Fountain celebrates a chilly Veterans Day
The winter months in Charles City, Iowa, are cold, but Korea is colder, Paul Darrow recalled, comparing his hometown to the far-flung country in which he served as a U.S. Marine during his teenage years.
Darrow, 84, scoured red bricks on the Fountain Valley Veterans Memorial Wall on Monday morning at Mayors Park. His gloved fingers traced the names etched there.
Just minutes before the Veterans Day ceremony began at the park, Darrow found his name, just a few bricks away from Kenneth R. Darrow, his brother, who had been a prisoner of war in Korea.
Darrow said he served from 1953 to 1955, after his brother was released and returned home.
He said he would have served earlier but was too young.
Darrow said he attends Veterans Day ceremonies, among other events, every year and thinks of his brother and his fellow veterans. As Fountain Mayor Gabriel Ortega gave thanks for the community’s veterans, Darrow stood stoic and listened.
Later he recalled watching men and women in Korea gathering whatever they could from the frozen streets to stay alive.
“It was rough to see them have to scavenge just to live,” Darrow said. “Unfortunately, we’ve got that in our own country today. Too many homeless.”
Today’s America isn’t one that Darrow recognizes, he said. The Charles City he recalls fades more each day.
“Today you don’t see the same companionship that we had when we were younger,” he said. “I do miss all of that.”
Still, Darrow smiled and offered a kindly suggestion for repairing this small corner of the world.
“Be more friendly. Be more helpful,” he said. “Help take care of our elderly.”
It’s that mentality that draws Darrow to these events year after year. He gave thanks for his brothers and sisters in arms and noted the importance of supporting those who served the country.
“I’m just proud to be able to attend all these functions as a Marine,” he said.
Joe Martinez stood, just as dignified, with his thumbs in line with the seam of his pants, his feet at a 45-degree angle as Old Glory rose before him and the rest of the small crowd at the park.
Through Ortega’s opening remarks, the posting of the colors, the Pledge of Allegiance and the national anthem, the crowd of perhaps a few dozen stood solemn. Some shifted from foot to foot to keep warm, and each kept their gaze to the west as the flag crackled in the winter breeze with the Front Range in the background.
Martinez, a 62-year-old Marine veteran, said he served from 1973 to 1979 and then again during Operation Desert Storm in the Army National Guard. Martinez said his family can be traced back to the American Revolution and beyond.
“I’m proud to have served,” Martinez said.
Younger generations don’t seem to appreciate that service, Martinez said. Nor do they seem to appreciate how that service has benefited the United States.
Veterans Day is crucial to recognize and remember that service and our forefathers, he said.
“I figured the least we can do is honor their memory,” he said.
The two graying Marines had another thing to celebrate during the Veterans Day ceremony: the 244th birthday of the Marine Corps, which was Sunday.
“We look pretty good for 244,” Darrow said with a laugh.
conrad.swanson@gazettedev.gazette.com @conrad_swanson
U.S. Marine Corps veteran Paul Darrow points to his name among the red bricks of the Fountain Valley Veterans Memorial Wall on Monday.