stationed at Phu Bai, Harvey traveled from site to site offering worship services, counseling and generally working with soldiers on a religious and humanitarian level. When you’re in the middle of a war zone, denominations don’t necessarily matter, he noted. “I guess there were several soldiers who had turned their back on religion,” Harvey said. “They didn’t need it until they needed it. And then there were some who were very loyal.” He also supported missionaries who assisted in rebuilding churches that
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had been damaged in bombings. Harvey’s absence was definitely an adjustment for his wife and four children back home. Peggy Duncan, his daughter, recalled how difficult it was for the family to move from Kansas, where Harvey had been stationed before he shipped out, back to Indiana to be near family. “I don’t have a vivid image of it, but we did struggle,” Duncan said. “It was difficult.” Harvey admitted it was a trying time for him, too. He doesn’t think his faith ever faltered, but it was certainly tried. Shortly before he left to return to the United States, Harvey says the helicopter he and a fellow soldier were in suffered damage. As a consequence, the pilot left the pair in a hole in a field of buffalo grass. Chaplains normally do not carry a weapon, but Harvey said in situations like that, your perspective changes. “There we sat in this hole, back to back, waiting for someone to come get us,” he said. “We were there for a couple of hours – it felt like a lifetime. It was a real bad experience. We were dependent on each other with no control of the situation whatsoever. We couldn’t go anywhere.”
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Once he was back on American soil, Harvey returned to the pulpit – without his military uniform. He said the congregation was receptive to his message, which had become more positive in light of his experience overseas. “The little things no longer counted,” he said. “People who were anti-war or anti-Vietnam, they at least listened, whereas before they wouldn’t event talk to you.” Harvey said his rationale for going to Vietnam was that there were young people overseas who didn’t want to be there and whose own families may have turned against them for going, but it wasn’t the individual’s choice; they were drafted. “I was convinced they were in need and I felt like I could do something,” he said. To future soldiers and military personnel, Harvey offered some kernels of wisdom. Above all, don’t change, he said. You have to be true to yourself. “Don’t be something you’re not because you’re going to end up in trouble,” he said. “Go in there with the attitude that it is a job. It is a nasty job when you go into a war zone, but other than that it is not. It is discipline.”
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MAY 28, 2016
CALVIN HIGGENS
MARINES
He didn’t want to be seen as a slacker By Greg Seiter Correspondent
U
.S. Marine veteran Calvin E. Higgens, a lifelong Indianapolis resident, knew significant sorrow even before he saw any military combat. When not in school, Higgens spent a lot of his childhood working on a farm and admired his brothers. Knowing that two of them had already gone into military service, Higgens committed himself to the same path. At 17, he joined the U.S. Marines Sept. 19, 1944, and was sent to Parris Island, South Carolina, for Calvin E. Higgens basic Age: 89 training. Birthplace/Home“I had town: Indianapolis never been Residence: Indiaaway from napolis home for Years of service: 1944-46 more than Branch of service: one day U.S. Marines before. But Assigned unit: 3rd they kept us Platoon, K Co., 22nd busy,” Marine Regiment, 6th Higgens said. Marine Div. (Okinawa, In Japan) December of Duties: Rifleman that year, he Rank Attained: PSE learned his Family: Wife, Betty; Grandfather sons Daniel and Greg, Higgens had daughters Diane and died. Carolyn; brothers Wil“I had liam, Morton and Dean been very close to him, and it really bothered me,” Higgens said. Less than one month later, he received more tragic news. His brother, Dean, a paratrooper in the 11th Airborne, was killed Dec. 7 in the invasion of the Philippines. “My mother decided to write and tell me about Dean before I came home from boot camp,” he recalled. “That was the lowest point of my life. I was really down. I remember sitting down and sobbing, and one of our sergeants came by and saw me. He tried to comfort me. “Later, they asked if I wanted to be a rifle coach instead of going overseas, but I declined. Then, they asked if I wanted to go to Japanese language school, but I said no to that,
Photos by Don Meyer
too. My two brothers had gone into combat and I didn’t want to be seen as a slacker. I wanted to be part of what was going on.” Higgens arrived in Okinawa, Japan, in May 1945 and was almost immediately exposed to the harsh realities of war. In fact, after his battalion connected with another one in an area known as Naha, he
watched, firsthand, as a “cattle truck” with an estimated 30 dead Marines stacked like logs passed by. Dog tags attached to the feet of the deceased were clearly visible. On another occasion, Higgens said he heard a single rifle shot during the night followed by a frantic call for his unit’s corpsman. “The next morning, we saw the
dead body of a Marine from our company,” he said. “He had stood up in his foxhole at night to urinate and another Marine, seeing his silhouette and thinking it was Japanese, shot him.” During his military service time, Higgens even witnessed two or three Japanese soldiers commit suicide rather than be captured. “For those who didn’t commit suicide and were just trying to escape, the Japanese would shoot their own,” he said. “I remember seeing a couple of guys swimming in a river once. They were trying to get away. So, the Japanese shot them.” Higgens, who was once shot in the right shoulder while attempting to clear an enemy-occupied cave, also shared a humorous cave-related combat story. “We were told that when we were near caves in Okinawa, we could never be sure if they were occupied by civilians or Japanese,” he said. “So, we would say the Japanese word for ‘come out.’ “One time, after we did that, a Japanese soldier came out of the cave and was laughing. He said we were mispronouncing the word. He had gone to school in the U.S., but had returned home for semester’s leave and unfortunately, couldn’t go back because of Pearl Harbor.” Higgens returned to San Diego in August 1946. When asked if he wanted
MAY 28, 2016
Salute
21 to re-enlist, he said ‘no’ and indicated that he was interested in biology and microbiology and wanted to pursue other things. “When I got home, my brother who was a pilot was in the Marine reserves and said I could re-enlist that way,” Higgens said. “So, the colonel of the Marine reserve corps in Indiana listened to my story and recommended that I not re-enlist. He saved me from having to go to Korea.” Higgens attended Purdue University and was hired as a research scientist at Eli Lilly. “I learned a lot from my military experiences,” he said. “The Marines taught me discipline and helped me learn how to maintain a positive attitude. Never give up. You’re going to make mistakes, but you have to realize that everything will eventually be OK. “It’s very important to have a positive attitude all the time. You will have bad days but you need to recover. Whatever you’re doing, stay with it.”
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MAY 28, 2016
RON ELLIS
ARMY
Military stint helped ministerial career By Greg Seiter Correspondent
Rev. Ron Ellis
T
Photos by Mark Freeland
hough he saw active duty for only two years, the Rev. Ron Ellis now realizes how important military service was in helping him develop skills that would prove beneficial in his ministry-based career. Ellis, more commonly known to his congregation at Shiloh Community Church in Franklin as Reverend or Pastor these days, developed an early level of respect for the U.S. military thanks to the example set by his father, Bill, who was an infantry sergeant and later, a master sergeant, in World War II. “I was very proud that my dad had served, but he didn’t talk much about it at all,” Ellis said. “He had been wounded in the Philippines, and maybe as a result, never
Age: 69 Birthplace/hometown: Blytheville, Arkansas Residence: Franklin Years of service: 1968-70 Branch of service: U.S. Army Assigned unit: 1st Battalion, 17th Artillery – South Korea Duties: Communications Officer Rank attained: First lieutenant Family: Wife, Nancy; son, Brian; stepson, Will Brewer; daughter-in-law, Karen; granddaughter, Mattie Kate
took me hunting and never kept a gun in the house. I was fascinated with war stories but got most of those out of books. I really respected my dad, so when the Vietnam War started, I decided to get my commission.” Ellis did so by enrolling in ROTC while attending Arkansas State University.
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“It was the patriotic thing to do back then,” Ellis said. “The government presented Vietnam as a serious threat, and when you’re young and dumb, you buy in. You accepted the fact that what the government was saying was true. “Today, kids are cynical about it. I think they miss out on something.” He was stationed in South Korea during the war, and upon arriving there, he quickly learned that North Koreans weren’t the only enemy he would have to deal with. “South Korea is the hottest and coldest place I’ve ever been in my life,” he said. “Summertime temperatures got up to around 105, and during the winter, temps dropped to zero with sub-zero wind chills. “I got there in February and they picked me up in a jeep with canvas covers. I was in green dress clothes. I had never been that cold in my life.” But Ellis soon realized it was
“WHEN I
actually better to arrive during the winter months than in summertime. “Back then, South Korea was very rural, and farmers used all kinds of manure for fertilizer,” he said. “The whole country smelled very bad, and that’s no reflection on the people. They were just trying to survive.” However, even before joining the Army, Ellis knew the career path he wanted to follow. “I grew up in a Baptist church that had a good youth program,” he recalled. “It even gave me an opportunity to go to the national Baptist assembly in North Carolina. I had a good connection with some pastors and had met student pastors a few years older than me. “I just felt that God wanted me to serve in the ministry. But you couldn’t go through ROTC and come out as a chaplain.” Serving as a communications officer in South Korea, Ellis
23
supervised those responsible for providing communications to his unit via radio, wire telephone and teletype. “Basically, I made sure units in our battalion could communicate with one another,” he said. “I was also responsible for cryptic communications systems.” During his time in South Korea, the North Koreans reportedly shot down an intelligence aircraft nearby and even crossed the demilitarized zone at one point and killed Americans who were hiding in the brush. However, Ellis wore a compassion for all types of humanity on his sleeve. “I got a job as an orphanage officer there, so every pay day, we collected money for kids and took it to a nearby orphanage,” he said. “We had a special unit day for guys to play ball and have a picnic. So some of the guys would bring kids from the orphanage. “American soldiers over there really tried to help kids out. We would buy
candy, and as we passed by the orphanage, we would throw it out to the children. Kids were a distraction for me. I had been a youth minister the summer before I joined ROTC.” Ellis also had empathy for Korean adults. “Three times while there, I went to the artillery firing zone for a week or so at a time. The Korean liaison officer we had told us there were Korean men who would go onto those ranges and pick up any scrap metal they could find in hopes of selling it to make a living. The Koreans were very poor.” Though he never experienced handto-hand combat, Ellis knows the experiences there were life-changing. “They say that combat is hours of sheer boredom interspersed with moments of sheer terror,” he said. “We weren’t in combat, but we definitely
SEE ELLIS, PAGE 27
WENT INTO THE MILITARY,
I HAD TO LIVE WITH AND ACCEPT PEOPLE DIFFERENT THAN MYSELF. AND I’VE BEEN ABLE TO WORK WITH OTHER VETERANS IN DIFFERENT CHURCHES, IF TALK WITH. A VETERAN CAN ALWAYS TALK TO A VETERAN.”
BECAUSE OF THOSE EXPERIENCES, THEY’VE NEEDED SOMEBODY TO
— RON ELLIS
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MAY 28, 2016
NORMA MARTIN
ARMY, ARMY RESERVES
JFK’s speech inspired nurse to enlist in Army By Amy May Daily Journal staff writer
W
hen President John F. Kennedy said, “My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country” at his 1961 inaugural address, the message hit home with at least one person: a young nurse living in New Albany and working at Baptist Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky. What she could do for her country, Norma Martin decided, was put her nursing skills and training to use in the Army. Three years later, in 1964 when Vietnam was heating up, she enlisted. “I think his quote was what made me want to join. I was 27 when I joined and already a nurse,” said the 80-year-old who lives at Franklin United Methodist Community. She was off immediately to basic training.
Norma Martin Age: 80 Birthplace/hometown: New Albany Residence: Franklin Years of service: 1964-1987 Branch of service: Army, Army Reserve Assigned unit: U.S. Army Nurse Corps Duties: Nurse Rank attained: Colonel Military honors: Numerous service and conduct medals Family: Husband, Donald (died in 2008)
“Compared to what it is today, it was probably easy. We didn’t learn to shoot,” she said. It was somewhat of a culture shock, but she found she enjoyed the work and the other nurses she worked with. “I liked the camaraderie and the feeling that
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SEE MARTIN, PAGE 27
Photo by Amy May
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25
At 100, WWII nurses have friendship of a lifetime By Jennifer Peltz The Associated Press NEW YORK — They were young Army nurses in World War II, sharing a room and experiences that forged an extraordinary bond. A monsoon destroyed part of their hospital on a South Pacific island. They were swamped with the sick and wounded near the front lines. A disease outbreak killed colleagues. Yet Amelia “Mimi” Greeley and Ruth “Brownie” Girk survived, and so did a friendship that still spurs near nightly phone calls as both turn 100. “We’ve always appreciated our friendship, but as it gets later and later, we appreciate it more,” says Girk, who turns 100 in June. Greeley celebrated her birthday in early March. “We’re sort of like sisters — that get along,” says Greeley. Then Amelia Devivo and Ruth Brown, the two women met after volunteering to serve in a war hospital being organized by what is now NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where both worked. They thought the same way about
medicine and shared a readiness to laugh and enjoy life, traits they’d need after getting to Goodenough Island in early 1944. A monsoon on the mountainous island, part of what’s now Papua New Guinea, poured mud into the newly built Ninth General Hospital and destroyed several wards, according to histories compiled by NewYorkPresbyterian. An outbreak of scrub typhus, a mite-borne disease that causes high fevers, sickened dozens of the hospital’s personnel and killed eight. Within months, the Ninth General
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moved to Biak Island, off Indonesia’s Papua province and closer to the fighting. A hospital designed for 1,500 patients sometimes cared for as many as 2,500. By the war’s end in September 1945, the hospital had cared for about 23,000 people. “It was awful” sometimes, says Greeley, who lives in New York. “But if we saw them get well, it was worth it.” Yet there were adventures, too, such as a 15-day leave that stretched far longer as Girk and Greeley waited to hitch flights in Australia. And there was the camaraderie preserved in a fading photo from the hospital’s archives, showing Greeley, Girk and a half-dozen colleagues with broad, carefree-looking smiles. “When you’re in the service, you’re away from home, you become very close to people,” says Girk, of Peoria, Arizona. “They’re your alternate family.” After both worked six postwar months at a now-closed Army hospital in New York and finished their service as captains, Girk studied industrial nursing and worked for an insurer before marriage and moves to the
Midwest and elsewhere. Greeley returned to work at NewYorkPresbyterian until her marriage in 1966. But their friendship held fast. They spent holidays and traveled together with their husbands and later without, after both were widowed in the 1980s. Friendships among older adults can yield more than emotional benefits, researchers believe. Studies have suggested that people who feel more connected to others live longer, though it’s difficult to quantify the effect, said psychologist Louise Hawkley of the NORC research center at the University of Chicago. These days, it’s been several years since Girk and Greeley saw each other; medical issues have made travel difficult. But their phone calls keep the friendship immediate. They trade updates on their days, confer about their health, revisit threequarters of a century of memories and had-to-be-there jokes. Laughter starts quickly, stops slowly. If there’s a secret to a long life and friendship, Girk thinks it’s “happiness and a pleasant outlook on life.”
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MAY 28, 2016
THOSE WHO LOST THEIR LIVES DURING WAR Wars ranked by total number of American military deaths Deaths U.S population War Years Deaths per day first year of war 1 American Civil 1861–65 750,000 420 31,443,000 2 World War II 1941–45 405,399 297 133,402,000 3 World War I 1917–18 116,516 279 103,268,000 4 Vietnam War 1961–75 58,209 11 179,323,175 5 Korean War 1950–53 54,246 45 151,325,000 6 American Revolutionary 1775–83 25,000 11 2,500,000 7 War of 1812 1812–15 15,000 15 8,000,000 8 Mexican-American 1846–48 13,283 29 21,406,000 9 Iraq/Afghanistan 2001–now 6,717 1.57 294,043,000 10 Philippine-American 1899–1902 4,196 3.8 72,129,001
Deaths per Population 2.385% (1860) 0.307% (1940) 0.110% (1920) 0.030% (1970) 0.020% (1950) 0.899% (1780) 0.207% (1810) 0.057% (1850) 0.002% (2010) 0.006% (1900)
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Martin FROM PAGE 24 you were in a group that was accomplishing something for your country,” she said. Her first posting was as a general nurse at the Honolulu-based Tripler Army Medical Center, a famous massive coral pink structure that can be seen from any point in the Honolulu District. She did not care for wounded in the Vietnam War, but for the soldiers and their families stationed nearby. After a tour there, she moved to Germany, where she was an Army Health Nurse, which meant she
On her off-time, she enjoyed travel all over Europe, getting to visit France, Switzerland, Austria and England. During her service, she met Donald Martin, an American soldier from California, and married him. After 10 years, she left active duty, but remained
her Army Reserve training, which often included mock disaster drills. She remained in the Reserve for 13 years, but was never activated as a reservist. She was promoted to chief nurse, with a rank of colonel, at the Army Reserve Hospital in Louisville and served in that
Ellis
After he left the Army, Ellis attended seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and went on to serve various churches as both a Christian educator and a pastor. To this day, he credits the military with having taught him the importance of appreciating people for who they are. “When I went into the military, I had to live with and accept people different than myself,” he said. “And because of those experiences, I’ve been able to work with other veterans in different churches, if they’ve
needed somebody to talk with. A veteran can always talk to a veteran.” Ellis served in a pastoral capacity at Amity Baptist Church, just south of Franklin, and went on to spend some time as a chaplain. Though he retired from the pulpit in 2008, Ellis later answered the call to serve as pastor at Shiloh Community Church and remains there today. “I’ll be 70 in July but I’m still trying to do what I can to help people,” he said. “The military taught me to care for people.”
“I
a reservist. The couple moved to Louisville. Martin worked at Methodist Evangelical Hospital in Louisville and at General Electric as an occupational health nurse, as well as continuing with
LIKED THE CAMARADERIE AND THE FEELING THAT YOU WERE IN A
GROUP THAT WAS ACCOMPLISHING SOMETHING FOR YOUR COUNTRY.”
— NORMA MARTIN
FROM PAGE 23 had our share of scary moments.” As with many veterans of that time period, Ellis received a less-thanrespectful greeting upon his return to the United States in February 1970. “I was going out the airport gate and some long-haired guy ran up to me and screamed ‘How many babies did you kill?’ Anybody who came home from Asia had it rough,” Ellis said.
Proud To Serve Those Who Have Proudly Served Us
27 capacity for the last three years of her service. After retirement, the Martins moved to Florida, where they lived for several years. Martin said she knew about the Franklin United Methodist Community and its continuum of care, so the couple decided to return to Indiana and live there, where Norma still resides. Donald Martin died in 2008. Looking back, she is proud and positive about her service in the Army. “We took care of not only the soldiers, but their families, too. It’s the No. 1 reason why I liked it,” she said. “I also met a lot of friends and we’ve been friends since basic training.”
investigated communicable diseases among the troops. She also helped care for evacuees from the Vietnam War, specifically soldiers who needed longterm rehabilitation from their war injuries.
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