HAPPY 103RD!
VET BORN ON VETERANS DAY SET FOR ANNUAL SALUTE ON BIRTHDAY, WILL BE HONORED AT MEDIA PARADE
Eugene Vickers holds a photo of himself with his dear friend and fellow veteran Tom Hollis of Glenside, who died last year at the age of 102. The buddies met aboard the USS Panamint in 1945, when they were assigned as roommates, and remained good friends.
“I enlisted because I didn’t want to be drafted. And after seeing what happened at Pearl Harbor, I really wanted to serve.”
— World War II veteran Eugene Vickers
Before all was said and done, Vickers participated in several battles including Okinawa, Iwo Jima and Ie Shima. He also participated in the battle for New Guinea. He survived bombardment by kamikaze pilots and torpedo attacks and was awarded a multitude of medals as a result.
NEWTOWN >> On Nov. 11,
1918, fighting in World War I came to an end following the signing of an armistice between the Allies and Germany that called for a ceasefire effective at the
11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. Across the ocean, in the United States, Eugene Vickers of Newtown Square was celebrating his third birthday on that same day.
On Veterans Day 2018, Vickers, a World War II U.S. Navy veteran, will turn 103 years old. The following day, at 11:11 a.m., on the twelfth day of the eleventh month, Vickers will ride with three other World War II veterans in special cars, as honorees in the Delaware County Veterans Day Parade in Media. This year’s parade will be in honor of the 100th anniversary of World War I.
This year won’t be the first time that Vickers was given an honorary role in the Delaware County Veterans Day Parade. He served as grand marshal in 2014 and 2015, on his 99th and
100th birthdays.
“It is always humbling,” Vickers said of the honor.
When he arrived home from the local parade in
2015, the grand marshal found a package at his door. Wawa had sent him a note, thanking him for his service, with coupons for a year of free coffee and a jumbo assortment of Wawabranded merchandise. In
2014, he received another surprise. After seeing a photo of Vickers in a rather snug, ill-fitted uniform on the front page of the Delaware County Daily Times, the owners of ARD Uniform Enterprises in Eddystone contacted him and offered to make a brand new military uniform, an exact replica of the original, with an improved, tailored fit. The new version is what he expects to wear in the upcoming parade.
The centenarian comes from a long family history of honorable service. His grandfather, Eugene, was an Army veteran of the Civil War. His family still holds the Union Army discharge papers. His big brother, Louis, was an Army colonel and career military man. When young Eugene was growing up in the Oakmont section of Haverford, he was active in his church, Grace Chapel on Eagle Road. His parents were charter members. It was at Grace Chapel where he would meet his wife, Elsie “Betty” Dunn. They dated for six years.
After graduating from Haverford High School in the Class of 1933, Vickers attended Wheaton College in Illinois where he studied history, never dreaming of all the historic wars and events that he would yet live through.
Vickers and his wife Betty, only two months married, were living in Buffalo, N.Y., on Dec. 7, 1941, when Pearl Harbor was attacked. Vickers went to the naval procurement to join the war effort and on Dec. 1, 1942, almost a year to the day of Pearl Harbor, he received a letter saying that he was accepted as an ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve.
“I enlisted because I didn’t want to be drafted,” the centenarian said. “And after seeing what happened at Pearl Harbor, I really wanted to serve.”
Betty had just given birth to baby Betty Jean, the first of their four daughters. The young family moved back home to Havertown to be close to family as Vickers left to serve in the Navy.
“For five months, I studied communications at the U.S. Naval Training Station at Harvard University,” Vickers explained. “I learned about coding messaging, coding engineering and other forms of encrypted messaging.”
Vickers’ daughters said that, to this day, he still has the notes from the training.
Vickers served in the Pacific Theater from 1942 to 1946. After serving as a communications officer and chaplain on the USS Ganymede, the lieutenant served as a signal officer on the USS Panamint AGC-13.
On July 31, 1943, Vickers boarded the U.S.S. Ganymede. The ship ran cargo to Australia, Southwest Pacific and San Francisco. Part of Gen. MacArthur’s fleet, the ship was later converted into a troop ship. Working as a troop ship, the Ganymede did not face any real opposition as it sailed through the Pacific.The Ganymede took part in the Finschhafen Operation in January 1944 and the Hollandia Operation in April 1944.
Because of his background and education at Wheaton College, Vickers was made ship chaplain. While in New Guinea, Vickers received orders to return to the United States.
On Oct. 14, 1944, Vickers set aboard the U.S.S. Panamint from Hoboken, N.J. It served as the flagship during the Okinawa operation from April 1 to June 15, 1945. It also participated in the assaults and capture of Okinawa and le Shima islands.
The ship is named after the Panamint Mountain range in California.
Subjected to numerous enemy air attacks, the crew of the Panamint shot down and helped other ships shoot down five Kamikaze planes, one torpedo plane and dodged two aircraft launched torpedoes.
Vickers said that his ship would generate smoke to make a smoke screen to interfere with the enemy’s visibility and protect itself from the many kamikaze attacks.
One torpedo bomber dove and dropped its torpedo just past the Panamint in the midst of heavy anti-aircraft fire. The first bomber was hit and crashed into the sea. But the second bomber dropped its torpedo directly toward the Panamint and some of the crew jumped overboard.
The captain ordered the ship to turn full to starboard and luckily it was a maneuver that evaded the torpedo, which passed some 30 feet to starboard.
“Our ship didn’t get hit,” Vickers remembered. “It was a miracle. They actually nicknamed the Panamint ‘the lucky ship’ because of all the close calls.”
Before all was said and done, Vickers participated in several battles including Okinawa, Iwo Jima and Ie Shima. He also participated in the battle for New Guinea. He survived bombardment by kamikaze pilots and torpedo attacks and was awarded a multitude of medals as a result.
“It was God’s hands that guided me and brought me home safely,” said Vickers. “Our Lord was beside me every minute of every day, as he still is.”
Vickers returned home to Delaware County and went to work at the Philadelphia College of Bible in Langhorne, now known as Cairn University. He was employed there for 43 years, as a field development representative and later as director of admissions. He also coached soccer there. He had taken classes at PCB before attending Wheaton College. Vickers also taught night school at Christian Academy in Brookhaven for eight years.
“I remember sometimes roller skating to work from our home in Havertown to 18th and Arch streets in Philadelphia,” Vickers smiled at the memory.
Although the Navy made Vickers a few tempting offers to reenlist, the family man was anxious to return to civilian life with his wife and young daughter. The Vickers went on to create a legacy by having three more daughters, 11 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren, with one more on the way. Their daughters are Betty Jean Park of Birdsboro, Barbara Vickers of Newtown Square, Brenda Aungst of Ocean City, N.J., and Beverly Sparling of Bedminster, Pa.
“Serving our country was something you had to do, and you just went and did it, that’s all,” the centenarian said.
“He always said that if he had to, he would do it again,” added daughter Brenda.
Always active in Grace Chapel, Vickers settled back into his church ministry there once he came back to the states, serving as a superintendent, youth pastor and Sunday school teacher.
“My father is a godly man,” daughter Barbara stated. “Both my father and my mother didn’t only teach the faith, but they lived it.”
Vickers went on to lead an eventful life. He was married to his beloved
“I never smoked or drank alcohol. And I always believed in physical exercise and activity ....
First and foremost though, I contribute my long life to my faith in Jesus Christ. I put God first and placed my life into His hands. In turn, He has guided and gifted me every step of the way.”
— World War II veteran Eugene Vickers, age 103
Betty for 66 years before she died in 2010.
“Betty was the love of my life. My life has never been the same without her,” Vickers said sadly. “There’s not a moment that passes by, that I don’t miss her.”
The couple left Havertown and moved to a house in Newtown Square in 1955, the home that Vickers still lives in today. Vickers helped to secure a property and start Delaware County Christian School in Newtown Square, where all his daughters attended. Betty Jean was in the second graduating class there.
Vickers remained tight friends with Lt. Tom Hollis of Glenside, his roommate on the USS Panamint. Hollis died last year at the age of 102.
“From when Tom and I met in 1945, we remained good friends,” Vickers shared. “We wrote letters, got together every so often, and spoke quite a bit. I really miss him.”
Asked about his own longevity, the veteran said that he always kept a healthy mind, body and soul.
“I never smoked or drank alcohol,” he said. “And I always believed in physical exercise and activity.”
Vickers said that he was an avid reader for his entire life, especially enjoying history books. Due to Macular Degeneration, he can no longer read books and must now resort to audio books. He gave up driving at 98.
“First and foremost though, I contribute my long life to my faith in Jesus Christ,” Vickers stated. “I put God first and placed my life into His hands. In turn, He has guided and gifted me every step of the way.”
The 59th annual Delaware County Veterans Parade will be held, beginning at 11:11 a.m., Monday, Nov. 12, on State Street in Media.