WWII veteran, 109, among close to 50 at nation’s largest ‘Spirit of ’45’ event, in SD
Listed as the second-oldest World War II veteran in California, Ervin Wendt, 109, entered a Balboa Park pavilion to resounding applause Sunday.
It wasn’t just his age that garnered the response, but his military service in one of World War II’s hardest fought engagements — the Battle of Midway. He’s reputed to be the only survivor of that 1942 clash memorialized by Hollywood.
And it was his fellow service members who recognized his efforts and sacrifices.
Wendt was one of 48 WWII veterans along with four Rosie the Riveters — women working in the defense industry — gathered at the park’s Air & Space Museum for the annual Spirit of ’45 observance, days short of the 80th anniversary of the war’s end.
The event, sponsored by Honor Flight San Diego, salutes all veterans but especially members of the “Greatest Generation” who fought in the 1940s and ’50s.
Korean and Vietnam war veterans also attended the event, which was also an Honor Flight San Diego reunion on Sunday.
“Our Spirit of ’45 event has been confirmed as the largest number of World War II veterans and Rosies in the nation,” Holly Shaffner, Honor Flight San Diego vice chairman, told about 550 attendees. “Let that sink in for a moment.
“You are part of history knowing that we may never ever have this many World War II veterans and Rosie the Riveters in the same room at the same time again.”
About 21 veterans there were older than 100, including one female Marine — Patricia Vaught, 102.
Wendt, who enlisted in 1937, was raised on an Iowa farm, joined the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression and then transitioned to the Navy.
He traveled extensively in the military, serving as a turret gunner, according to Mark Ferguson, his grandson. Wendt was a member of Torpedo Squadron 8, which suffered catastrophic losses.
Now he lives in Mission Hills and is grateful for his life, Ferguson said.
Master Sgt. John A. Curran, who turns 110 in November and lives in Palm Desert, is listed as the oldest veteran in California. Burdett Sisler, who was born in Ohio and now lives in Canada, is listed as the oldest WWII veteran in North America at 111.
Wendt sat quietly during the ceremony, but responded to questions before the program.
He answered succinctly.
To what does he attribute his longevity?
“Oatmeal and prunes,” he told Times of San Diego.
And what advice does he give to the young generation of service members?
“Stay out of trouble.”
And, yes, he said he did just that.
Several tables away, WWII veteran Guillermo Gonzales attributed positive things in his life to his religious faith and the discipline he learned in the Marines.
“Discipline. It was great. And I learned that because I also applied it in my work as a fireman because I became a leader too,” said Gonzales, who served as a firefighter after his service.
“I was a master sergeant when I retired from the Marine Corps and then I was a captain when I retired from the fire department and I went to teach at a fire academy for 25 years in Los Angeles County.”
He taught at Rio Hondo Fire Academy in Santa Fe Springs, northwest of Anaheim.
Asked about the end of WWII, Gonzales said: “Well, first of all, we were happy. We didn’t know what it meant — how big the bomb was, you know, and nobody could describe it until you see pictures of what the bomb did.
“The bomb was terrible, terrible, and we should never have something like that” — although, he believes the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic attacks saved many American lives.
He was pleased to hear that the war had ended in Europe.
Then ready to go home from a Marine airbase, he was loaded onto a ship in the Pacific that literally took an odd turn. The next thing soldiers knew, they had circled the bay and returned to the spot they had departed shortly before.
He and his fellow soldiers were angry, but learned the military needed that ship to transport troops to Japan, he said. So the soldiers had to stay put for a week before they were homeward bound.
At 102, he attributes his longevity to God and exercise he did at the fire department. Wearing a rosary under his shirt, Gonzales said of God: “He’s right there. He’s with me wherever I go.”
He concluded, “The gist of the whole thing is: When I was called, I was there. Wherever I was called in school or in the fire department or the Marine Corps, I was there, and I was happy to do it.”
Four “Rosie the Riverters” received special recognition at the midday program: Sgt. Roberta “Randy” Tidmore, Betty Ridenour, Jenny Guerena and Virginia Wilson.
Sean Harris of the Rosie The Riveter Trust presented each woman a replica Rosie the Riveter Congressional Gold Medal.
Guerena, who worked at Rohr Industries in Chula Vista, said she joined because “we just wanted peace, so they wouldn’t take our boyfriends.”
Her reaction to hearing the war was ended: “Oh, happy, happy! I went home and hugged my mother. She was happy, too — very happy.”
Guerena met her future husband before he headed off to Guadalcanal. Jenny Guerena carpooled with friends to assist in building military aircraft for three years.
After the program, George Newton — a veteran of WWII, Korea and Vietnam — said he began as a private first class in WWII and was promoted to colonel at the end of his career.
Asked how he survived three wars, Newton responded: “Just luck. That’s all it was.”
