Veterans Day and more stories to tell

One of the greatest things of being a reporter or editor is the opportunity to meet people who have a story to tell.

For years I have interviewed both men and women from many different walks of life, but nothing intrigues me as much as the servicemen and women who served during World War II, Korea and Vietnam. As we are well aware, everyone has a war story to tell.

In previous articles and columns, I have mentioned the heroism of Cecil Quinley, a B-17 co-pilot who was shot down over Germany on his 14th mission. I first met Cecil in 2007 and learned much about his adventures aboard the Flying Fortress. As the years progressed, Cecil, now 100 years old, has gone into a little more detail about the harrowing escape froma B-17 on fire to being captured and held as a prisoner of war.

“We were shot down late in 1943 (Oct. 8),” Quinley, who was 26 at the time, said. “On our 14th mission, we were shot down near Bremen. I was hit by flak (fire from anti-aircraft guns). The anti-aircraft fire knocked the No. 2 engine out, and that was right by me.” Quinley and the pilot immediately took their B-17 out of formation, prepping the 10-man crew to abandoned the plane. “Eight of us bailed out, but I don’t know what happened to the other two. The ball turret gunner must have been hit ... and another was reluctant to parachute out.”

One by one, the crew bailed out of the plane into enemy territory. When Quinley began his descent, a bullet pierced his right leg.

Dan Quinley wrote an excellent book last year about his father and mother and the love letters they shared during the war. It was one of those “hard to put down” books.

At a veterans’ dinner hosted by the local Elks Lodge on Wednesday, veterans introduced themselves and told the audience a little about themselves. I learned of a Navy aviator who flew off one of the aircraft carriers during the latter months of World War II in the Pacific.

Interviewing him and another vet I met in August are high on my to-do list for stories.

What makes Cecil’s and others’ military careers so interesting is the amount of information available about World War II. In July, my travels took me to the eastern part of the state and to Wendover. I first became aware of renewed military interest at the old Wendover Air Base in the early 1980s when Hill Air Force Base near Ogden, Utah, shifted fighter jets to the old World War II facility for training.

More than 30 years after the end of WWII, the military saw some usefulness for the base in 1981 and subsequent years.

Now, a foundation is restoring many of the base’s old buildings and hangars from the 1940s where airmen and their crews trained during the last two years of the war. Two B29s and their crews who dropped atomic bombs on Japan 70 years ago trained at Wendover.

On Wednesday during a Veterans Day ceremony, Highland Village had its annual salute to military veterans with an emphasis on recognizing the men and women who fought in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. Sadly, one of the presentations honored Kenneth Shockely, a longtime Fallon resident who passed away several weeks ago.

When I interviewed him prior to the 70th anniversary of the D-Day invasion in 2014, Ken remembered many details of the landing on Omaha Beach as an 18-year-old Merchant Marine who ferried troops on a small landing craft from the larger Navy LSTs (landing ship, tanks) to Omaha Beach.

One of his quotes reveals how intense the landing was during the early morning hours.

“The top of the cliffs were supposed to be barren, but they were full of soldiers,” he recounted. “ The Germans were on top, opening up with machine gun fire. We lost half our men before they went to shore. I could drive on the beach, but I drew fire from the top of the cliffs.”

I expanded on his narrative: “Shockley would maneuver the landing craft — which he described as a pickup bed with a gate — toward the beach and then drop the front ramp in the water to allow soldiers to run under fire.”

Everyone has goals, yet I would like to tell as many stories of the military men and women who served, beginning with our area’s WWII survivors.

Time is of the essence.

Steve Ranson is editor of the LVN.