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Sailing the seas during World War Two
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| Parker resident Ron Henkel stands near some mementos of his military service. Henkel began his military career during World War II as a merchant marine in 1943 right after graduating high school. Photo by Courtney Kuhlen | ckuhlen@ccnewspapers.com |
By Ashley Dieterle
Veteran’s Day is really just like any other day for one Parker veteran.
Because Ron Henkel spends so much of his time working with and helping other veterans, the holiday is only considered a little busier with activities than normal.
Since 1992, Henkel has been a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, VFW, and has volunteered in the organization on a regular basis. He said it is hard to put into words describing what Veteran’s Day means to him.
“I participate in a lot of veteran activities and I help out veterans and their families through the VFW all the time,” he said. “Being a veteran is not just something I think about once a year, I think about it all the time.”
Henkel began his military career during World War II as a merchant marine in 1943 right after graduating high school. He had two choices: join the merchant marines or be drafted. At the time, merchant marines were not considered military, they were civilians working on a government-controlled ship. Each time he left the ship he would sign off and then sign back on when he boarded. It was not until 1988 that Congress passed a law that made people who were merchant marines from 1941 to 1945 merchant marine combat veterans.
“We lost over 50 percent of our men during World War Two,” he said. “We carried ten thousand tons of ammunition on our ships and were bombed daily by the Germans and I watched ships all around me get torpedoed.”
Henkel sailed around the world during his time as a merchant marine. During his time on the North Atlantic sea, the storms were intense.
“You know the movie ‘The Perfect Storm?’ Well that is how the waves were on the North Atlantic Sea,” he said. “It was nothing to see 40 –foot waves roll down the deck of the ship.”
Henkel finished his time at sea at a merchant marine in 1947 and later joined the Air Force in 1951 and served in the Korean War until 1953. He was stationed at Okinawa as a non-commissioned officer in charge working with communications.
After retiring from the military in 1953, Henkel earned an engineering degree from the University of Colorado. Working as an engineer over the years building and selling companies, Henkel finally retired in 1992 and started volunteering.
Thinking back on his time in the military, he was only a young man ready to face anything head on. A time when the word scared was not part of his vocabulary.
“The reason you can have wars is because 18-year olds are invincible, you don’t get scared,” he said “The older guys would be scared, but not the 18-year olds. We didn’t know how to be scared and that is how you can have wars.”
Because Ron Henkel spends so much of his time working with and helping other veterans, the holiday is only considered a little busier with activities than normal.
Since 1992, Henkel has been a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, VFW, and has volunteered in the organization on a regular basis. He said it is hard to put into words describing what Veteran’s Day means to him.
“I participate in a lot of veteran activities and I help out veterans and their families through the VFW all the time,” he said. “Being a veteran is not just something I think about once a year, I think about it all the time.”
Henkel began his military career during World War II as a merchant marine in 1943 right after graduating high school. He had two choices: join the merchant marines or be drafted. At the time, merchant marines were not considered military, they were civilians working on a government-controlled ship. Each time he left the ship he would sign off and then sign back on when he boarded. It was not until 1988 that Congress passed a law that made people who were merchant marines from 1941 to 1945 merchant marine combat veterans.
“We lost over 50 percent of our men during World War Two,” he said. “We carried ten thousand tons of ammunition on our ships and were bombed daily by the Germans and I watched ships all around me get torpedoed.”
Henkel sailed around the world during his time as a merchant marine. During his time on the North Atlantic sea, the storms were intense.
“You know the movie ‘The Perfect Storm?’ Well that is how the waves were on the North Atlantic Sea,” he said. “It was nothing to see 40 –foot waves roll down the deck of the ship.”
Henkel finished his time at sea at a merchant marine in 1947 and later joined the Air Force in 1951 and served in the Korean War until 1953. He was stationed at Okinawa as a non-commissioned officer in charge working with communications.
After retiring from the military in 1953, Henkel earned an engineering degree from the University of Colorado. Working as an engineer over the years building and selling companies, Henkel finally retired in 1992 and started volunteering.
Thinking back on his time in the military, he was only a young man ready to face anything head on. A time when the word scared was not part of his vocabulary.
“The reason you can have wars is because 18-year olds are invincible, you don’t get scared,” he said “The older guys would be scared, but not the 18-year olds. We didn’t know how to be scared and that is how you can have wars.”
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