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CAMP WILLIAMS – Valarie Burke, 17, of Levan, learned that members of the Greatest Generation were fighting at her age.
“It makes me feel like, man, I got to do more,” she said. “I’ve got to apply myself and search for things to help and serve.”
Would Trevor Schulz, 17, of Orem jump into combat right now?
“If I had to, if we had a major war going on like World War II, I probably would,” he said. “But since we’re drawing back right now, I’ll see what other things I can do to help serve other people.
Two U.S. Navy veterans of World War II from Utah shared stories of how they protected America and its freedom with 120 students of the Annual Freedom Academy, sponsored by the Utah National Guard and Honorary Colonel Corps at Camp Williams.
Bill Bassett, 88, showed off his Morse code speed key, a far cry from today’s military technology.
“These days, they’re giving new recruits X-Box controllers to control some of their robots,” Schulz said. “That’s second nature to our generation.”
Burke was amazed at Bassett’s passion to get into the war, following the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
“He tried really hard to get into the Navy, because he really wanted to help when he heard about Pearl Harbor,” Burke said. “He had to wait until he was 17 because his parents wouldn’t let him do it.”
Casey DeJong, Jr., 90, showed off a t-shirt that read, in part, “If you can read this in English, thank a veteran.”
Even when the vets were young, they told the gathering that they knew what it meant to be free.
In June, Bassett and DeJong flew with Honor Flight and KSL to Washington, D.C. to visit the National World War II Memorial.
