Fading memories of World War II — In December it was the Pearl Harbor Veterans who held their last planned reunion — too many of the vets wer too old to think many could comfortably travel to another reunion. This week, it’s the PT boat veterans who held their last planned gathering, for the same reasons. Those who have the most vivid memories of the war dwindle in number to a precious few.
According to the Associated Press in the Navy Times:
The 16 elderly survivors — down from 21 last year — of Peter Tare, Inc., an organization for former officers of PT boats, lined up next to the boat Friday, taking one last sail down memory lane.
For them, World War II is really almost over now.
“It’s sort of pitiful the way the crowd has dwindled,” said William Paynter, 90, who commanded both a PT boat and a squadron in the South Pacific.
“The executive secretary is just getting over a stroke and it seemed like the best time to do it,” he said of this past week’s reunion.
The group, which began meeting in 1947, has better than $25,000 in assets, Paynter said. Originally the plan was to turn the assets over to the sole survivor, but as the years passed, that seemed impractical.
Of course, there’s a story about “Peter Tare,” too: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Ed Darrell 
Undated photograph of John Reed (1880-1927) at this typewriter, 
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 