|
By Gary Larson
Mille Lacs County Times
 Marine Corporal Duane M. Larson
Last Friday while watching presidential campaign coverage on one of the cable news networks they showed a clip of senator John McCain speaking to a crowd in Newport News, Va.
Among the senator’s comments were “I’ve fought for my country since I was 17 years old and I’ve got the scars to prove it.”
While speaking, he pointed his thumbs inward towards his body. He was referring to the severe injuries he suffered when his Skyhawk aircraft was shot down over North Vietnam in October 1967 while on a bombing run during the Vietnam War. McCain was held as a prisoner of war until 1973 and suffered more injuries while being tortured.
U.S. Marine Corps Photo
A Mass for the Marine dead at Tarawa.
McCain is one of many U.S. war heroes and his war experiences are another fine example of how our country’s men and women have performed under fire.
What got my attention were his words “and I’ve got the scars to prove it.” Whether that was a misstep is open for debate. And, calling attention to his military service during a heated campaign was justified and an important character trait for many voters.
“And I’ve got the scars to prove it” bothered me. I’ve known and listened to many, many veterans over the years as they described their service during times of conflict and this was the first time I’d heard one singling himself out for the wounds he suffered, citing them as something special.
The wounded and scarred veterans you and I have known have never looked at those scars as something that made them better than other soldiers. They accepted those physical and mental scars as part of their service to their country. Nothing special - something that happened while they were doing their duty.
A characteristic war veterans share is their reluctance to talk about their war experiences, especially to those who weren’t there. War stories are shared with their comrades. When asked about their experiences most will share stories unrelated to combat unless you really pry.
A typical Marine
Here’s a short story about one veteran, Marine Corporal Duane M. Larson of Foley, my old man. But, it’s also a story about the millions who have served their country.
Larson, like many others, signed up for the Marines shortly after the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941. He wanted to be a fighter pilot. The Marines said “sure,” then promptly assigned him to an infantry division, the Second Marine Division. The planes he saw were the ones flying overhead, some friendly, many not.
He took part in three major engagements in the South Pacific where the Americans engaged the Japanese in a series of island battles. They called it “island hopping.” First came Guadalcanel in August-September 1942, the first U.S. ground offensive of World War II. Then it was bloody Tarawa in November 1943. His final battle was in June 1944 on Saipan, where a Japanese machine gun shell ripped through his arm, nearly severing it. Doctors decided to try and save the arm and he spent the next year undergoing several operations. His final days as a Marine were spent at the naval hospital in San Diego, Calif.
‘War stories’
His “war stories” to his family included:
•How a Japanese Zero pilot, apparently unaware that the Marines had taken Henderson Field at Guadalcanal, attempted to land at the field. The Marines, digging in to defend the prized airstrip, were apparently as surprised by his aborted landing as he was surprised by their presence. He revved the engine and took off, without a shot being fired.
•Playing poker under moonlit, sandy beaches.
•The beautiful voices of native children who serenaded U.S. soldiers with gospel hymns.
•How beautiful New Zealand was. The division spent time there replenishing itself between engagements. Duane always wanted to go back but he didn’t.
•How welcome mail from home was.
•How the food rations weren’t too good...but they weren’t too bad, either.
•The friendships he made with his comrades, including one special friend who died in combat. My late brother Terry was named after that Marine.
•How disembarking from the troop transports into landing vehicles prior to invasions seemed to take so very long. The Marines climbed down those rope ladders we’ve seen in war movies, then settled into the landing boats. The boats then circled and circled until all were ready to go.
•How, while in the hospital in San Diego, many Hollywood movie stars visited the soldiers. His favorites were western star “Gabby” Hayes (Roy Rogers’ sidekick) and Rita Hayworth. I think he mentioned Rita just to get the ire of his wife Evelyn.
Mentioning how he thought he was going to die at Tarawa was about as close as he got to the war stories we were anxious to hear. The actual combat stories he shared mostly with his fellow veterans, some while he was post commander at the Foley Legion.
Veterans use the word “we” a lot. There aren’t many “I’s” in their stories.
After his death in June, 1986, we found a newspaper clipping his mother had filed away in a box for him. It was from the Minneapolis paper and the incident happened shortly before he was wounded at Saipan. The correspondent had singled him out following a charge that had taken out a Japanese machine gun bunker that had been causing much havoc and several casualties. His quote was “the bunker had to be taken out and we did it. If we hadn’t the next group of Marines would have.”
Bloody Tarawa
I think the battle that stayed with him was Tarawa.
Here are some specifics from that three-day bloodbath. The information came from the encyclopedia, not Duane Larson.
•The Marines landed under heavy Japanese machine gun and light artillery fire. An error in judging where the tide would be at resulted in most of the landing boats being unable to make it to shore. Most of the Marines had to wade in 500 to 700 yards while being sprayed with machine gun fire. Many didn’t make it, cut down by the Japanese or drowned under the weight of their equipment. On Nov. 20, 1943, 5,000 Marines assaulted the beach; by evening over 1,550 were dead or wounded.
•After the first day, with the Marines hunkered down near the beachhead, waiting for a Japanese assault. Major-General Julian C. Smith’s radio message was that “the issue was in doubt.”
•The Japanese missed their opportunity to drive the Marines back into the water and never attacked that night. The Marines regrouped, then swept through the tiny island over the next two days. Nine hundred, ninety-seven Marines died and over 2,000 were wounded over those three days. All but 17 of the 5,000 Japanese defenders were killed.
After the war, Larson settled into a career as a rural mail carrier (Route 3) at Foley. He, his father, Vego Sr. (also a rural carrier at Foley) and his brother Ward dealt in livestock on the side, mostly feeder pigs. While on the mail route, Larson slipped a leather glove on his injured arm that helped him distribute the mail when his fingers and hand went numb. Duane raised Shetland ponies as a hobby that often ballooned into having 50 or 60 at a time. The kids, two boys and three girls, all got to have their “own.” My favorite was Trixie. Tears were shed when ponies left the Glendorado farm under new ownership.
Corporal Larson’s final war battles were fought during the final days of his life as he battled cancer. Under the influence of morphine and other painkillers he’d call someone into his bedroom at home, then point to a window where a Japanese soldier was trying to get in.
In recent days, “Joe the Plumber” has been called an “American hero.” That hogwash should be ended, now.
As Veterans Day approaches let’s remember those men and women who quietly served their country, accepting their call to duty as nothing special. Something they did. Not something I did.
 |
