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TRINITY VILLAGE HONORS VETERANS

By Amy Widner/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 11:37 PM CST

Thirty World War II veterans will be honored at 2:30 p.m. today at Trinity Village Retirement Community.

“We’ve lost eight since last year,” said Jane McMullin, Trinity Village health and fitness director. “If you’ve ever seen the statistics, it’s just crazy. There’s an alarming number of them that die every day, every hour ... This is just our way of saying thank you and honoring our veterans.”

The center is at 6400 Trinity Valley Drive. The event is free and open to the public.

The ceremony will include presentations, Taps, a reading of the list of Trinity Village veterans who have died since last year, refreshments and more.

Tuesday afternoon, the facility’s Great Hall was already decorated with original WWII posters and photos of veterans young and old.

William “Ira” Brake Jr. posed next to his uniform from 66 years ago. He was inducted on Jan. 15, 1943, and served in an artillery unit, spending most of his time in the Philippines. He ended the war where it ended for the rest of America: In Japan.

Meanwhile, video of Carl Cooper’s war experience played on the television. His war stories were recorded by AETN four years ago for its In Their Words oral history project.

Cooper is 92 and said the interview was a bit of a memory jog.

“They were asking me about things that happened over 50 years ago and expected me to remember that,” Cooper said.

All the more important to talk to and appreciate veterans while they are still living, McMullin said.

Cooper was in the Air Force and spent about a year of the war flying runs in the China-Burma-India area. He said he made 80 trips over the Himalayas during that time.

Planes

For airplane enthusiasts who prefer to stay on the ground, Currin Nichol will have his model plane collection on display. Nichol had always told McMullin that he had about 75 airplanes, but with them all spread out for display, McMullin stopped counting at about 180.

“I had no idea I had so many,” Nichol said, adding that he even found unopened model packages from 20 years ago when he was putting together his collection for the exhibit.

Nichol is 81 and missed serving in WWII. He served in the Army Chemical Corps for about two years in his early 20s. He was stationed in Japan.

Many of his model planes are from the WWII era, and he has planes from Japan, Russia, Poland, Germany, United States, Great Britain and Australia.

A Pine Bluff native, he worked as a bacteriologist at the Pine Bluff Arsenal for several years when he returned home and went on to work 40 years for Simmons First National Bank. He and his wife June, also a Pine Bluff native, both live at Trinity Village.

A model airplane in a storefront in Hot Springs first caught his eye. Nichol was never a pilot, but he has always been enamored with the magic of flight. He thinks he caught the bug as a child when his parents used to take him to air shows in Pine Bluff.

He’s found other airplane enthusiasts all his life with whom to share his hobby. His collection has brought a twinkle to many an eye.

“It’s amazing, because you don’t know who some of these people are, and they turn out to love airplanes too,” Nichol said.

As for his airplane collection and passion for aviation, “I’m glad to share it,” Nichol said.

For more information, call 879-3113.

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