Eyes that see the good in things: Veterans Day 2018

While researching the history of Veterans Day, I ran across this story about two World War II veterans on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website, a story about a couple who met in a Navy chow line and ended up spending the rest of their lives together.

Kathy Cummins was doing her part to help with the war effort as one of the original “Rosie the Riveters.” She left home at the age of 18 and was trained in riveting and fabrication at a defense factory and worked there for two years. As a member of a military family, she always thought there was more that she could do. After all, she had four brothers serving in the war.

So, when Congress established the Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service or WAVES program as a women’s branch of the U.S. Naval Reserve, Kathy and a friend decided they would join. Her friend enlisted alone when Kathy’s father was slow to give his consent, since he didn’t believe the military was any place for a girl. It took a few months of convincing, but Kathy received her father’s consent and went to boot camp. Following bootcamp, she was stationed at military hospitals where she cared for former prisoners of war who were returning home.

It was there that she met her future husband, Ardell Kennedy, in the chow line at the hospital. Kennedy had enlisted in the Navy shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, with the idea that he would be a gunner’s mate.

Instead, the Navy encouraged him to pursue something in the medical field and sent him to school to be a dental technician.

He received orders to the south Pacific front. There was no dentist to assist on the ship, so he helped the wounded as his crew moved from island to island. He finally reached his destination island, where he settled in to assist the dentist on duty. Ardell Kennedy loved that job, but it wasn’t long before he was moved to a gun boat, where he became a medic for the men on board. It was while he was on that ship that Kennedy was injured so badly the medical personnel didn’t think that he would survive.

He did survive, and during his recovery he was transferred to the hospital where Cummins was serving. It was there that he met his future wife, in the chow line. For Kennedy it was love at first sight, and he told a friend that he was going to marry her. Their first date was to attend a church service and three months later, the pastor of that church married them.

When the Kennedys left the military, they continued to serve their community because they believed that, when you want to help, you serve. The Kennedys served their country as selflessly as many other American veterans have.

Like many other American veterans, they don’t often talk about their stories. This year, Veterans Day 2018 marks the 100th anniversary of the World War I armistice, which led to Veterans Day becoming a holiday. Read more about the history of Veterans Day on page A1 in this edition of the "New Rockford Transcript."

For many, they find confusion between two of these holidays, but according to the website Military.com, the difference between Veterans Day and Memorial Day is that Memorial Day honors service members who died in service to their country or from injuries incurred during battle. Deceased veterans are also remembered on Veterans Day, but the day is set aside to thank and honor living veterans who served honorably in the military— in wartime or peacetime.

One of the Veterans Day celebrations this year will be held in Syracuse, N.Y., where Joe Messineo and Richard Calagiovanni, will discuss the Central New York Veterans History Project. “The history project is part of a Library of Congress effort to catalog video interviews with veterans detailing their service,” Calagiovanni said.

“The unedited conversations are indexed in such a way that users searching loc.gov/vets for particular topics, such as the Battle of Iwo Jima, can find interviews with veterans who fought in the battle and skip to the questions that cover it.”

He and Messineo interviewed more than 60 veterans of World War II and Vietnam, whom Calagiovanni said they found through Honor Flight Network and word-of-mouth. At the gathering in Syracuse, he and Messineo will play clips from some of the interviews Monday and discuss what they learned from their three-year project.

“Many of the veterans, we’re told, would never talk about their experiences before,” Calagiovanni said. “But now they want to pass them on to future generations.”

To see interviews from the Central New York Veterans History Project, visit vimeo.com/user45866292.

I know that I have many family members who have served, and I haven’t heard many of their stories which is something that seems to be fairly typical. However, I wonder if they would have told me their stories, if I had taken the time to thank them for their service?

Veterans Day is a good time to take a moment to honor the sacrifices and hear the stories of those who have served. Perhaps we can remember to tell those people how grateful we are for the freedoms we have today. People like Ardell and Kathy Kennedy. People like the veterans interviewed as part of the Central New York Veterans History Project. People like our own family members— American heroes.

We would love to share local stories about the good things your eyes are seeing. Stop in to share your stories with us, give us a call at 947-2417 or e-mail us at [email protected]. Or send a letter to Eyes That See the Good in Things, c/o Allison Lindgren, New Rockford Transcript, 6 8th St N., New Rockford, ND 58356.