Veteran's Day

Yesterday was Veteran's Day, a day when we remember those who have served our country in times of war.  As I pondered on this special day, my mind was drawn to memories of my father.  Dayle Wilson Cooper (1918 - 1973) was a Quarter Master Second Class assigned to the USS Little, a destroyer stationed in the South Pacific.  A Quarter Master tag-teams with the ship's captain and relays orders to the rest of the ship.

The USS Little was involved in two major battles - Iwo Jima and Okinawa.  At Iwa Jima dad was watching for the flag to be raised on Mt. Funabashi when someone asked him a question.  He turned and responded and when he looked back the flag was upright.  For all intents and purposes he was there and saw it happen.

At Okinawa they were not so lucky.  Four Kamikaze planes struck the Little and split her right in half.  She only took 5 minutes to sink!  Dad received some minor injuries but nothing serious.

Dad's younger brother, Ballard, was a bombardier in the air force. He was flying a mission over Europe and had just dropped all their bombs.  He looked out his window and saw flack just outside the plane.  Flack is shot-up in groups of three.  He saw the first explosion, then the second and just had a second to cover his face with his arms when the third on hit the nose of the plane.  His arms and flack jacket took the brunt of things as their plane went down.

There is a story that Grandma Cooper went to her mail box and had two letters.  One stated that her son had been shot-down over Italy and the other said that dad had been sunk in the South Pacific.  Not  a good day for mail.

I heard that Ballard was on a transport to the hospital when he heard over the radio that dad's ship had been sunk.

Dad had an honorable discharge from the Navy and was excited to marry his sweetheart Priscilla.  They had been introduced by a Navy buddy, Tony Francis,  just before they shipped out.  Mom was working in an airplane factory in California.  They only met for the weekend and then he sailed off.  Mom began writing letters and over the next year they got to know each other very well.

During the year mom had moved to Utah, so when dad reached Oakland he wrote and invited her down for a visit.  He proposed, obtained a six-day leave and made a very fast trip to Salt Lake, Pocatello, ID and Ely, NV to be married and meet both families.

I love my father very much.  I still miss him after all these years.  He was kind and loving, a great teacher.  He loved God and he loved his country, and spend his life serving both.