Operation Canteen is Coming to Arcadia

Volunteers urge the public to honor WWII veterans for the 75^thAnniversary of the war’s end

By Grace Yee, Guest Contributor

OperationCanteen is a volunteer-driven program designed to pay respect for the 75^thanniversary of the ending of WWII. While COVID-19 has altered the lives andcelebrations of many veterans, we plan to thank as many veterans as possible.

OnAug. 15, Operation Canteen will be visiting many veterans within the SanGabriel Valley, while adhering to public health restrictions.

Mypersonal interest in WWII came from listening to the stories of my grandfather,who was in the Army Air Corps. As a young teen, I read or watched every bookand film on the subject that you could possibly think of. Because of this, Ilearned how to read veterans’ hats (protip: the pins mean what division theywere in and the honors that they received). Because of learning how to readhats, I started meeting more and more veterans (at work, at Pavilions!) andmostly I fell in love with their stories. 

Ibecame friends with the San Diego Prisoners of War WWII veterans’ group andbegan documenting many of these POWs’ stories and also transporting them tovarious events. Through meeting and spending time with all of these phenomenalveterans, I learned more and have the most tremendous respect for thisgeneration. When they were kids, every single one of them had a job (a paperroute, etc.) Each of them endured tremendous hardship with outstanding courage.But what is even more impressive is that despite the horrific things many ofthem have witnessed, they aren’t totally shut down, but instead are in touchwith their emotions, because that’s what it means to be human.

Theyare also so grateful to be alive and they give back so much. These are the menwho met the plea for help from the world with bravery and courage.

Duringquarantine, sadly, I had to say goodbye to my last friend from the POW group,Ralph Kling, a P-47 pilot who flew with the Mighty 8th. He was the last survivorof that group. That was very hard and I cherish the times I had with all theveterans and all the life lessons they have taught me. 

I also connected with a group of WWII veterans in Arcadia who met every month at Coco’s (up until the pandemic) to capture their stories and bring recognition to them. Throughout quarantine, when I simply call just to say hi, they are so overly grateful it absolutely humbles me. I am so grateful to know each and every one of them.

Mydream was to honor the Veterans for the 75th Anniversary and I came up with theidea of leading a few volunteers in a caravan of cars with thank you signs and flags,to visit my friends, the WWII vets of Arcadia on Aug. 15, (with all socialdistancing practices in place). When I called those same veterans inArcadia to tell them of the traveling parade plan, they humbled me with theirresponse:

“Youwould do that for me?” Here they are, having saved lives and having been instrumentalin freeing millions of people in Europe and the Pacific, and yet they neverseem to think of themselves first.

Ihope that this encourages you to take action, even in the smallest way, in yourown community. These amazing WWII Heroes don’t expect it, but they deserve it.

It’sa great time to show that we have not forgotten them! I know that if communitiescame together and in their own way recognized their local veterans, so many ofthese deserving heroes would be thrilled. 

Ifyou participate in #OperationCanteen, we want to hear from you! Please contact

Rebeccaat operationcanteen@gmail.com. Please tag your posts with #OperationCanteen#75thVJDay. Let’s give the greatest gift we can give to the greatestgeneration of our time!

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