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Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low 64F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.
Eldridge "Cecil" Ward recently celebrated his 102nd birthday. The World War II veteran displays his uniform and letter from President Harry Truman. Rick Barbero/The Register-Herald
Gail Piercy, daughter of World War II veeran Eldridge "Cecil" Ward, who recently celebrated his 102nd birthday. Rick Barbero/The Register-Herald
This letter from President Harry Truman was given to Eldridge "Cecil" Ward after he completed his duty in World War II. Rick Barbero/The Register-Herald
World War II veeran Eldridge "Cecil" Ward recently celebrated his 102nd birthday. Rick Barbero/The Register-Herald
World War II veeran Eldridge "Cecil" Ward recently celebrated his 102nd birthday. Rick Barbero/The Register-Herald
Eldridge "Cecil" Ward recently celebrated his 102nd birthday. The World War II veteran displays his uniform and letter from President Harry Truman. Rick Barbero/The Register-Herald
Gail Piercy, daughter of World War II veeran Eldridge "Cecil" Ward, who recently celebrated his 102nd birthday. Rick Barbero/The Register-Herald
This letter from President Harry Truman was given to Eldridge "Cecil" Ward after he completed his duty in World War II. Rick Barbero/The Register-Herald
World War II veeran Eldridge "Cecil" Ward recently celebrated his 102nd birthday. Rick Barbero/The Register-Herald
World War II veeran Eldridge "Cecil" Ward recently celebrated his 102nd birthday. Rick Barbero/The Register-Herald
A jacket, a snapshot and a well-preserved letter are displayed in a shadowbox inside Cecil Ward’s Coal City home.
“It says, ‘Greetings from the President of the United States,'” Ward says without glancing at the letter from former President Harry S. Truman.
His granddaughter Kimberly created the display to showcase and protect memorabilia from Ward’s years in World War II.
And though the contents of the box are treasured keepsakes for both Ward and his family, the most important artifacts are the memories he continues to share, even at 102.
Ward was 22 years old when he was drafted into the U.S. Army in September 1942.
The Coal City native had never been out of West Virginia before traveling from Huntington to Tullahoma, Tenn., for boot camp at Camp Forrest.
“It sure was a change,” he says of the experience.
Life, from then on, was a series of firsts for Ward as he took his first train ride to California before boarding his first boat headed to the South Pacific.
Over the next three years, Ward served with the 108th Maintenance Company assigned to the 33rd Infantry Division.
“I was an automotive mechanic,” he says, explaining he was tasked with ensuring his company’s vehicles were up and running.
Throughout his time in the Asian-Pacific theater, Ward spent time in New Caledonia, Guadalcanal, Munda in the Solomon Islands and the Philippines.
“I was pretty close to it (fighting),” he recalls. “We had to go get vehicles that were disabled under pretty bad conditions.”
He remembers some close calls.
“There was snipers up in the trees,” he says. “We rode in the back of the truck mostly and they’d snipe at you. One bullet hit right in beside me. They shot a hole right in the truck bed.”
Nights, he says, were particularly fraught.
“You’d get bombed in the night,” he says. “You’d have to run and jump in the foxhole. Sirens would go off and we’d come out of our bunks. That’s how come we’d know they was coming.”
Though Ward says he never witnessed the death of a friend, he says many were lost.
“It was awful depressing,” he said. “I didn’t know whether I was going to get back home or not.”
But he did make it back after the war. And though his plan was to settle down in California, he instead stayed in Coal City.
“I went to work in the mines,” he says, explaining there wasn’t much else to do at the time.
And he fell in love, settling down with wife Louise in 1948.
The couple, married for 66 years when Louise passed away in 2014, raised three children.
Ward, who also worked for a time as a pressman for Biggs Johnson & Withrow in Beckley, retired from the mines as a foreman after 25 years.
Ward continues to reside in the home he built in 1952.
He’s doing well, save for a bad back incurred in a mining accident, but he’s never alone as either his son Gary, grandson Gavin or daughter Gail, who live nearby, are always with him.
“My family takes care of me real well,” he says, turning to Gail. “I love her.”
His younger daughter, Pamela, lives in Florida but returns regularly for long visits.
Her most recent visit coincided with Ward’s birthday celebrations.
“What am I?” Ward asks Gail. “103?”
“102,” replies Gail. “We’re working on 103.”
Ward laughs and says, “Yeah, I’m working on it.”
Gail says her dad is a spry centenarian as he regularly travels with her as she runs errands or shops.
He also enjoys outdoor adventures with his family.
“I go out swimming,” he says. “Put a life jacket on and float around.”
He doesn’t watch a lot of TV but when he does he prefers classics.
“'Gunsmoke,'” he says with a laugh. “And I like 'Casablanca.'”
Ward says there’s no real secret to his longevity.
“Not really,” he says. “Just stay sober.”
Though many veterans have difficulty talking about their experiences at war, Ward says he's talked about it a lot through the years.
And now he recognizes there aren't many of his fellow veterans left to share stories of that time.
The men and women who fought for freedom in World War II are often referred to as members of “The Greatest Generation.”
Ward shrugs off the title.
“We done what we had to do,” he said. “The Emperor of Japan and Hitler was going to take the world over.
“If we hadn’t done what we done, the world would be a lot different.”
— Email: mjames@register-herald.com
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