In April 1945, Cpl. Irv Weinbaum was stationed on Guam, part of a contingent of Army Air Force troops sent to the Pacific island after its liberation from Japanese forces by the U.S. military in July the year before.
The young farmer’s son from Ellenville in upstate New York was assigned as an aircraft mechanic on Northwest Field.
Some 78 years later, Irvin Ward, as he is now known, returned to Guam and stood on that same airfield where he was stationed during World War II.
In his mind’s eye, he saw the B-29 bomber “So Sorry II” – the one he was assigned to – take off down the runway and fly over the cliff at the edge of the airfield, heading out on a bombing mission over Japan. In all, the aircraft flew 17 missions.
Ward, a Laguna Woods resident who turned 99 on Sept. 8, returned to Guam over the summer, invited for the 79th anniversary of its liberation. Although he was not part of the liberating force, Ward was chosen to be this year’s U.S. honoree at the celebration as the “symbol of the American people who freed the people of Guam,” he said.
In two days of festivities in July, Ward, who was accompanied by his son, Adam, listened to tributes to him and the American forces. He met with dignitaries, received the “key to Guam” and the island’s emblem in stained glass from the governor, did interviews with local media, and was treated like a celebrity – first class all the way, he said.
“People came up and kissed my hand – generals, admirals. It was almost embarrassing,” Ward recalled in a recent interview at his home.
Still, he said, “it was one of the most amazing times of my life – the greatest thing that ever happened to me, especially at this age.”
Ward’s first trip to Guam, with the 20th Air Force, 331st Bomb Group, 357th Bomb Squadron, was far from first class.
The journey to the island in the Marianas, nearly 4,000 miles west of Hawaii, took 30 days by ship from Seattle, with stops in Pearl Harbor and the…
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