Veterans say they won’t let park closures hinder visit

PALMER — It’s been nearly 70 years since the end of World War II, but for the surviving Americans who fought in the war, the images are as vivid now as they were all those decades ago.

“Time doesn’t dull those memories. I wish it did,” said Leonard Nugen, a U.S. Navy veteran who now lives at the Alaska Veterans and Pioneers Home in Palmer.”

Nugen served on a destroyer in the Pacific and spent time at Saipan, one of the bloodiest naval battles of the war.

“I saw more dead people floating in the water than anyplace,” he said. “I remember seeing a woman with two kids tied to each arm floating out there. Well, I don’t know if she jumped over with those kids or got thrown over (into the ocean), we don’t know. But we gave them a chance to come out and they didn’t come out, so we just shelled them. No mercy.”

Sacrifices and the memories of World War II shared by veterans like Nugen helped prompt the opening of the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., in April 2004, nearly 60 years after the end of the war. Now nearly 10 years later, to actually get a chance to see the memorial in person was something many veterans thought would never happen, Nugen said.

“I didn’t think I’d ever get to see it,” said Lucky Wells, another Navy veteran. Along with Nugen and Stan Coleman, the three Navy men live at the Pioneers Home and will be part of the first all-Alaska group of World War II veterans to visit the National World War II Monument later this month as part of the Honor Flight program.

All three men said they cheered when they heard about how Honor Flight veterans from Mississippi handled themselves last week on the first day of the federal government shutdown, which includes national parks like the monument. That group of veterans pushed past signs saying the monument was closed and barricades meant to keep people out and visited anyway.

“I’d do the same thing,” said Coleman, who said that if anyone tried to stop him from visiting the memorial when the Last Frontier Honor Flight group visits Oct. 22-26, “I’ll just bulldoze my way in, without a doubt. Those people can’t stop us.”

That’s a sentiment shared by Wells and Nugen, and the other 22 Alaska veterans signed up for the trip, said Ron Travis, Last Frontier Honor Flight founder and organizer.

“We’re going, without a doubt,” he said. “The first bunch that was there (since the shutdown) pushed past the barricades and I think our guys are probably just as determined to go, so we’re going to continue our plans.”

By then, Travis said the hope is the shutdown is over and the monument is officially open again.

“That’s what we’re hoping for, but if it’s not there are still things we can do,” he said. “Arlington (National Cemetery) never closes and we can still do that, and that’s a big one for these guys. Hopefully, the government will get its act together before then.”

Along with being World War II veterans, Coleman and Nugen also share experiences serving at Saipan in the Pacific. Coleman was on a Navy freighter.

“I was at Saipan when the war ended,” he said. “Unfortunately, a lot of people have forgotten about it. You talk to high school kids these days and they don’t know what you’re talking about, and that’s unfortunate.”

Wells served on an aircraft carrier in the Atlantic, and said one of his sharpest memories is the surrender of a German submarine.

“Let me tell you about the war,” he said. “I was on the ship that caused the Germans to give up. They come out of their submarine with their hands stuck like that (in the air). They didn’t want to get killed. If they had stayed in their ship and didn’t come out, they would’ve been killed.”

Visiting the memorial will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, the men said, and poignant because not many World War II veterans have much time left.

“I think it will be something to see,” Wells said, proudly adding that, “I’m going to represent Wasilla, they sponsored me, the American Legion. It’s a great honor to go, I think. There were a lot of people who didn’t come back that I’ll be thinking about.”

Coleman and Nugen nod in agreement.

“I didn’t believe it at first,” Nugen said when he learned an Alaska Honor Flight was planned. He also hopes future generations will visit the memorial and remember what veterans like he and those who came before and after had to go through.

“I hope they look at it and realize we didn’t gain much and went through hell,” he said. “War, if there’s any way around it, don’t do it.”

Visiting Washington, D.C., this month, Nugen said he’ll remember those he served with that those soldiers who never returned home from the war, like his brother.

“You not only think of them all the time, but of the ships that you’ve seen go down and the ones you’ve seen that were hit by suicide bombers,” he said.

Although veterans like Wells, Coleman and Nugen are now in their 80s and 90s, Travis said he doesn’t envy anyone who may try and get in their way when they visit the memorial.

“I don’t see the shutdown bothering them, and some of these guys are pretty feisty,” said Travis, himself a Vietnam veteran. “They’re not real strong on politicians to begin with. We don’t have time for politics. … I tell you what, there’s a reason I love those guys, and there’s even more reason now. An obstacle like that isn’t even a blink in the eye for them.”

That’s because for many veterans, the war isn’t ancient history.

“We still see it,” Nugen said. “We dream about it yet to this day.”

Contact Greg Johnson at 352-2269 or greg.johnson@frontiersman.com.