At the Nov. 10 party at the Renaissance Club, Delores and Wayne Sheffield reenact the famous kiss symbolizing the end of World War II. When they struck the pose of the original couple in Times Square that was featured inside Life magazine in 1945 and has since been memorialized with a statue, they captured the attention of all in attendance. Penny Fletcher photos.
Regardless of the fact that there were services and ceremonies throughout South County honoring military veterans, the residents of the Bayonne 1 community from the Renaissance area of Sun City Center held a special party for the veterans who live there.
On Nov. 10, a large group gathered and talked about old times, and watched newsreels from World War II featuring not only battles but also the story about how when the men left for war, women ran the factories and businesses, spurred on by the now-famous character Rosie the Riveter.
Rosie, played by Pam Freas, and her neighbor Delores Sheffield, worked to host a celebration to honor them.
Pam’s dad, Charlie Mupchler, was one of 15 veterans who live in the small Bayonne 1 community. The two showed up together, and Charlie was as spry as ever, eager to tell stories.
“That’s a lot of veterans for a small area,” said Sheffield. Not all 15 were able to attend the event, she said, but many of those who did shared their stories.
Paul Sterwerf was told he was classified 4F by the draft board and did not have to go to war, but when he and his wife, Barbara, went back to his next class reunion, he found that 20 of the 66 boys in the small, private boys’ school he had attended had been killed in Vietnam.
The group of veterans honored at the recent Bayonne 1 celebration at the Renaissance Club in Sun City Center, from left, are Charles Mupchler, Dr. Ray Thurman, Dee Sheffield, Al Klein, (hidden face) Darrell Jarvis, Mike Cassano, Pam Freas (as Rosie the Riveter), Ken Ihlo, Richard Weidel, Ferris Garrett, Jim Fetters and Mark Gaber.
“We had a party for those who made it back, and heard some fantastic stories,” said Barbara. “One that was funny was about peaches.
“A group of soldiers knew that a supply of canned peaches had come in and they hadn’t had anything like that in a long time,” Barbara said. “They said all they could think about was those peaches and how they would taste and finally they made it through the dark jungle, knowing there was enemy all around, and rescued a big box. Somehow they got it back to their camp, but when they finally sat down to eat, ready for the long-awaited treat, the box was filled with cans of beets.”
Barbara said she’d always respected military personnel because her father was in the Army during World War II. He was set to go overseas and suffered injuries in a military jeep accident. All the men in the accident — including her dad — were spared from going overseas.
Ken Ihlo spent three years 110 miles behind the Russian line in a divided Berlin after World War II. All he could say about that was that it had something to do with military intelligence.
Richard Weidel, however, could talk about his time in the service.He was with the Army Medical Corps.
“The job I had made me feel like I was helping people,” Weidel said.
He was stationed at the Army Medical Burn Center in San Antonio, Texas, and later transferred to Fort Bliss, Texas, where he worked in the emergency room.
“Things weren’t too bad in 1962,” Weidel said, “but by 1965, the men who would come back from Vietnam really needed a lot of care. They’d lost everything. Their faces, body parts. It’s very hard to describe because they feel like they have no identity.”
Darrell Jarvis, a Navy veteran of World War II and Korea, didn’t see action in WW II but was in a lot of it during the Korean War.
Darrell Jarvis also saw action firsthand. In the Navy during World War II, he didn’t see much fighting. But when he was stationed on the destroyer USS Renshaw during the Korean War, it was a different story.
“I was in communications and electronics then,” Jarvis said. He served approximately six years in active duty.
Near the end of the day’s program, Delores Sheffield and her husband, Wayne, reenacted the famous kiss in Life magazine at the end of World War II. The “Kiss” has since been memorialized with a statue in Times Square, New York City, where it originally occurred.
Then Delores called all the attending veterans forward and honored them by citing their name and rank, and giving each one a salute.
Paul and Barbara Sterwerf .
Pam Freas as Rosie the Riveter and her dad, Charlie Mupchler.
