22 veterans of WWII gather in Lynnwood to recall their experiences

LYNNWOOD — Chuck Seely can’t believe it’s been 70 years.

The 88-year-old veteran was on a ship in Hollandia, New Guinea, in 1945. They’d stopped to refuel and that’s when the crew learned that Japan had surrendered on Aug. 15.

“At 9:30 at night, the commander announced the war was over and then the big parties started,” Seely said. “It was a hell of an experience.”

Saturday marked the 70th anniversary of Victory over Japan Day, or V-J Day. Seely was one of 22 World War II veterans who gathered at the Lynnwood Elks Lodge for a barbecue, ceremony and a live band playing popular swing music from the 1940s.

They were joined by friends, family and 32 Korean War veterans who also were honored during the event.

It was a fantastic afternoon, Seely said. He served in the Coast Guard for 2 ½ years near the end of World War II, traveling to England, Panama, Hawaii, New Guinea, the Netherlands, East Indies and Philippines.

After the war, he was part of a crew that picked up wounded soldiers and brought them to Seattle.

The Elks barbecue gathered a lot of veterans and a lot of history into one room, he said.

“Boy, there are some old timers here,” he said. “I can’t believe it.”

Preston Scheid, 97, was one of the oldest veterans at the event. He served in the Army Air Corps for about four years during World War II. He was the radio director who sent out homing signals to call planes back to base.

“My job was to sit at the end of the runway and when the planes came in I would check them out and see if they were OK,” he said.

He also was a musician and played a stand-up bass in a military band. A black-and-white photo shows him and the band during a performance in London. As they were arriving at that performance, Winston Churchill announced the war was over in Europe. Scheid doesn’t remember where he was when the war ended in Japan, but he still was in the Air Corps.

George Murray, 86, was in high school on V-J Day in 1945. He enlisted before he graduated and served in the Air Force for seven years. He jokes that he “didn’t get to go to no prom.” He was busy overseas.

He joined the military after the ceasefire but before the armistice was signed and served mostly in Germany.

Murray danced and hummed to the big band music Saturday, enjoying the event with his friends and fellow veterans.

“I’m glad to see all these guys who made it,” he said. “And I feel sorry for the guys who didn’t.”

Events were planned around the county to mark the 70th anniversary of V-J Day. While the Elks held their veterans barbecue, the Flying Heritage Collection hosted a themed free fly day where anyone could come watch WWII-era fighter planes fly at Paine Field.

Hundreds of people gathered with cameras ready, bags of popcorn open and children perched on shoulders to watch four historic planes rumble down the runway and lift off into an overcast sky.

Pilots flew two silver planes that were used by the Army and two dark blue planes that were used by the Navy. Three of the four were models that flew during combat and one, a Bearcat, was made near the end of the war and put on carriers but never flown in battle.

The air show included a North American P-51D Mustang, a Republic P-47D Thunderbolt, a Grumman F6F-5 and a Grumman F8F-2 Bearcat.

“They’re all American airplanes that helped win the war,” said Cory Graff, military aviation curator for the Flying Heritage Collection.

WWII-era warbirds flew at airports around the country Saturday, he said. Flying Heritage was one of many groups in different states that worked with veterans to mark V-J Day.

John Plaza, a pilot from Seattle, came to the Flying Heritage Collection with his wife and 1-year-old son. The planes were taking off as they arrived and they gathered with the crowd at the runway fence to watch.

They hadn’t realized it was V-J Day, but learned a lot about the history of the planes and the brave fighters who flew them during WWII.

“What a tremendous opportunity for the public,” Plaza said.

Many of the spectators were families. Kids stared and pointed as the planes passed overhead. Getting those pieces of history off the ground offers people the chance to better understand and appreciate WWII warbirds, Graff said.

“It sort of illustrates the whole of the airplane,” he said. “You don’t just see it, you hear it and you smell it and you feel it in your chest when it rumbles by.”

Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com