WIMMER: Local World War II veteran was a treasure

November is the month of our traditional Thanksgiving Day celebrations.

Family, turkey and football games take up our day this time every year.

But, we need to stop and think about another day in November, a day to give thanks to the veterans who made it possible for all our freedoms and the things we enjoy most.

Nov. 11 is Veterans Day.

Fittingly, it comes before turkey day. This should be a clue that we need to observe this day with reverence because, without it, Thanksgiving and our other holidays might have been lost to the past.

To honor Vets Day, I have a salute to one of Newton’s own World War II vets.

Remaining veterans of that war are becoming fewer each year.

In August, Pat and I were eating at a local restaurant. Cline Gronau, and his wife, Judy, were at an adjacent table.

Judy told me she liked my column and suggested I should do one on Luther Ray, a World War II Army vet. Sadly, Luther died on Saturday, after this column was written.

I contacted the Rays and made an appointment soon afterward.

When I sat down in their house, Luther’s wife provided me with a copy of his discharge papers. I was glad to have them to corroborate some of the things from Luther’s memory of that long-ago time.

Luther was born in Hinton, Okla., on July 20, 1914. His family moved to Newton in the 1920s when his father got a job with Santa Fe Railroad.

Luther was drafted in 1941 and took his basic training at Ft. Leavenworth.

After being promoted to corporal, he became an instructor on 40mm anti-aircraft guns for the 395th Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion.

Luther served his time in the Pacific Theater in such places as New Guinea, as well as Luzon and Manila in the Philippines.

During this time he was promoted to buck sargeant (three stripes).

Luther told me as the war in the Pacific was winding down, he spent some time in the Phillippines working as a supply sergeant in a large warehouse.

Luther was discharged on June 16, 1944. That was a little more than a year before Japan surrendered in August of 1945, after the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

He earned the following decorations: American Defense Service Medal, American Service Medal, Asiatic Service Medal, World War II Victory Medal and a Good Conduct Medal.

After returning to Newton, Luther spent many years working for George Sharp.

George was a big promoter of mobile home manufacturing and sales here in Newton.

Luther worked for him as the service manager for mobile homes. He delivered and set up the homes, as well as made trips to do warranty work and repairs on ones they previously had sold.

Luther and his wife have three children — George, Mary and Paula. There also are seven grandchildren and eight great grandchildren (it took a while for the family to mentally count all the children without missing any).

Thanks again for your service Luther!

WW II leggings

On Sept. 3, Chuck Engle thought I needed some World War II soldiers’ leggings to add to the story.

He presented them to me at a teachers’ meeting.

Postscript

In the September column, I asked for pictures of spats. Soon after the paper was out, Patricia (Irving) McPheeters was kind enough to bring some to the Kansan to be photographed.

They belonged to her grandfather, James E. Thomas of Peabody.

Thanks for sharing your memories, Patricia.

On Sept. 11, Pat and I were dining at Applebee’s and a gentleman came to our table to tell me he had a couple of pair if I wanted to see them. I explained we already had a picture of some and thanked him for the offer.