Operation Meatball 2016 Year End Review

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As we have reflected on this last year's blessings, losses, and adventures with Operation Meatball - counting up the miles, the stories, and planning for the future - we feel that it is a wonderful thing to look back on the year’s endeavors with satisfaction, even as we anticipate all that next year might hold. So, as 2016 comes to a close and our thoughts turn to the New Year, we would like to share with all of you a review of what this past year looked like for us and our efforts with Operation Meatball. 

2016 has been highlighted by intimate gatherings, breakfasts, and get-togethers instead of the larger, more commercial events. This has given us some of the most precious and meaningful interactions ever, with stories that have changed our lives.

Jubilee and one of our "Redshirts"

We started the year with our monthly “Redshirt breakfasts,” a sweet time for us to gather for breakfast at local restaurants with Honor Flight veterans from the San Antonio area, listen to them share war stories, and just catch up on life. 

Also in January, our dear friend Flo from France, his mother Jocelyne, and their friend and filmmaker Hugo Le Gourrierec stayed with us for a while to interview local WWII veterans as part of Flo’s on-going project to honor American veterans back in France. It means so much to work along side friends like Flo who share our heart and vision and dream.

At the end of January, we headed to the Dallas/Fort worth area for the monthly veterans luncheon hosted by a friend. This is a highlight every single month as we spend hours and hours chatting, singing, and hearing stories from 65+ of the sweetest veterans.

Faith with Army veteran, Tom Cannon, at our monthly luncheon in Dallas/Fort Worth. 

We have gotten to know these wonderful gentlemen and a handful of adorable ladies over the past two years, and look forward to our regular reunion with each of them. Faith gets to sing some of their favorite hits from the WWII era, and occasionally we are treated to them singing along with her! 

In February, Operation Meatball hosted The Grand Old Fashioned President’s Day Party for our San Antonio area veterans, held at our favorite location: Dick’s Classic Garage and Car Museum in San Marcos. It was an absolute blast! We had nearly 30 WWII heroes come and join us. There was lots of singing, American history quizzes, more singing, a bit of poetry, more singing, good old fashioned hot dogs and hamburgers, and of course... (drum roll) more singing. 

Our 2016 Old Fashioned Presidents' Day Party

Later that month, Liberty was our ambassador to the Iwo Jima Reunion in Washington D.C. She got to rub shoulders with about 20 of the Marine Corp’s finest - the veterans who took part in one of the bloodiest battles in Marine Corps history, but one that helped to define the war. These fellas can tell you war stories that make your hair stand on end, and inspire pride and gratitude in the coldest heart.

In March, we took a sudden and sad trip to Ohio to say goodbye to our hero and dear friend Ira Morehart. Mr. Morehart was one of the brave paratroopers who jumped into Holland, survived the cold of Bastogne, had his run-ins with General Patton, and yet remained one of the humblest guys you’d ever meet. We can't make it to every funeral, but it is very important to us to go to those we can. 

With Joe Barger shortly after he finished his 10K

With Joe Barger shortly after he finished his 10K

On April 13, we were so happy to cheer on Iwo Jima and Navy veteran Joe Barger in one of his many competitions for the Texas Senior Games. It is utterly inspiring to us to watch these nonagenarians run races like this 10k and achieve what many younger men and women won’t even try. 

Liberty in Holland with two charming Dutch veterans

The beginning of May, Liberty was sponsored to travel to Holland to assist with a filmmaking project dedicated to telling the story of the American liberators in the Netherlands. We are so proud of Willem Braaam and Ralph Peeters, the Replacements Group, and the many others committed to the effort to remember.

Also in May, Liberty started training for the 41st annual Marine Corps Marathon to raise money for the Iwo Jima Association of America to send Iwo Jima vets back to the island. And on Memorial Day, a few of us made it to Fredericksburg and the Nimitz Museum for the Memorial Day program there, and of course ran into some of our country's finest who were also in attendance. 

The Mid Atlantic Air Museum's annual WWII Weekend in Reading, PA

Virginia helping to raise money for Iwo Jima veterans

Virginia helping to raise money for Iwo Jima veterans

On June 6th (and the 73rd anniversary of D-Day) we drove to Pennsylvania for the spectacular Reading Air Show. For four days, we were up to our ears in WWII veterans, old planes, parachute jumps, 1940s fashion, WWII era Music, War stories, and fellow old souls. We were so happy to see some of our east coast veterans who are just hard to get to!  June wrapped up with us back in Dallas/Fort Worth, as every month, visiting our wonderful fellas and ladies there. 

Liberty and our adorable 10 year old sister Virginia kicked off July by going door to door selling potted flowers to tell folks about the Marine Corp Marathon and raise money for the Iwo vets.

July 4, we were so happy to help promote Dick’s Classic Car Museum which has been so generous to us in our efforts to honor WWII veterans. On the 6th, Liberty and Jubilee were guests of a friend at the Nimitz Foundation’s annual dinner in Fredericksburg with our dear Iwo Jima veteran Fred Harvey. 

4th of July with Dick's Classic Garage and Car Museum

We took some time off for our family reunion at the beginning of August, and then drove to Ohio for D-Day Conneaut. The little town is transformed and gives the 30,000 people attending rare and special opportunities to know history a little bit with rides in real Higgins crafts and a dramatic re-creation of the D-Day invasion re-enacted on Lake Erie.

Playing songs for the vets at Conneaut is a must. 

It’s all great fun, but by far the best part for us was the 200 WWII veterans who came out. Conneaut is very special to us. This was the event that helped jump-start Operation Meatball in 2014, and some of our first and dearest veteran friendships came from this darling town. And so, this year, our third attending, was also bittersweet as we had said goodbye days before to a couple of very dear friends who had initiated us into the Conneaut spirit three years ago and who had become an important part of our lives. 

In September, we attended the 36th Infantry Division Reunion in our home town (we will always have a special place in our hearts for our T-Patch soldiers!), got to welcome back one of our wonderful Honor Flights as they returned from D.C., and made a quick trip up to Dallas/Fort Worth to visit a couple of veterans we hadn't seen in a bit. Liberty shared her birthday celebration with one of our special “Squadron 95” veterans who happened to turn 96 the day after her 20th birthday. 

Highlights from Liberty's Marine Corps Marathon.

Highlights from Liberty's Marine Corps Marathon.

October was a busy month with a visit to Toccoa, Georgia for the annual Toccoa Military Weekend, then back to San Antonio for the Fifth Marine Division Reunion, more Honor Flight breakfasts (of course!), over to Houston for another highlight - the Wings Over Houston Air Show, up to Dallas/Fort Worth for the monthly luncheon, and finishing up with Liberty flying to D.C. for the Marine Corps Marathon, the culmination of her fundraising for the Iwo Jima Association of America.

Honor Flights at the WWII Memorial.

Of course, a trip to D.C. meant a mandatory day trip to the WWII Memorial greeting Honor Flights. “Coincidentally,” Houston Honor Flight arrived the same day with a whole crowd of Texans. Naturally, it was all planned that way. 

En-route home from the marathon, Liberty attended the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment reunion held the first weekend in November in Charleston, South Carolina. Last year the reunion was held in San Antonio, so it was great to catch up with old friends and make a few more. 

Veterans Day was November 11. Of course, this is a favorite day of the year, and we were thrilled to spend it in Dallas at the elegant luncheon put on by the Daughters of WWII.

Veterans Day at the Daughter's of WWII Luncheon in Dallas

A quick breather for Thanksgiving with the family was followed by the round of Christmas parties and beautiful year-end events which bring so many veterans together to celebrate another year of life and memories.

Jubilee and Pearl Harbor Survivor Robert Tanner

Of special note was the momentous Remember Pearl Harbor luncheon in Dallas/Fort Worth which honored those fallen and recognized the tragic event which initiated America’s entrance in the war. 

Some of the most precious and tender memories from 2016 were the personal visits to the homes of veteran friends when we have had time to visit for hours on end, look through photo books, and hear myriads of stories over a cup of tea or coffee, and just interact on a more intimate level. We treasure these moments more than we can express and will nurture these memories as long as we live. 

Faith and one of our Fifth Marine Division boys. 

Having been raised on Kipling's "fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds worth of distance run," we continue to feel the urgency to connect with and keep up with these dearest of souls as they slip away from us faster and faster. As we look over 2016, we are deeply grateful for the opportunities we have had to be a part of 30 veterans’ breakfasts, 8 Dallas/Fort Worth monthly luncheons, 1 annual Operation Meatball hosted event, 5 reunions, too many funerals, countless phone calls and letters and house visits, traveling 25,000 miles (18,000 by car and 7,000 by plane).  May God grant us everything we need in 2017 to make the most of every moment.

~Liberty, Jubilee, and Faith

l-r Faith, Liberty, and Jubilee

Friends We Lost in 2016

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We lost many, many friends this year. We honor them and remember them forever. 

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Dylan Thomas

Pearl Harbor Remembered 75 Years Later

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Photo taken at the 70th anniversary ceremony for Pearl Harbor in 2011 

"Let me tell you something I bet you've never heard." The  speaker was a lovely white-haired gentleman wearing the typical casual Hawaiian shirt that you find in the tourist hotels of that tropical paradise. The girls and I were standing in the lobby of the Pink Lady Hotel off Waikiki Beach about 5 years ago, waiting for the rest of our group to join us for dinner.  I don't remember him wearing a Pearl Harbor Survivor hat, but everything about him spoke to it, so of course we had gone up to chat with him for a few minutes. He continued on, "One of the bombs that hit our ship came clear through, but didn't explode. It was a dummy. Of course we all ran over to look at it since it hadn't gone off. As I looked, I saw the words USN 1918 engraved on it. The bomb was American surplus we had sold to the Japanese after the war, and now they were using it against us! Imagine that!"

Five years ago I heard that story, and it's stuck with me ever since - a mixture of horror that our own bombs were being used against us, but also (and only because it turned out to be a dummy), a bit of the ludicrousness of the situation. 

Last Wednesday, the girls and I went up to Dallas to commemorate this momentous day in our history - the 75th Anniversary of this life and world changing event. And it was a beautiful day. Each month a good friend up in the Dallas area organizes a veterans luncheon. Each month it is well attended with around 65 WWII veterans and many veterans of Korea, Vietnam, and even the last two decades' wars. This month was special though because we all gathered with the particular intention of remembering Pearl Harbor: those who survived, those we lost, what it meant for America in 1941, and what it means for America today. 

The cutest little B17 pilot (and a staunch Aggies fan too!).

The building was packed - wall to wall, every chair filled, even a couple of the discarded walkers were borrowed for those who didn't catch a seat sooner. Our host and his fabulous team pulled out all the stops, complete with Honor Guard, local ROTC, and Marine Corps Escort.

Faith and Jubilee with two of our Marine Corps representatives. (Photo Credit: Joe Schneider) 

Our three Pearl Harbor veterans gave their recollections of the day, and we even got to hear from a veteran who was stationed at Clark Field in the Philippines at the time of the bombing (as you probably remember, the Philippines were attacked the next day, on December 8th.)

Our 3 fabulous Pearl Harbor veterans and 1 Philippine veteran. (Photo Credit: Joe Schneider) 

The stories were unlimited, and despite going over time, I think everyone in the room would have been happy to be there for the rest of the day. I mentioned in the previous post that we'd share some of the stories. So below, in no particular order, are a few of them. 

Jubilee with Pearl Harbor survivor Dale "Red" Robinson

In the above photo, Jubilee is with our Pearl Harbor survivor, Dale Robinson. I asked him to sign a special commemorative newspaper of the attack, and he started to write his name, but paused. "I'm putting 'Red' here because that's what they used to call me." "Did you have red hair?" I asked. "Yup," he answered, then lifted his cap and chuckling added, "Not anymore."  

A young and very handsome Dale "Red" Robinson

At the time of Pearl Harbor, Mr. Robinson was serving in the 35th Infantry, 25th Division at Schofield Barracks. "I was up early, walking around the barracks," he recalled. "It wasn't too long, and I heard the sound of an airplane. One airplane came down low over our quadrangle, and I could see the pilot."

It was a startling moment for him to realize that the pilot wasn't one of our own boys, and even more so when he started strafing the airfield.

But for Mr. Robinson, Pearl Harbor was only the beginning. Two and a half years later, he landed on Omaha Beach, D+2, and went on to fight through France, Belgium, and Germany. On May 8th, 1945, he received his discharge papers and went home. "War is horrible," he said, "And you just want to forget about it."

Nevertheless, despite enduring some of the toughest fighting of the war, at 94 he still has the best sense of humor and is always handing out the cutest lines. 

As the girls and I popped around asking the vets, "Where were you when you heard about Pearl Harbor?" these are a few of the things we heard: 

Pearl Harbor veteran Robert Tanner. USAF B-18 Bomber Pilot.

"I was working at Ashburn's Ice Cream," said one veteran. "I was dipping ice cream when I heard that Pearl Harbor was bombed. Taking classes in college... I didn't realize then how much my life would change."

Another veteran from the European theatre, Mr. Wilkie, was 18 years old at the time and playing the trumpet with Ralph Barlow and his orchestra. He told me, "I was 18, and I was in Chicago, Illinois, playing in a band. And I was shocked when I heard it. I was coming down the elevator in the hotel, and when the doors opened, the people in there were saying how terrible it was, and I said, 'What's terrible? What happened?' Then they told me. It was quite a shock. I was drafted in 1942, the next year."

Marvin Rudd, a veteran of both the European and Pacific theatres told us, "I was 17 years old. I was in my dormitory in my room at Texas A&M trying to wake up. 'Well' [they said], 'did you hear they bombed Pearl Harbor?' I says, 'Where is that?!' Nobody knew where Pearl Harbor was. It was just a routine [rest of the] day for everybody at A&M, except all the military officers. They understood and were getting ready, you know, for whatever was going to happen at A&M with our ROTC."   Shortly after, Mr. Rudd finished up college, joined the Army, and was sent to Europe with the 86th Division. 

Our swell crowd of WWII veterans. (Photo Credit: Joe Schneider) 

One of the special guests on the 7th was not a Pearl Harbor survivor, though he had a story to tell that was as heartbreaking as any other we heard that day. On December 7, 1941, Harmon Moody lost his brother at Pearl Harbor. 

90 year-old Harmon Moody

Robert Moody, a young and very handsome Mississippi son, had enlisted in the U.S. Navy in the fall of 1940. By 1941, his ranking was Seaman First Class, and his ship was the U.S.S. Arizona, stationed at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. We all know the story of the Arizona, the tragedy and enormous loss of souls on board. There were a few survivors, but Robert Moody was not one of them. Last year in our Pearl Harbor Day post, I quoted the words that a survivor of another ship told us of what he heard from the Arizona, "We could hear the pounding on the sides of the ship, and the screaming of the boys inside. This lasted for days, but there was nothing we could do." 

When 16 year-old Harmon Moody turned on the radio that afternoon and heard the fateful words, "Pearl Harbor has been bombed," he felt a cold chill inside of him. While most Americans had never heard of this place before, he knew only too well. For two weeks, Harmon and his family anxiously awaited news of their beloved brother and son. Two of the longest weeks imaginable. When it did come, it was what they feared most. Robert Moody was one of the 2,403 casualties of the bombing, and one of the 900+ who would forever sleep beneath the waters of Pearl Harbor in their graceful tomb, the U.S.S. Arizona. Today, if you visit the Arizona Memorial and look into the waters, you'll see a strain of oil seeping from the sunken ship, what they call the "Black Tears" or "Tears of the Arizona." It is a beautiful remembrance of the brave, brave, Americans who perished there. 

But the end of the story doesn't come until 1945. Inspired by his brother's death, Harmon enlisted in the Navy as soon as he was able, and served in the Pacific Theatre. Nearly four years later, on September 2, 1945, Harmon's ship was stationed in Tokyo Bay just after the Japanese surrender, performing escort operations for the occupation. An apropos ending to a tragic, yet beautiful story. 

Mr. H, a veteran of the Pacific Theatre, brought these newspapers to the luncheon. His mother had collected and saved these for him while he was away at war, and he only uncovered them last year. The paper on the left is dated March 1942, and the one on the right is VJ Day, 1945 - both historic dates.

A few months ago, I was listening to a series of lectures on Ancient History. The professor was English and had a bit of a stutter, but he absolutely captivated the audience by the way he allowed them to "experience history" with him. Ancient History at that. That is how it feels to talk with these dear WWII veterans. America just commemorated 75 years since Pearl Harbor, yet to me it certainly doesn't feel like it's been 75 years. Of course, I wasn't there 75 years ago, but you talk to enough of the fellows who were there, and it is no longer something that happened in the past, but something we are participating in as we listen. I clearly remember when the the Twin Towers were bombed. I was 5. But I can also vividly see the little boy on the street corner selling papers that said Bataan had fallen. Or the casualty reports coming in on the Battle of the Bulge, and walking down the street afterwards and seeing the blue and gold stars in the windows of the neighbors. Most especially though, I can see the Victory Day parades of 1945. The crowds, the happiness, the tears. I've shed tears myself... even though I wasn't there. 

Maybe my sense of time and proportion is all off, or maybe we can genuinely experience history in this second-hand way. After spending the last week talking with veterans about Pearl Harbor, it certainly feels that way to me.

The Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day Luncheon was brought to a close by Faith singing "Remember Pearl Harbor" and "Sentimental Journey." It it always a joy to hear Faith sing, but today we had an additional treat. After the first few notes came out of her mouth, she was joined by nearly everyone of our WWII, Korean, and Vietnam veterans singing with her. It was a priceless moment and a touching way to close out the day. 

"Where were you on December 7?"

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"The Punchbowl Cemetery" (National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific) in Hawaii

Everyone my age knows where they were when the Twin Towers were attacked. Pretty much everyone my parents' age can remember what they were doing when President Reagan was shot. And if you ask anyone over the age of 75, they will no doubt be able to tell you where they were when they heard Pearl Harbor was bombed. This is a favorite question of mine to ask. The answers are as diverse as they are interesting. The last couple of days I have made a few phone calls to veterans around the country to ask them where they were on December 7, 1941.

One Marine told me that at the time his family was living in the Panama Canal zone where his father worked as a civilian contractor on the American base there. Coming out of church Sunday morning, they were disturbed to hear every siren, bell, horn, and whistle in the Canal zone going off. As the Military personnel dashed to their respective places, he spotted a Marine in brilliant dress blues run by. Only age 15 at the time, he determined he would enlist in the Marine Corps and wear that uniform. He never got the uniform, but he did join the Marines and go on to fight at Iwo Jima. 

One Korean War vet told me he was 11 years old when Pearl Harbor was bombed. Like many others, he’d never heard of the place before, so for the rest of the war, he closely followed the fighting in the Pacific and European theatres on a large map of the world.

Another friend didn’t find out until the Monday afterward. He was working in his family’s fields when a neighbor came over to tell them the news. They didn’t have a radio in the house, so they piled into their little car to hear the latest bulletins on the car radio. 

There are countless other stories like these. Of course, the stories from the Pearl Harbor survivors themselves are some of the most interesting. Hearing why they had joined up in the first place to serve in peace time, what they were doing the days prior to the infamous bombing, and what happened to them next. 

Tomorrow, we remember the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor. So tonight, the girls and I are driving up to Dallas so we can spend the day hearing many more accounts like these at a Pearl Harbor memorial event. We look forward to sharing some of the stories with you afterward. 

The Cute Couple

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"Eat your heart out girls. We've been married 70 years." The absolutely darling Mrs. Johnson told us this right after laughingly declaring that the cute (and very tall) Texan was HER man and for us to steer clear of him. Oh they'd had a lot of fun over the years she said. "We were hippies" after a fashion. For their Honeymoon they took bicycles and went all over Norway, camping out and occasionally staying in local hostels.

Before she met Bill, she'd been warned that Marines were a dangerous lot and she shouldn't date them -a rumor probably started by some Navy fellow-, but now she was curious. Finally she got the opportunity to date a very confident (aren't they all though!) Marine. One evening he took it upon himself to teach her some of the drill steps. When he ordered her to march towards him, but neglected the order to halt (hoping she would walk right into a kiss), she saw through his games and decided that yes indeed Marines were a wily lot, but she certainly liked them. Soon after she found herself the tall Texas Marine of her dreams, Bill Johnson, and proposed to him. He accepted and they were married. Miss Personality pretty much describes her to a T. And Gary Cooper 2.0 describes Bill. Together they make the cutest dream couple. And we will all be happy if we can be just half as amazing at 90 as Mrs. Johnson is.