Kirkland Heritage Society and visitors took the evening of May 25 to thank our WWII veterans and home front residents.

The guest speaker was Joseph Regan who was a prisoner of war for more than five months, before being released by General Patton and his troops.

At the time of his release, General Eisenhower had a personal chat with Regan and told him that one day of captivity was one day too many. Regan held the capacity crowd’s attention as he talked about his plane being hit, the parachute jump, his days on foot and finally his capture.

Regan said he was treated well because the war was close to the end and it was in the German’s best interest to be good to their captives. He has a wonderful wit and reflection on his wartime service. His good humor and love of country were in his every word.

Other special guests were Kirkland’s Louis Iannalfo, a Pearl Harbor survivor and Odd Hauge whose childhood was in occupied Norway. Hauge told of spending much of his childhood in bomb shelters.

All attending veterans, the wartime and peace time, were thanked for their service. It is because of their service that as of 2011, the United States has never been occupied by a foreign country.

The home front was recognized for their contributions. Whether they were adults who worked in a wartime industry, students who collected paper and metals for the war effort, or newborn babies who had a rationing book so that they could have a few diapers, they all made sacrifices.

Kirkland born Russ McClintick led the Pledge of Allegiance. McClintick was 17 years old when he enlisted as a Marine. Lake Washington School District allowed seniors to quit school to serve if they had a parent’s permission. Mrs. McClintick received her son’s diploma in his absence.

After the war, McClintick graduated from the UW and retired from the LWSD. McClintick was first teacher and then principal.

Critical eyes across the nation were on the LWSD for being shortsighted by “giving away” a high school diploma in return for service. Proving the critics wrong, the Kirkland boys who took the LWSD up on the offer to serve early either returned to high school after the war or went straight to university.

Loita Hawkinson is president of the Kirkland Heritage Society.