Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
HIGHLAND — Two Utah World War II veterans who fought their way across the Pacific seven decades ago recently were reunited.
Earl Sorensen and Wallace Gatrell had not seen each other since the end of World War II, but their bond of friendship spans the decades.
"You know, I wouldn't recognize you. You're better looking than I remember,” Gatrell said.
"Seventy years later, I look at you, and you ain't changed a bit,” Sorensen added.
They were 24 years old when they left Okinawa 69 years ago. KSL caught up with them recently at Sorensen's 93rd birthday in Highland.
They flipped through old photos of the places where they'd fought in the Pacific and shared stories of former comrades.
They served together four years in the 145th Field Artillery Battalion.
"We were the first Army troops from the mainland into Hawaii after Dec. 7,” Gatrell said. “We were really welcomed, I'll tell you that."
"I bet there was 500 people out there ringing and hollering 'Aloha.' They knew we was coming,” Sorensen said.
They fought in the U.S. assaults on the Marshall Islands, Saipan and Tinian in the Mariana Islands, the Philippines and Okinawa.
"We were on half the islands in the Pacific,” Sorensen said.
The Battle of Okinawa lasted nearly three months, and more than 12,000 American troops were killed. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki led to the Japanese surrender less than two months later.
The two men discovered they lived in the same state only when young relatives compared stories they found online.
After all these years, they were glad to catch up.
