EVERETT — He buried soldiers who died in the Battle of Guadalcanal during World War II.
Ernie Arnold enlisted in the Navy on June 7, 1942. The date is committed to memory.
He was one of many veterans honored Friday at the Carl Gipson Senior Center’s 11th annual Veterans Day Dance in Everett. A few came in their uniforms, still fitting perfectly.
A local knitting group that calls themselves the “happy hookers” wanted to do something special to celebrate. Bobby Neason, the leader of the group, bought red, white and blue yarn. She ordered buttons from China and waited two months for their arrival. With the help of 10 other knitters, they made 78 patriotic lap throws to give away.
A table also was set for those who were prisoners of war or missing in action. The yellow ribbon tied around the chair was a sign of hope for safe returns to their families.
Arnold has war stories, an entire book of them in fact. He served during the Invasion of Okinawa. Off the coast of the island, a plane crashed and he passed the dead military men floating in the ocean. For reasons that were clear at the time, he threw them life jackets. That’s all he could do.
He also has stories of traveling to tropical places and building camaraderie with fellow sailors.
While serving on Green Island in the Solomon Islands, he would walk a half mile to the “cook shack.” He followed a narrow path in the jungle amongst birds and monkeys, and the occasional Komodo dragon climbing the base of a tree.
Late one night he was drinking coffee with sailors in the cook shack. It was their job to make fresh coffee for those working in the morning. At the bottom of the coffee vat, they found a dead rat.
Arnold can laugh about it now.
More than 350 veterans and family members came to the senior center. Volunteers covered the walls with red, white and blue streamers and hung matching balloons. They served a home-cooked lunch before the dancing resumed.
Some women dressed in 1950s-style dresses, a couple wore knit sweaters featuring stars and stripes. They swayed to the 16-piece swing band, their partners wearing nice slacks and dress shirts.
Rose Margaretich turned 100 this year. Her partner spun her around in the middle of the floor.
“She can still jitterbug,” said Jonette Ryan, Margaretich’s daughter.
Margaretich joined the Navy in 1945 and became a chief petty officer. She also was named Queen of the Seabees, which claimed her a spot in Everett’s 1959 Fourth of July parade.
As little girls, Ryan and her twin sister, Janice White, remember their mother and father donning uniforms for Seabee balls.
“It made us so proud,” Ryan said.
Caitlin Tompkins: 425-339-3192; ctompkins@heraldnet.com.
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