Where I Stand — Mike O’Callaghan: Salute old friends today

Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2003 | 8:29 a.m.

VETERANS DAY, known as Armistice Day when I was a kid, has several meanings and stirs different memories in many Americans. For my father, a veteran of both the U.S. and Canadian armies during World War I, it reminded him of peace. Also at school we would all stand silent by our desks at 11 a.m. to recall the signing of the armistice that ended that war on Nov. 11, 1918. Following World War II and the Korean War we changed Armistice Day to Veterans Day to salute even more veterans.

Time will be found today to call a dwindling number of friends who I served with in the military. Their friendship has a special meaning to me but each year there are fewer phone calls to make.

It isn't necessary for me to go very far to visit with other veterans. Right here in the Sun newsroom we have a number of people who have served. When I first came to the Sun we had World War II combat veterans Publisher Hank Greenspun and editor Jerry Ralya who served as a rifleman with Patton's Army. Also here was writer and editor Jim Barrows who served in combat on the hills of Korea with the 7th Infantry Division. Brian Greenspun, now the newspaper President and editor, also had served in the Army. Later on, Larry Wills, a Navy and Air Force veteran, worked here at the Sun.

Today Cy Ryan, a Navy veteran of the Korean War, is our reporter in Carson City. Dave Clayton, an Army veteran, writes editorials and Vern Salamone, an Army paratrooper veteran, is always at his editing desk eliminating some of my writing errors. Both Clayton and Salamone completed tours of duty in Germany. Today's editorial, on the opposite page, was written by Clayton. Also columnist Jerry Fink spent four years in the Army with much of it in Korea and graphics expert Bob Ketelle spent an equal amount of time in the Army with much of it in Germany.

So I don't have to call any of these friends and colleagues with the exception of Ryan in Carson City. So who else is on the list?

There is Judge Ray Byrne in California who spent 18 months overseas with me in the Marines and Bobby Malone in El Paso who I served with in the USAF. All of the rest are Army buddies from Korea.

Ray Brennock, a Chicago schoolteacher, is on the list and so is Ivan Utter, a farmer in Michigan. Doc Utter, our medic, patched a lot of us together long enough to make it to MASH. He went on almost every major combat patrol. Then there is Charlie Shields who was raised in Tonopah and now lives in Reno. He was probably the most accurate mortar man in the entire Army. Bob Smith was one of our platoon leaders who had been an enlisted Ranger during WWII. He now lives in Massachusetts and has a few health problems. Then there is Tom Daly from New Jersey who carried a Browning Automatic Rifle and was first wounded on Old Baldy. He still thinks I tried to kill him when sending him to the rear to the cook tent after I learned his wife was going to have a baby. That night a mortar round hit the cook tent.

So there are plenty of veterans in our lives, including my son Brian who served six years with the Army. Today we can give them all a nod of recognition. They don't want or expect anything special because they have had their day when earning the respect of their comrades. We should use this day to tell our children about military service and relate it to the history of our country. Hundreds of new U.S. military veterans are being made every day as our nation fights a war against terrorists and seeks out their training and hiding havens. It's a nasty war but veterans can't recall a nice war. Let them know of your interest in them and be ready to give them a warm greeting when they return home. Also make certain that Congress doesn't forget their sacrifices and health needs as they age.

I can't forget to stop by to visit my neighbor, George Brookman, who served as a combat infantry leader in the South Pacific for almost three years during WWII. He always refers to WWII as the 'Big War' and I tip my hat in recognition.