A sail with vets

On the 65th anniversary of a foreign power’s attack on American soil, veterans of World War II commemorated the occasion aboard a reminder of a much older conflict. As those present told stories of bombs and bullets, the ship they sailed on was straight from the age of cannon and sail.

About a dozen World War II veterans and their family members gathered on a bright, clear Thursday morning in Newport Harbor for an outing and ceremony on the schooner Lynx, a tall ship built to represent an American privateer schooner from the War of 1812. Though none had been at Pearl Harbor itself, they all spoke with conviction about its deep significance to their generation.

George Bissell, a veteran of the Merchant Marine who helped ferry troops to the Philippines in the war, looked with awe at the complicated rigging and the heavy work required just to hoist a sail. He shuddered at the idea that people had fought battles on such a ship.

“Oh my gosh, the old Liberty [troop transport] ships were bad enough,” he said.

Lynx is named after a ship from the War of 1812, operated privately on behalf of the U.S. war effort. It ran blockades and attacked British ships. The modern Lynx, supported by charitable donations to the Lynx Educational Foundation, serves primarily to teach young people about history and ecology in special school programs. Foundation director of operations Jeffrey Woods said the 5-year-old ship also reenacts battles with other period ships, as well as holds this event each year. He said all proceeds from the event went to keeping Lynx available to teach school kids.

The crew members tugged on lines and raised all three of the ship’s sails, which weigh more than a ton each with all the rigging. Once the 122-foot ship left Newport Harbor, the captain, dressed in 19th-century sailors’ gear, cut the engines and let the wind carry it out to sea.

Mary Joan Morris, who was a 21-year-old nursing student when World War II broke out, reminisced about the war with enthusiasm. Dressed in her old Army Nurse Corps uniform — complete with hand-embroidered stripes and insignias from her time in India — she energetically recalled caring for Allied soldiers in India and on the home front.

The man closest to the bombing might have been 84-year-old Donald Avery. He said that as an apprentice seaman, he was stationed aboard a battleship at Pearl Harbor that left Hawaii a mere 4 1/2 months before Japanese planes bombed it.

Perhaps not surprisingly, he said he spends much of his time keeping the memory alive with his branch of the Fleet Reserve Assn. But those who remember are disappearing fast.

“We’ve passed our 500th funeral,” he said.

About an hour into the morning, Woods called together passengers and crew for a ceremony commemorating the day. Reading excerpts of a speech by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, he asked the audience never to forget.

Morris recalled how devastated she and everyone else was at the news of war 65 years ago.

“I never thought I’d see so many grown men crying,” she said. “They thought World War I had been a war to end all wars.”

Once those in attendance had told their stories, crew members in period sailing gear lowered the Stars and Stripes, folded it, and fired off a two-cannon salute. All aboard stood in silent contemplation while the sulfurous smoke cleared. At last, four veterans eased a wreath of red and white roses into the ocean, where it slowly floated away on calm waters.

The mood on the way back was lighter, and the conversation among attendees turned to more contemporary talk about business, mutual friends, and where to meet for lunch.

On its way back, Lynx passed the wreath one more time, still floating placidly out to sea.

Anthony Kazalis, an Army Signal Corps veteran who served in France and Germany, said he was glad he’d come.

“I think it’s great,” he said. “I’m honored to think I was invited, and as a World War II vet, I’m happy to see American citizens are proud of us.”