Seniors Corner: Merchant Marines to be Honored Nov. 12

By Chuck Reutter

A group of retired United States Merchant Marines known as The Old Salts meet at noon on the first Thursday of each month at the former Mr. T's restaurant in Menifee. The contributions made by merchant marines during World Wa II were enormous and the price paid by these American sailors was the highest per service during WW II.

Merchant Marine vessels were a major target of enemy submarines whose mission was to destroy the cargo on board. On a personal note, my mother’s brother, George Francis Smith, a merchant marine, was on four ships hit by the enemy submarines and sunk while he was serving in WW II.

A Merchant Marines Veterans Day Service will be held on Monday, Nov. 12 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Webb Hall, located in the Sun City Civic Association complex at 26850 Sun City Blvd. in the Sun City section of Menifee. The public is invited to partake in this event by telling us about the veterans in their lives.

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It was an early October evening when I walked past the Sun City Civic Association’s Olympic swimming pool and heard a splash or two. I looked over the fence and sure enough, we had lap swimmers in the pool doing laps at 7:30 p.m.

In addition, I scanned the general area and noticed people using our gym and a good feeling came over me as I watched our active people enjoying the Sun City Civic Association’s facilities. This is why we have our swimming pool, gym, lawn bowl greens, horse shoe court, pool hall, shops of various trades and meeting rooms. Yeah! It felt good to see such action as I headed home to watch the end of a ball game between the Giants and Cardinals for the National League championship.

Editor's note: Chuck Reutter, a longtime resident of the Sun City area of Menifee, shares his thoughts on the senior scene here monthly.