The Humor (cont’d) I went back to Guam for R&R. That was a joke! They packed us a lunch -- sandwiches, cokes and a couple of beers. We played softball with the crew of another ship for about 3 or 4 innings and then they chased us back to our ship to make room for another crew coming in for R&R. Robert (Buddy) MacMillan When his children asked (Major General Close) what his medals were for, he explained as he pointed to them. “This one was for brushing my teeth every day; this one was for polishing my shoes and this one for making the bed.” Winton Close
The Romance Mildred Pickers was a nurse at the Perth Amboy hospital, when I arrived. The surgery was successful. While I was recovering I was attended by several other nurses. One morning I had the following exchange with another nurse: “You Know Miss Pickers? I want to take her out for a date!!” “No, I don’t think so!” “Will you ask her?” “No, not me!” “You ask her” “No!” I finally told her (halfheartedly in jest), “You ask her today. If you don’t I’m going to grab hold of you!” Mildred walked into the room and said to me, “I hear you want a date with me?” I said, “Yeah; what’s wrong with that? She says, “Nothing; but I’m too old for you; I’m older than you are!” “So what; I don’t care. I still want to go out with you.” I was in the hospital for about a week. A day before I was to be discharged, I asked her, “Do we have a date?” She says, “Oh, all right!” We were married for 59 years. John Hango
The Kindness I was hiding about an hour when a very elderly woman, maybe about 90 years old, came into the barn. But she was tall and strong, carrying what appeared to be buckets. She came within 25 to 30 feet from where I was hiding; I wondered whether or not to stay put. I decided to step forward and hope for the best. I stepped into view and from my pack pulled out the little American flag the Air Corps had given us to identify ourselves. I waved the flag and said, “American, American!” On seeing me she dropped her buckets and came charging right towards me. She grabbed me under the armpits, picked me up off the ground and bounced me in unbridled joy while my feet never touched the ground. She took me into the farm house where the rest of the family lived, and they broke out some wine and cheese and called a neighbor over and started a little celebratory party on my behalf. Sam Najarian One day during The Death March my dad noticed a farm house way off in the distance. He saw someone coming from the farm house towards the ragged line of 10,000 marchers stretching across 20 miles. As the person walked closer my dad saw that it was an old woman, in that freezing weather, with a pot of tea in one hand and a cup and a saucer in the other. She walked up to one of the GIs and said to him, “Would you like a cup of tea?” One normally would think, how does that help—helping just one man? But it was a gesture, a symbol that ... inspired the men who saw it as a single act of kindness. Jim Hoel
The Dedication He never regretted his military service. “If I hadn’t been married, “ he said, “I would have stayed in. I’m just thankful to be here. I served my country, survived the war and am happy to be in Sun City.” Charles Burton
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