Dozens of local veterans, their families and other residents from throughout the region came together to honor World War II veterans on Sunday, Dec. 7 — the 84th anniversary of the Imperial Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor — at the Veterans Memorial Museum in Chehalis.
The museum hosts an annual WWII dinner to honor the veterans. In attendance this year were World War II veterans Harvey Drahos and Roy "Pete" Jacobs, who both served in the U.S. Army, and James "Jim" Gardner who served in the U.S. Navy.
Also honored were Margaret Cole, who worked in a deli during WWII feeding service members at only 16 years old, and Bill Sinclair, a child survivor of the Pearl Harbor attack who was there as his father was in the Navy and stationed at the island Naval base.
“We are here to honor the greatest generation this country has ever seen. The World War II veterans, they all stepped up and they all defended (us against) the greatest threat to this world — which was Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan and fascist Italy, and a handful of other Axis countries,” Veterans Memorial Museum Executive Director Chip Duncan said. “... Today, only a handful of WWII veterans remain. Most of them, over the age of 100.”
Both Jacobs and Gardner are 100, with Gardner set to turn 101 on Feb. 4 and Jacobs to hit 101 in just a few weeks on Dec. 28. And just after New Years on Jan. 5, Drahos will turn 103.
All of the veterans were given the opportunity to speak, although Jacobs, who fought in the Philippines, declined to speak.
Drahos shared his story, where after he got his draft card, he wanted to serve in the U.S. Marine Corps like a family friend was already doing.
“I figured, ‘I’m going to go in the Marines!’ So I headed for the Marine table, and the Marines put their hands up and said, ‘No, no, no, you go see the Army,’” Drahos said. “They probably saved my life, so anyway, that’s how I ended up in the Army.”
Serving in the infantry, Drahos ended up being his squad’s machine gunner, having to carry around an M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle.
“I was the short guy so I got the heavy weapon,” he joked.
He found himself serving under Army General Douglas MacArthur in the Pacific Theater, and helped liberate the Philippines before being shipped north to assist in the bloody Battle of Okinawa.
“The 96th Infantry Division, we lost 10,000 men, wounded and killed in action,” Drahos said.
During the battle, Drahos was injured by artillery fire.
“I went to the triage station, and the Catholic priest gave me my last rights,” said Drahos. “So I told the good Lord, ‘If I survive this, I’ll dedicate my life to helping people.’ And that’s what I’ve done most of my life. Mentally, physically and even financially — especially my ex-wife.”
As for Gardner, he purposely chose to join the Navy over both the Army and Marines because he figured the beds were nicer as he had already heard horror stories from his brothers in the Army and Marines.
He found himself serving on the USS Tide, AM-125, an Auk class minesweeper which escorted supply and troop convoys headed for Italy and Northern Africa. Eventually his ship was called to assist with the D-Day Invasion at Normandy, France.
The Tide was sailing in the waters of the English Channel sweeping for mines during the invasion’s second day, when disaster struck.
“On the morning of the seventh, we hit one of the mines. It blew the ship apart — 100% casualties. We had a crew, 59 were dead and 83 wounded,” Gardner said.
He was rescued from the waters of the Channel and after recovering, was assigned to serve on a new minesweeper in the Pacific Theater, the USS Toucan, AM-387.
It first began with minesweeping operations in the East China Sea and near Korea.
Toward the end of the war, the USS Toucan was operating near Okinawa when the Imperial Japanese forces finally surrendered.
“I was one of the only people in my high school class and of my friends who got to see both the Atlantic and Pacific,” Gardner added.
Following the end of WWII, he remained in the Navy and retired after a 20-year career, with his final duty station being a recruiter in Chehalis.
