1 year ago
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REEDLEY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – A seasoned from Reedley celebrated his 99th day Wednesday.
The section ExPOW section gathered astatine Denny’s successful Clovis to observe his long, impactful life.
At 99 years old, Vernon “Vern” Schmidt is inactive the president of that chapter, bringing radical unneurotic each period to stock their stories.
At 18 years old, helium joined the combat successful World War II, serving from 1944 to 1946. He was aboriginal drafted again successful 1951 to service successful the Korean War.
During WWII, helium says helium saw decease from his archetypal time of work to his last.
“It was conscionable pugnacious going. We had the coldest wintertime successful 50 years. I had my boots disconnected 2 times from February to May. So if you person your boots off, possibly thing other came off. But that's each I had - lone 2 times,” Schmidt said.
Even the coldness of warfare did not frost his heart, though. His regimen became friends with immoderate of the German families.
“A mates of times, they would invitation america successful and person possibly immoderate blistery rolls that they conscionable made successful the oven and worldly similar that,” Schmidt said.
One idiosyncratic astatine the day enactment remarked, “you person much friends successful much places than anybody I know.”
He says members of his religion successful Reedley wrote 40 soldiers’ names connected the walls to retrieve to commune for them during the war.
“Someone successful that religion had committed each time to get connected their knees and notation our sanction successful prayer,” Schmidt said.
He credits those regular prayers for bringing him home.
Since returning to the United States, helium has dedicated himself to bringing veterans and their families together. He plans to walk galore much years serving the section ExPOW chapter, honoring those who paid the terms of freedom.
“We’re arrogant to beryllium an American. We’re arrogant to beryllium an American,” Schmidt said.
His beingness communicative is present memorialized successful the newly-released book A Hero and Advocate For All Others: WWII arsenic Remembered by Vernon N. Schmidt.
All proceeds for that publication volition spell to enactment the Honor Flight.
