My dear husband (DH) does a lot of writing but in a private format. He journals nearly every day. Today he wrote about a gentleman he met in the grocery store and is allowing me to post it. Here is his debut blog post. 
My Honor to Meet and Talk with a World War II Veteran
Today Cheryl and I went out to have a late breakfast at Le Peep and then on to other errands. After going to Lowes for exterior paint for the house, brushes, painter’s tape, etc., we made our last stop at Kroger. We had been working our way through the store and were nearly finished with only the produce and bread to buy plus the required visit to Starbucks for Cheryl’s beverage of choice.
While in produce I noticed an older man in one of the store-supplied electric carts with a basket on the front. I would estimate he was in his 80’s. His cap was well worn and said “USS Enterprise”. I knew this had to mean THE Enterprise CV6 - the largest aircraft carrier the US had during World War II (and not the one from Star Trek!). I thought about talking to him but then didn’t. A few minutes later while I was walking back to the cart with a bag of grapes in my hand, there he was again in front of me. I decided I needed to talk to him. As I’ve gotten older I’ve also become more interested in people. As I learned from Cheryl, everyone has a story.
The man was very nice, and he told me his name. He spoke well and his mind was sharp. In a short period of time I learned a lot about him and here are some parts of his life.
He grew up on a farm and like many of the farm boys of his generation, he went to war. He took in the experience of older boys who joined the army and decided he would prefer to serve in another military branch which didn’t include living in a foxhole! He joined the Navy and spent 4 years on the USS Enterprise and was one of many Boilermen who served in the bowels of the ship which was powered by several high pressure boilers.
In WWII the ships were not air conditioned. He said the temperature in most of the ship could be 90°. In the boiler rooms the temperature would be 108°! It was also very loud and the men didn’t have ear protection. He worked a 4-hour shift, was off 8 hours, and then back on 4 hours. This was the normal schedule, but everyone was working all the time while the ship was under attack. It was hard work but at least the men slept in clean sheets and had hot food.
The Enterprise was in major battles all through the war. It was the most decorated ship in WWII with 20 Battle Stars.
There are many high pressure steam lines in the boiler room. They were insulated with asbestos. When the ship took a big hit and shuddered the asbestos would be knocked off the steam lines and fall as powder to the floor to be cleaned up later.
About 10 years ago the doctors found a spot on one of his lungs. After seeing several doctors (both private and with the Veteran’s Hospital) and having the lobe of a lung removed all they would tell him is it wasn’t cancer. They would not call it damage from asbestos. They did give him some disability due to hearing loss.
One and a half years ago he lost his wife of 60+ years. He is, of course, still very sad about this. Although he owns a house in Dallas, he lives with one of his four daughters. He has his own room and shares it with a small dog. He would prefer to still be living on his own. He likes to read. I offered to bring him some books, but he said 90% of the time he reads the Bible.
We could have talked for a very long time. But we both had shopping to finish. I told him I enjoyed meeting him, shook his hand, and thanked him for his service. He thanked me for remembering.
We are losing thousands of WWII veterans every month. It won’t be long until there won’t be a man or woman alive who fought against tyranny in the second world war – the war to end all wars.
Unfortunately there is no such thing as a “war to end all wars” because it always has been and always will be a part of our world. There is a saying in Latin:
Si vis pacem, para bellum
If you wish for peace, prepare for war.
Be sure to thank the war veterans you see and if you can, get to know them!
Cheryl’s DH
