Brian013086
05-12-2008, 05:02 PM
Found this story today, learned something new today. Link (http://www.myfoxstl.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=6498740&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1)
They are not from here.
But they came here to see who is still here.
They are world war two veterans - a reunion of the men who with one mission changed the course of history.
They used to do this in a ballroom.
Now, a meeting room seems oversized.
They've been getting together every year for more than 30 years to see who's left and remember those who are not.
The U.S.S. Copahee was a small aircraft carrier hardly anyone has ever heard of, and even fewer remember.
Mostly the Copahee moved planes and troops.
It was important work, but it's what was loaded on board in 1945 that changed the world.
It was the atom bomb later exploded over Nagasaki.
As ships go, the Copahee had a short life, only four years.
After the war it simply wasn't needed anymore. Eventually it was sold for scrap to Japan.
What used to be a reunion that numbered into the hundreds this year was down to nine men, all at least in their mid 80's and a few of their wives and children.
Two have serious heart problems.
Two more have cancer.
And most all have a hard time hearing.
But their memories of the Copahee and its crew and its historic mission are indivisible.
Though none of the Copahee vets is from St. Louis, they've been meeting here for the past four years because of the city's central location
They are not from here.
But they came here to see who is still here.
They are world war two veterans - a reunion of the men who with one mission changed the course of history.
They used to do this in a ballroom.
Now, a meeting room seems oversized.
They've been getting together every year for more than 30 years to see who's left and remember those who are not.
The U.S.S. Copahee was a small aircraft carrier hardly anyone has ever heard of, and even fewer remember.
Mostly the Copahee moved planes and troops.
It was important work, but it's what was loaded on board in 1945 that changed the world.
It was the atom bomb later exploded over Nagasaki.
As ships go, the Copahee had a short life, only four years.
After the war it simply wasn't needed anymore. Eventually it was sold for scrap to Japan.
What used to be a reunion that numbered into the hundreds this year was down to nine men, all at least in their mid 80's and a few of their wives and children.
Two have serious heart problems.
Two more have cancer.
And most all have a hard time hearing.
But their memories of the Copahee and its crew and its historic mission are indivisible.
Though none of the Copahee vets is from St. Louis, they've been meeting here for the past four years because of the city's central location