Memorial To Mike Weaver
On February 1st 1998 Mike Weaver (Lonnie Milford Weaver) retired Army Officer, Carpenter, Mechanic, the natural son of Alonzo 'Lonnie' Claude Weaver a carpenter and farmer and Eula Jane Quisenbury house wife and Red Cross volunteer, stepson to Jack Greenwood retired railroad / demolition engineer, Brother to Betty Jane, Barbara Jean and Carl Laroy, Husband to 'Betty' Ora Elizabeth Robertson a factory worker / grocery clerk / home maker, father to Linda Carol a product buyer / clothing store sales clerk / mail carrier / apartment manager, John Michael a single term Viet Nam era enlisted Navy Air Frame Mechanic / carpenter / contractor / job foreman, and George Lonnie a single term Viet Nam era enlisted Air Force Supply Clerk / mail carrier, passed on at the age of 78.
God and the Soldier, we adore,
In time of danger, not before.
The danger passed and all things righted,
God is forgotten and the Soldier slighted.
~Rudyard Kipling~
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He served in W.W.II in the Philippines, was force-marched and survived on the Bataan peninsula after being captured while driving a Captain on a suicide mission through machine gun nests to gather intelligence on the Japanese troop positions. He rounded a corner while driving a jeep full speed, avoiding machine gun fire from a tank, and bombardment and machine gun fire from dive-bombing planes, and slid broadside into a Japanese tank, at which time, looking down the barrel of a gun, the Captain pulled out his white handkerchief and surrendered to the occupants of the tank. Was shipped to Manchuria (crammed into the hold of a cargo ship the 'Tottori Maru' with 1500 others who were allowed a single bucket as toilet facilities for the entire hold, one glass of water and a cup of rice per day each,) where he was used as forced labor in a leather factory. Was recommended for the Silver Star, and awarded the Bronze Star as well as Outstanding Unit award.
He first joined the army in 1935, (as many did in those days,) by lying about his age and joining a New Mexico 111th Calvary unit at age 15, that was later converted and split into the 200th Coast Artillery unit and the 515th Coast Artillery Unit.
Coming from a broken home, he made the service his life. He left the service and followed his mother and stepfather to California looking for work. He later returned to New Mexico, and rejoined the service before the war began. His total service to his country was about 24 years. He spent over 41 months and 20 days in a Japanese prison camp, and upon returning home spent what was to total 22 and 1/2 years in the active army retiring after serving in Sacramento as an Army Recruiter and in the Army Reserves obtaining his final rank of Captain.
His peace time military service took him from New Mexico to California, Nurenberg Germany, Oregon, Panama, New York and Maryland. He was assigned to the 6th and 7th Armies. He served with HQ Squadron during the war. Trained officers in Oregon for the Transportation Squadron.
He was a member and past president of the Chico Lions Club, member of the Chico Elks Club. He was a member of the Chico 111 Masonic Lodge. He was a little league coach of a champion team in Nurenberg Germany, a Boy Scout Master in Sacramento. In Oregon, he raced micro-midget cars. He was a model plane builder and flyer. He could fix anything with his hands. He could lay concrete with the best of them. He was a leader of men, a patriot, a Christian and a family man. At 5' 11" he was ten feet tall.
Bataan, Corregidor, and the Death March: In Retrospect
To Drop the A-Bomb or Not to Drop the A-Bomb
I wish to dedicate this article to my dad.
November 11,1997
Veterans Day
We take a minute, an hour, a day, and think of the men and women who served their country for the common good. We take this time to think of the loss, the grief, the longing for lost friends and relatives who gave the ultimate sacrifice. This country was forged from sacrifices made by our forefathers and our fathers our brothers/sisters and ourselves. From the first Veterans to all who served the most recent conflict, we honor you and give you thanks for being there. Take a look around you and give thanks to fellow Vets from W.W.I, W.W.II, Korea, Vietnam, Falklands, Panama, Guatemala, Cuba, Iraq, Iran, and all that have gone unmentioned. It's not the conflict. It's not branch of service, the theater, or hemisphere. It's the soldier, sailor, airman, marine, any serviceman who put on a uniform and/or served us and put his life in jeopardy for ours, or the men who lead those military into hell, and bring them back again and certainly the men who stood tall at the helm of state. The battle for peace goes on. The price of that peace is constant vigilance.
George Weaver
November 11,1997
