Center honors veterans with pancake brunch

They were few, but the small group of veterans gathered Wednesday for a special pancake breakfast in their honor were full — on two levels.

A full compliment of memories and the stories that accompany them came with a stack of pancakes, bacon and eggs, coffee and milk.

As U. S. Air Force veteran James Brooks put it: “The pancakes are OK, I could probably make better, but nobody ever did anything for us before. I really appreciate it.”

It was the day after Veteran’s Day, but these men enjoyed, they said, their own special day. It was personal — filled with food and surrounded with appreciative supporters.

A few of Porterville’s veterans are regulars for lunch at the community center on Putnam, said acting site manager Sharon Ziegenbein.
“We provide the seniors with a nutrition program, and they regularly come for lunch,” Ziegenbein said. “We appreciate our veterans and just wanted to have something to recognize our veterans who come for lunch.”

Angel Mendoza, 85, is one of those treated to the special brunch. So was Ed Fulfer, 80, Dan Bienfang, 79, and Jim Struble, 85.
Veterans Chuck Webber, Chuck Keen and Ben Lacosa also participated in the meal prepared in their honor.

War stories were as bountiful as the stacks of pancakes, the memories as familiar as milk.

Wives, girlfriends and just plain friends raised the din with warm chatter and laughter that reverberated off of the walls. Their gray, silver and white hair glistened, periodically, depending on their individual close proximity to the light peering in through the windows.

“I was in the rifle infantry and spent two years in the Pacific,” Mendoza said. “I was used to interrogate the Japanese [during World War II]. I must have question at least five or six or them and got them to talk.

He laughed, and continued his story— briefly mentioning that he was one of the first ones to land on the Philippine Islands when General Douglas McArthur retook it.

“Those guys didn’t know what I was, they knew I wasn’t white, but they didn’t know what I was, so they talked to me,” Mendoza said. “I used symbols they could understand to communicate.

"It wasn’t easy then, but to me it was just a job. Coming home in 1946 was bittersweet. I was mad at my sister. She’s my best friend now.”

The men talked among themselves about the good, the bad and the ugly of war. They discussed the value of the service they rendered years ago.

“We’re just remembering when we were young,” Fulfer said, laughing.

“I was in the Air Force from 1950 to 1954, Bienfang said. “I was at Lackland Air Force Base, Fairchild in Spokane and Travis Air Force Base. I was discharged from Travis.”

Brooks joined the Air Force when he was 17 years old. He opened his USAF yearbook and pointed to his young self. And then his finger moved down the page to another enlisted man.

“He talked me into joining, and then he got out and left me there,” Brooks said, laughing about the experience of his youth.

Time and again, between moments of brunch, they gathered around the display table where their looked at themselves in uniform.

They served in the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marines and the U.S. Navy as idealistic young from the age of 17-to -20 years old when they joined the branch of service of their individual choices.

They saw Germany, the Pacific Islands, Korea, and some remained in the states.

Among the photographic memories on the display table was the photograph of a young man in his U.S. Marine uniform. It wasn’t all about the older veterans.

“That’s my grandson Mark Bush,” Fulfer said. “He’s about 31 now. I’m real proud of him.”

At noon, stragglers were still coming in for pancakes. It didn’t matter, it was their day at the community center.

Apron clad, with hair net in place, Ziegenbein hurried back to the kitchen to make more.

“They served us, and we’re happy to serve them,” she said, smiling. “I hope we do this again next year.”

-- Contact Anita Stackhouse-Hite at 784-5000, Ext. 1043, or stackhouse-hite@portervillerecorder.com.