Seated with coffee and chairs in a small group, they meet once a month to recount stories of combat, service, and foreign encounters. Their tales shine with the bravery and energy young servicemen exude when serving their country. This is Valencia Terrace’s Veteran’s Connection group – an inspiring group of men and their wives who gather each month. The photo above shows: (Back/Standing) Rudy Bukich, Jim Pfeiffer, Paul Yoe, Walter Gnehm, Mel Roenfeldt
Front: Harold Schooler, Russell Sandhoefner, Jack Khoury, Dick Johnson.
We are honored to share the stories of John, Russell, and Dick – members of the Veteran’s Connection.
John joined the Navy in 1935 straight out of high school and extended his service for 2 years in 1939. He was supposed to be discharged, but due to the timing of Pearl Harbor was required to stay in the service. He served on a repair ship for 7 years 2 months, in the engineering department’s hot engine rooms and saw the end of WWII topside. He got out of the navy and found it bitterly ironic that he still had to register for the draft. He decided to join the Reserves while living in Napa, California with his wife. During the Korean conflict he was called back in and was in the same cabin as he was during WWII on an ammunition ship. He reached under the steam pipes and found an oil-stained raincoat he had put up there many years before. John helped save the shores of Korea with 56000 tons of ammunition. Then he worked for the maritime commission between wars. Later he started a machine shop, but was called back in 3 years, so he had to sell the shop. Eventually he worked for GE 2 years, and then Stanford research for 26 years. Stanford was a fascinating place for John, who helped make and test scale models of nuclear reactors. His wife retired from teaching and decided to start a jewelry business that they owned for 14 years. John sold a lot of jewelry to the 3,500 employees he worked with and even took a course on jewelry! John and his wife searched far and wide from San Diego to Santa Barbara for a peaceful place to retire and happily chose a Casita at Valencia Terrace.
Russell joined the Army-Air Corp during WWII, as part of a heavy bomber B-24 crew in southern Italy. He completed the required 35 bombing missions and had very interesting experiences in the air over Yugoslavia, Germany, and Austria. On December 18, 1944, the squad took off for an oil refinery target in a Polish town called Ausweisen. Russell lay on the floor of the hatch ready to drop the bombs. Prior to the mission, the squad was given strict orders not to drop the bombs until exactly over the oil refinery. Russell learned later that the target was very close to the Auschwitz concentration camp, so his superiors didn’t want to harm the prisoners. At the end of his missions, he sailed back out of Naples Harbor on a converted luxury liner packed full of servicemen. He played in an Army Air Corp band in San Antonio, Texas, until he was discharged, and then played in bands across the Midwest. Russell has lived in Minnesota, Florida, Wisconsin, and Illinois. Russell and his wife Patricia decided to make a fresh start out west near his father and brother, and visited 28 model homes in one weekend. He eventually joined a small company that distributed wholesale insulation, and then became partner and eventually owner. He retired in 1989 at 65. He and his wife then traveled all over the world. Russell particularly enjoyed visiting the sites in Europe along the Danube River over which he had flown during the war, and tried to find some of the military targets to take photos. He is now happily living at Valencia Terrace.
Dick was in the Navy for 4 years. He was born on a farm and had always worked from a very young age. He joined the service at age 17 in San Diego where he learned how to smoke, drink, and chase women. After boot camp, Dick went to torpedo school. He was assigned to the Bismarck carrier and traveled to Pearl Harbor, but then he was transferred off the carrier because there were too many torpedo men on it. Sadly, two weeks later, the Bismarck was sunk during the Pearl Harbor attack with no survivors.
After the Bismarck, Dick was assigned to a ship to patrol the area between Midway and Hawaii. He traveled on yet another ship to Pearl Harbor, Guam, and then Japan when the war was almost over. A Japanese sub was commissioned into the American Navy at the end of the war, and Dick brought it back. After 30 days off, Dick was transferred to San Bernardino, and then Connecticut to another submarine base. Dick enjoyed every minute of his service and now lives at Valencia Terrace!
Want to learn more about other group activities at Valencia Terrace? For more information, call (951) 273-1300
Front: Harold Schooler, Russell Sandhoefner, Jack Khoury, Dick Johnson.
We are honored to share the stories of John, Russell, and Dick – members of the Veteran’s Connection.
John joined the Navy in 1935 straight out of high school and extended his service for 2 years in 1939. He was supposed to be discharged, but due to the timing of Pearl Harbor was required to stay in the service. He served on a repair ship for 7 years 2 months, in the engineering department’s hot engine rooms and saw the end of WWII topside. He got out of the navy and found it bitterly ironic that he still had to register for the draft. He decided to join the Reserves while living in Napa, California with his wife. During the Korean conflict he was called back in and was in the same cabin as he was during WWII on an ammunition ship. He reached under the steam pipes and found an oil-stained raincoat he had put up there many years before. John helped save the shores of Korea with 56000 tons of ammunition. Then he worked for the maritime commission between wars. Later he started a machine shop, but was called back in 3 years, so he had to sell the shop. Eventually he worked for GE 2 years, and then Stanford research for 26 years. Stanford was a fascinating place for John, who helped make and test scale models of nuclear reactors. His wife retired from teaching and decided to start a jewelry business that they owned for 14 years. John sold a lot of jewelry to the 3,500 employees he worked with and even took a course on jewelry! John and his wife searched far and wide from San Diego to Santa Barbara for a peaceful place to retire and happily chose a Casita at Valencia Terrace.
Russell joined the Army-Air Corp during WWII, as part of a heavy bomber B-24 crew in southern Italy. He completed the required 35 bombing missions and had very interesting experiences in the air over Yugoslavia, Germany, and Austria. On December 18, 1944, the squad took off for an oil refinery target in a Polish town called Ausweisen. Russell lay on the floor of the hatch ready to drop the bombs. Prior to the mission, the squad was given strict orders not to drop the bombs until exactly over the oil refinery. Russell learned later that the target was very close to the Auschwitz concentration camp, so his superiors didn’t want to harm the prisoners. At the end of his missions, he sailed back out of Naples Harbor on a converted luxury liner packed full of servicemen. He played in an Army Air Corp band in San Antonio, Texas, until he was discharged, and then played in bands across the Midwest. Russell has lived in Minnesota, Florida, Wisconsin, and Illinois. Russell and his wife Patricia decided to make a fresh start out west near his father and brother, and visited 28 model homes in one weekend. He eventually joined a small company that distributed wholesale insulation, and then became partner and eventually owner. He retired in 1989 at 65. He and his wife then traveled all over the world. Russell particularly enjoyed visiting the sites in Europe along the Danube River over which he had flown during the war, and tried to find some of the military targets to take photos. He is now happily living at Valencia Terrace.
Dick was in the Navy for 4 years. He was born on a farm and had always worked from a very young age. He joined the service at age 17 in San Diego where he learned how to smoke, drink, and chase women. After boot camp, Dick went to torpedo school. He was assigned to the Bismarck carrier and traveled to Pearl Harbor, but then he was transferred off the carrier because there were too many torpedo men on it. Sadly, two weeks later, the Bismarck was sunk during the Pearl Harbor attack with no survivors.
After the Bismarck, Dick was assigned to a ship to patrol the area between Midway and Hawaii. He traveled on yet another ship to Pearl Harbor, Guam, and then Japan when the war was almost over. A Japanese sub was commissioned into the American Navy at the end of the war, and Dick brought it back. After 30 days off, Dick was transferred to San Bernardino, and then Connecticut to another submarine base. Dick enjoyed every minute of his service and now lives at Valencia Terrace!
Want to learn more about other group activities at Valencia Terrace? For more information, call (951) 273-1300
The timeless stories of bravery and patriotism live on in this lively group of men. Their bond of friendship is very strong as they share similar stories of courage. They love to visit students in schools and give them up-close-and-personal history lessons, bringing photos and artifacts to wide-eyed kids of all ages!
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