EDMONDS — Fred Saling told his family he had nothing left to live for after losing his wife of 70 years last month.
On Friday, a smile came to his face.
An honor guard from Naval Station Everett came to the Edmonds home of the retired Navy commander to perform a flag folding ceremony. Saling’s daughter, Marilyn Hill of Camano Island, arranged the event.
It’s a ceremony normally only done for families of fallen servicepeople or at retirement celebrations. Hill talked the Navy chaplain into making an exception for her father.
Before the sailors arrived on Friday, Hill couldn’t sit still and began rearranging furniture.
“I was going to surprise him, but I’m terrible at keeping a secret,” she said. “He knew something suspicious was going on.”
Finally, she spilled it. His reaction?
“A smile and tears in his eyes,” she said.
Having had a couple of strokes, Saling doesn’t say much. But when Navy chaplain Edwin Carroll and the three sailors arrived, words came. Slowly, haltingly, but they came.
Carroll kneeled to greet Saling as he sat in his chair by a large picture window in the home he shared with his wife, Ann.
The chaplain expressed his condolences to Saling about his wife and said he felt honored to be there.
“I’m honored you arrived,” Saling said as Hill, two other family members and a friend feverishly snapped photos.
“It reaffirms my belief in the value of the Navy,” Saling said. “I want to thank the Navy for their consideration for thinking of an old fud like me.”
The sailors unfolded an American flag and the room went silent, other than the sound of camera shutters clicking.
Hill had more trouble staying composed than her father.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Hill said later. “I was just so happy for my father, just to be able to make him smile. I was just thrilled.”
Two of the sailors refolded the flag into a triangle and Electronics Technician Second Class Tyrone Berrien knelt before Saling, thanked him for his service and handed him the flag.
The group then broke into a chorus of “Anchors Away,” with Saling doing his best to sing along.
A portrait of him in uniform in 1959 while stationed in Chile, a couple of years after being promoted to commander, was propped up on a chair in the living room.
Saling was in the Navy for 22 years, retiring in 1963, and served in the Korean War. Saling also did tours of duty in Brazil, Hawaii and Washington, D.C., among other locations, taking his wife, son Rick and daughter Marilyn along. Rick Saling, of Seattle, also was present for Friday’s ceremony.
After Saling retired from the Navy, he taught Spanish for 20 years at Meadowdale High School in Lynnwood. Ann Saling, who was 88, authored several books on a variety of subjects.
Carroll said that after Hill contacted him, he felt he had to do the ceremony.
“She had said he’s at a point where he doesn’t want to live any longer,” Carroll said, recalling his conversation with Hill.
“For me to hear that, and to hear of this guy spending 22 years of his life serving our nation,” he said, “I told the executive officer, ‘This one we’ve got to do, this is the right thing to do.’ “
He got the go-ahead. Hill is very grateful.
“I begged him, and he came through,” she said.
Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439; sheets@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
