COUNTYWIDE : Vets From Civil to Gulf Wars Hailed

Wartime heroism and victory in the Persian Gulf are fresh in the minds of most Americans. But the graying hair of war veterans who gathered Monday among the flag-decorated graves at El Toro Memorial Park underscored the sacrifices of other generations of military men and women, living and dead.

And the grandchildren who sat amid the grave markers with men in their Veterans of Foreign Wars caps revealed the needs of those old warriors to teach the young what the day’s songs and speeches are about.

Bill Kelly, a member of the Retired Officers Assn. of Orange County, wiped tears from his eyes after taps concluded Monday morning’s formal Veterans Day ceremony at the public cemetery, the burial spot for more than 500 veterans who fought in conflicts starting with the Civil War.

Kelly said it is not the dead he remembers the most, but those who just “disappeared” during his combat tours as a marine flier in the Korean and Vietnam wars.

“I have friends who are still there. Nobody found them,” said Kelly, who is convinced that some remain as prisoners.

Maj. Robert S. Key, an Army Green Beret, read a passage from his grandfather’s diary. It described how shaken the older man had been by telegrams reporting that Key’s uncle, a young second lieutenant, was first missing in action and later reported killed in World War II.

Key is a family and marriage therapist with a Veterans Affairs program that helps members of the military and their families adjust to peacetime.

Though their wars took place decades ago, Key said such counseling is still being sought by veterans of Vietnam, Korea and World War II. He said that while there are some Gulf War veterans among his clients, he expects their numbers to increase over the years as the “euphoria” of their homecoming fades and they begin to admit that the war hurt them and their families.

Noting that it is the 50th anniversary of the United Service Organizations, one of the half-dozen guest speakers, Betty Lungren, recalled how she had entertained troops as a USO dancer and musician during World War II.

Mission Viejo Councilman William S. Craycraft brought with him a message from retired Marine Lt. Col. Oliver L. North asking people not to forget those who went to war and who made the “ultimate sacrifice.”

Lt. Cmdr. Alan T. Baker, a Navy chaplain during the Gulf War, said in the aftermath of victory, Americans already may have forgotten that troops entered that war anticipating that they would face poison gas attacks and that many Americans would be killed.

The Gulf War brought a “spiritual renewal” to many who risked their lives, Baker said. During Desert Storm, he said, attendance increased at his makeshift chapel, a camouflaged tent where Christians, Jews and Muslims worshiped. He said 40 soldiers were baptized in the waters of the Persian Gulf. “There are no atheists in foxholes,” he said.

Patriotic fervor also ran high at home last Veterans Day, Baker reminded the gathering. “It was hard to buy flags or to find yellow ribbon a year ago.” At Monday’s ceremony, about 100 attended.

Elsewhere in Orange County, more than 20,000 active military members and veterans along with their families took advantage of a free-admission offer at Knott’s Berry Farm on Monday. The offer of complimentary admission will continue through Wednesday.