WWII at the Springfield, Ohio Clinic

I was at the Springfield Clinic yesterday here in Ohio, sitting in a designated waiting area, soon to be called for testing. Never content to sit in silence, I struck up a conversation with a woman who was waiting there also. As we were conversing, an elderly gentleman was helped into the room by a nurse, and was told to wait, that she would soon return with some medicine that would help him sleep. As I turned back toward the woman I was speaking with, I heard the old man mumble, “I can’t believe I need help to sleep. I used to sleep in foxholes, three days at a time.” I thought to myself, “I knew it when he walked in here, God has blessed me with another WWII veteran to speak with!”

Laughing, I told him that I knew a little about foxholes, and I began asking him about his time in the military. I soon discovered that he was a former Marine with the 1st or 3rd Marines, and that he had participated in the invasions of Bougainville and Guadalcanal. My ears perked when I heard that, because I had just recently been watching The Pacific, the HBO mini-series about the landing on Guadalcanal, and other island landings in the Pacific war. At one point in our conversation, he paused, and seemed to be lost in thought or reflection.

Finally, he spoke, and said, “You know, there is one thing I could never understand about the Japanese. Why would they just run toward a machine gun, and keep coming even when they could see that everybody was going down? That was very puzzling to me.” I turned toward the woman who was listening to all this, and I explained that the old man was talking about what was called a “human wave” attack. It was the type of attack often experienced by our soldiers in the Pacific war.

Just then a nurse called my name and I needed to leave. I stood and shook his hand, and thanked him for all he did for our country. He shook my hand and smiled. As I shook his hand, I looked into his eyes, and I couldn’t help but wonder what those 89 year old eyes had seen on those islands so long ago. My eyes had seen plenty, but his eyes had seen more. I am honored to meet such men.