As in all of our national celebrations, holidays and holy days, there’s a lot going on that is not related to the real purpose.

 The challenge to The Islander  is to uncover and reveal the memory and passion for those who have given their lives for our freedom and to give credit to the families and comrades who still walk upon the earth.

  Many of these are still walking with the help of joint replacement and other aids, yet their voices ring out. Ted Saunders, a “do or die” Marine, sends regular messages from his joint replacement therapy in Daphne.

  Scoping in the Mobile-to-Pensacola parameters reveals the quiet reverence for our departed heroes. One of the greats was buried over the weekend. Vern Whatley never missed the Eighth Air Force gathering in Mobile at the Captain’s Table.

  Commander George Grau attended the ceremony which celebrated Whatley’s life. Whatley was a tail gunner in the 457th Bomber Group which flew out of Britain. The survival chances of a tail-gunner against the Luftwaffe were not very good. Grau, a celebrated B-17 pilot in the 457th, was shot down on his 28th mission and was able to make his way back to Britain.

  Walter F. Bates, who flew Fleet Tactical Support in the Viet Nam era, was able to report on both the Robertsdale and Foley ceremonies. He mentioned that a crowd of some 60 attended in Robertsdale, and 100 in Foley. Carl Bailey, Department of Alabama Veterans, gave an address. Rex Aldridge, holder of the Purple Heart and the Silver Star, was recognized.

   Aldridge, like so many veterans, is still active. He’s a beekeeper now fighting another kind of battle — mites and killer bees.

  In Foley, Marcus Odom, machine gunner, was recognized. He, in turn, gave tribute to three comrades who gave their lives. A poem by John McRae was read. The second stanza is most familiar:

  We are the Dead. Short days ago

 We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

 Loved and were loved, and now we lie

 In Flanders fields.

Our military and our veterans figure prominently in South Baldwin. Bates and Saunders are members and officers of Disabled American Veterans. They offer transportation to the disabled, including trips to the VA Hospitals.

  The DAV is almost as large as  the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars.

  Slogans supporting the veterans organizations are repeated often: “Veterans Helping Veterans,” and “We were there (overseas) and now we are here for you,” the latter being directed to our troops serving our country abroad.

  Memorial Day finds veterans working everywhere with pride. Walter Fricke Sr. serves with “Meals on Wheels” in South Baldwin. He was an airman in Europe in World War II. His son, Walter Fricke Jr., flew helicopters in Viet Nam, was wounded and now has begun an Airlift Program in Minnesota. They fly families to visit with the wounded from Iraq and Afghanistan at Walter Reid Hospital and others. The trips are free. The organization is growing rapidly, engaging volunteer airmen and their planes nationwide.

  The recent Memorial Day witnessed the culmination of a project that has been ongoing for several years. A local flying club, Experimental Aircraft Association,  took on the Herculean task of restoring a dilapidated Taylorcraft  single engine airplane, vintage 1946.

  These veterans not only serve, but  have hobbies, too, and Ron David’s compilation of this exciting venture is forthcoming soon in The Islander.