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“At Pearl Harbor, the Marine and I were eating breakfast when something outside went ‘boom’ and my plate went on the floor,” Lydon, now 93 and living in Vancouver, explained standing in his Navy uniform alongside family members and veterans Sunday at the Veterans Memorial Museum.
“We get a lot of attention when he dons the uniform,” said Eileen Stemple, Lydon’s granddaughter.
The museum brought together more than 30 World War II veterans – including seven Pearl Harbor survivors – for the 14th annual Pearl Harbor/World War II Veterans Remembrance Day event. Veterans and their families had dinner, heard from guest speakers and received recognition for being America’s Greatest Generation.
The stories Lydon shared and the way a veteran explains the stars and other symbols on his hat are part of a history that our nation can’t afford to lose, said museum director Chip Duncan.
“If we forget these guys, we’re going to lose a section of our history,” he said.
One of those stories belongs to Walter Olson, who was three years into getting his engineering degree at the University of Washington before he got the urge to join the service alongside his friends. He came to Sunday’s event with family members including Lorraine, his wife of 65 years. They met as students at Clover Park High School and now live in Lakewood.
Olson, 88, served from 1943-45, spending most of his time in the Solomon Islands and Luzon, Philippines. An arrowhead on his hat serves as a reminder that he was part of the first wave landing in the Philippines. Olson was a battalion survey sergeant for the 140th field artillery division.
Though he admits he wouldn’t want to relive those years, Olson said the experience changed his life.
“I went in as a young man … and I came out with a different attitude about life,” he said.
After leaving the service days before Christmas 1945, Olson came home, finished his degree and married Lorraine. That return to normalcy is the advice Olson said he’d give to the veterans returning from the current wars in the Middle East.
“They just have to take up where they left off,” he said. “That’s all.”
Nate Hulings: 360-754-5476
nhulings@theolympian.com
www.theolympian.com/outsideoly
