WENDT-ERVIN

Excerpts from article published in San Diego Union Tribune on 5/10.2020:

On May 6, 2020, Ervin Wendt celebrated the amazing milestone of turning 104 years old.  He lives in gratitude each day.  You will often hear him comment “how luck he is be here” as he looks out over his beautiful view.  He never could have imagined that he and Marie, the love of his life for 60-years, would end up living in san Diego.  His amazing life began in 1916 on a farm in Atlantic, Iowa.  He was the third of 8 children and learned “responsibility, hard work, and love for his country” at an early age.  After working for the Public Works Administration for $5 a month, he joined the Navy on May 11, 1937 as it offered him steady employment and income.  He served 30-years service and retired on June 1, 1967 as a Senior Chief.  He served in World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars.  He made 11 torpedo aerial flights as an air bomber and turret gunman with Torpedo Squadron Eight in the 1940s and was awarded a Purple Heart for wounds received in action.  He is currently the oldest living veteran of the Battle of Midway.

Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)

                                     

                                                     Age 100 (2016)