Letter: Veteran’s story prompts memories

EDITOR,
I really enjoyed the story on Everett Mudgett Sr. (“Scotts Valley man looks forward to turning 100,” Page 2, Jan. 18).
As I read, I could not help but be reminded of my father, retired Staff Sgt Manuel L. Main’s similar story — a colorful Greatest Generation-era vernacular followed by interest in words and trivia when the years slowed them down. Entry into World War II Army Air Corp to work on bombers (my father’s specialty was B24 Liberators), time spent at camps around the USA, then moving closer to the Pacific action in Hawaii. Married once. Member of VFW. Masons (my dad earned the Hiram Award). Devout.
After the war, my dad got an A&E license and worked in the aircraft industry before joining Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where he developed plastic fabrication methods and worked on “big science” projects. He settled in Castro Valley — a then-sparsely populated Bay Area suburb on the edge of a vast agricultural and wild region. Unlike Mr. Mudgett, my father never succeeded in letting go of experiences in Saipan, Tinian, Okinawa and Guam.
Everett and Manuel would have a lot in common and become good friends if they met. They would have undoubtedly talked about 1940s music, bygone actors and actresses, Army food, peculiarities of the war birds they kept flying, love of God and country and the remarkable representation of the Masons in history.
Mr. Mudgett, as a veteran’s son who understands much of what America has forgotten about what your generation went through and accomplished, please accept my thank-you and “God bless.” My father died two years ago, or I would introduce you.
David Main, Boulder Creek