WWII Vets Will Answer the Call

It has been widely noted that this was probably the last presidential election in which World War II would be much of a factor. That struck me as all the more reason to honor and praise those who fought in that war.

You might consider this for Veterans Day on Monday: Call someone in your family who served in World War II. Your grandfather, or your father perhaps. Or maybe your grandmother. Just let them know that you care about what it was they had to endure.

Once you start the conversation, they’ll take it from there. You’ll touch them deeply with your call, and I’m betting you’ll hear intriguing stories you were glad to learn. Then call me and tell me what they had to say, or what you got out of it. I’d like to hear how it went.

Though I served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam, I’ve never felt much like a veteran. My father embodied my image of a veteran, though. He fought in World War II. A few months before he died last year, he sat down with my son in front of a video camera and related to him what he did in the war and how it affected him. My son was 13 then, too young to absorb all that he heard. But in his later years, it will be a treasured tape for him--or for his grandchildren.

Youth Movement: The other day I was surprised to receive an invitation to join the American Legion. It was the first such letter I’d gotten since leaving the Army in 1972. I called numerous American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars posts in the county to inquire what they do. They serve the community in many ways--by supporting Scouting or providing counseling for veterans. Veterans and their families also get together at the groups’ social halls.

Joe Early, past commander of American Legion Post 291 in Newport Beach, was the organization’s state commander last year. He told me his post brought in 175 new members this year, about half of them Vietnam veterans. Early served in Vietnam himself.

“When we came home from Vietnam, we felt that the American people forgot about us,” Early said. “We’re trying to rectify that for the Vietnam veteran within the American Legion.”

Kiss and Tell: Next week I’m going to see a woman I’ve loved and admired since I moved here 17 years ago, though we’ve never met. Her name is Denise Smith, she’s from L.A.’s Mount Washington neighborhood, and she was married for 56 years to Jack Smith, the Times columnist who died in January. You couldn’t read Jack’s column all those years and not believe he was married to one terrific person. He let us know in every line he wrote about her.

One of the sweetest love stories I’ve ever read comes from one of Jack’s lesser-known books, “Spend All Your Kisses, Mr. Smith.” It’s so endearing I want to pass it on, though this is the capsule version:

Jack had come across a Greek poet’s line, “Spend all your kisses,” in a book while he and Denise were relaxing one weekend in Mexico. Don’t save them for later, the passage meant, because who knows what later will bring. Jack liked it so much he read it aloud to his wife, and she smiled and said that was nice, then went back to her own book.

Some two years later, they faced a dilemma of sorts. Their younger son, Doug, had fallen in love with a young French woman; he wrote his parents they were getting married in three weeks--in France. Jack told Denise there was no way he could go. He had too many responsibilities to leave right then, both at work and overseeing construction of their new weekend home in Mexico.

Though his wife wasn’t happy about it, she went to Europe alone for the wedding. Within a week he got a letter from her, relating how things were going so far. In a postscript, she told him it was not too late for him to change his mind, adding, “Spend all your kisses, Mr. Smith.” My throat swelled as I read about that episode in Jack’s book. She had remembered that quiet time they’d read together along the Baja coast. And she loved Jack enough to find a special way to tell him what he knew he needed to do. Her poignant message made such an impact on Jack that he caught the next plane for Paris, to be there for his son.

Rereading that book this week was a reminder to me that I wanted to tell her in person how much I enjoyed his sharing that story. Denise Smith and both her sons, Curt and Doug, will be at Borders Books in Mission Viejo Thursday at 11 a.m. They’ll sign copies of “Eternally Yours,” a new collection of 90 of Jack’s columns over the past 10 years.

They’ll also appear at Super Crown in Costa Mesa on Nov. 17, and at Barnes & Noble in Huntington Beach Nov. 24.

Robotic Romance: Here’s another love story I like:

Kevin Cote and Sharon d’Souza met in a mechanical engineering class at Cal State Fullerton. They started out as study partners. Then they became part of a team of three working on a class project to design a robotic machine.

That project meant long hours working closely together, and next thing you know, somewhere between the design and the finished product, he’s popping the question.

Both graduated in August. They’re getting married this afternoon in Newport Beach. They’ll live at Foothill Ranch.

And how about this for a wedding present: Not only did they sell their device to a Los Angeles company that processes automotive parts, but it is one of five student projects to make the finals of the “Best Design of the Year.” The national college contest is sponsored by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

While Cote and d’Souza are honeymooning, third partner David Butler of Westminster will represent the group when the winner is announced at the society’s conference in Atlanta on Nov. 18.

Wrap-Up: In talking to people at various VFW and American Legion posts, I got a chance to hear from many World War II veterans. People such as Olin Harris of Garden Grove.

He was 17 when the Navy shipped him off to the Pacific and placed him on a torpedo bomber plane. “Seventeen and scared,” he said.

He can laugh now that when he reenlisted after the war, he hadn’t counted on the Korean conflict coming so quickly.

“I fought in that one too,” he said. “But I sure hadn’t seen it coming.”

Harris will spend Veterans Day having a special dinner with his family at the American Legion hall in Midway City.

“Veterans Day is special to veterans,” he said, “but really, I think it’s special to everybody.”

Jerry Hicks’ column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Readers may reach Hicks by calling the Times Orange County Edition at (714) 966-7823 or by fax to (714) 966-7711, or e-mail to jerry.hicks@latimes.com