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| Those who survived, remembered |
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| Written by John Saiz / Patterson Irrigator / | |
| Wednesday, 14 November 2007 | |
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“A veteran ... is someone who, at one place in his life, wrote a blank check payable to the United States of America for any amount up to and including his life ” — Anonymous quote recited by Paul Lubker Patterson American Legion Post 168  Elias Funez / Patterson Irrigator Plaques fixed to a boulder displayed the names of Patterson men who died in war. More than a half dozen men who had returned from war alive surrounded the names of the dead.
 Elias Funez / Patterson Irrigator “(We’re here) because they asked us,” Scoutmaster Brian Bingham said. “If they ask us to do something, by God we’re going to do it.” Bingham said the event allows the boys to form relationships with their elders. “The young guys, the old guys, they need to interact,” Bingham said. Lubker echoed that sentiment. “Take the time,” he said during the ceremony. “Talk to a vet while you still can.” If any of the attendees heeded that advice, they might have heard numerous tales — including surviving a sinking ship during the invasion of Normandy and spending the night alone in a ditch during the Korean War. There were also the stories of veterans getting injured even before seeing action or while serving at an air base far from front lines. The stories are as varied as the veterans who tell them. Still, there is a common thread that runs between. “I had to do my duty,” said Joe Scheuber, who attended Monday’s ceremony. For Scheuber, that meant fighting in Korea. At one point in his tour, he spent a night in a ditch, wounded and clutching a grenade in case the enemy appeared. The fear of his own death did not weigh heavy on him, he said. Instead, thoughts of loved ones’ loss motivated him through the ordeal.  Elias Funez / Patterson Irrigator Scheuber made it back to safety and eventually to home. More than 50 years later, he made it to Patterson’s War Memorial, where he stood surrounded by men with different, yet similar, experiences. The plaque commemorating the men who died in World War II sits the highest on the stone and bears the most names. “The top ones, they were my classmates,” said retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. John Azevedo. “We all went to Patterson High School, most of us, and they all died in war.” Bob Lorentz, who attended the ceremony, was one of the ones who made it back, but not before his ship sunk after hitting a mine during the Invasion of Normandy. “We had 2,000 people on board,” Lorentz said. “As many as the Titanic.” A moment of silence at 11:11 a.m. — in remembrance of the World War I armistice reached on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year — was spent in memory of the stories of veterans who never made it home. “All in remembrance of our buddies and friends,” Scheuber said. To reach John Saiz at the Irrigator, call 892-6187 or e-mail him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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