World War II will live in the memory of Roger Reid forever.
The 87-year-old Thomson resident, a retired master sergeant in the Army, took a trip to Washington, D.C., last September with other veterans. The trip was sponsored by a group known as the Vets to Washington Project. It is headed by Douglas P. Hastings, of Hephzibah, who serves as the group's local director.
Mr. Reid visited World War II sites while there and spoke with those who wanted to get his perspective on the war because he experienced combat and watched his friends die on the battlefield.
"I'll never forget the sights I saw during the war," said Mr. Reid, who manages to get around well for his age.
He didn't used to talk about the war much. The reason he gave was that he was just one of those who served his country during a time of war.
Since then, he has had a change of heart, and in recent years, Mr. Reid has talked with hundreds of people about what it was like fighting in the war. Many of those have included schoolchildren in McDuffie and surrounding counties.
"I think that war was something important to share with children and adults," Mr. Reid said recently. "I lived it like so many others in our military."
Mr. Reid was accompanied on the trip by a host of other people from the Augusta area. One of those was Ed Ricketson, former mayor of Warrenton, who also is a veteran of the war. Mr. Ricketson's stories of the war will be told in next week's edition of the The McDuffie Mirror.
The war lingers in Mr. Reid's mind, as though it were yesterday.
"It's something you never forget," said the veteran, whose unit served at Pearl Harbor just a day before it was to set out on a ship to the Philippines. The date was Dec. 8, 1941.
Often, he described the war as scary.
"You didn't know if you were going to make it or be killed," he said, adding that he was thankful to the Lord for sparing his life.
About 16 million Americans served during the war, many of them now dead, said Mr. Hastings, a retired sergeant major in the Army with 28 years of service. Four hundred thousand U.S. military men and women were killed.
"Because many of our WWII veterans are dying at such an alarming rate every day in our country, our group wanted to ensure that as many of them still living had a chance to see the WWII monument that honors them," said Mr. Hastings, who retired as a sergeant major after 28 years of service in the Army.
One of the early trips ever put together by members of the Vets to Washington Project took place in 2004, Mr. Hastings said. Since then, nine other trips have been made to the nation's capital to get as many veterans as possible to see the World War II Memorial.
"It was a fabulous trip," Mr. Reid recalled. "Even strangers walked up to me and wanted to know what it was like in the war."
Two of them were young women -- one from South Africa and the other from Sweden.
"They asked a lot of questions." Mr. Reid said.
One question was how bad the war really was.
"There are no good wars," he replied.
When he was on the battlefield, Mr. Reid said, he had one mission in mind. That was simply to be the best infantry soldier he could be.
Mr. Reid served 47 months in the South Pacific and was in during D-Day.
The war struck close to him when he lost one of his good friends.
"When your best buddy gets blown up next to you, it's something that never leaves your mind," Mr. Reid said as his eyes filled with tears.
Many of his memories "are not very pleasant to talk about."
While in Washington, Mr. Reid got to see the statue of Audie Murphy, one of the greatest American military heroes of all time.
He urges those who visit Washington, especially fellow veterans, to see the World War II Memorial.
"I'd advise them to see it," Mr. Reid said. "They deserve to see it, because they're a part of it."
Mr. Reid has lived in Thomson since 1945 and will celebrate his 88th birthday July 20.
Veterans of the war seeking additional information about the Vets to Washington Project may contact Mr. Hastings at (706) 832-6483 or through www.vetstowashington.com.
