PALM HARBOR, Fla. – O’Neil Ducharme sits comfortably in his recliner, centered in his storage, as he stares out into the cul-de-sac in entrance of his residence, shocked by how shortly time flies.
“I simply can’t imagine it has been 80 years for the reason that finish of the struggle,” he stated. “However, life is golden. It is lovely at 100 years outdated – it will get higher.”
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Pictured: O’Neil Ducharme.
The backstory:
Ducharme turned 100 years outdated in January and has spent plenty of time reflecting these days. Although, he will be the first to inform you that the important thing to peaceable longevity is studying to let go – beginning, for him, with hellacious reminiscences of combating in Japan.
“I simply do not prefer to look again on the Warfare because of the atrocities,” he advised FOX 13.
He will get requested typically, as a result of he is one of many few nonetheless alive who was there. As a Marine within the sixth Division, Ducharme was among the many first Allied forces to invade Okinawa, Japan in Might 1945, surviving the brutal 22-day firefight of Sugar Loaf Hill. The important thing to survival meant rotating shifts.
“You go up and spend 4 or 5 days [fighting], you then’re relieved. You could not stand 22 days of that,” he stated whereas shaking his head.
That is the place Ducharme determined to let go of any selfishness, put down his weapon, and grow to be a stretcher-bearer. He volunteered to return into the firefight to retrieve his injured and fallen comrades.
Pictured: O’Neil Ducharme.
Dig deeper:
At present, he shrugs off any strategies of heroism.
“You need to maintain going,” he stated, explaining how he urged the stretcher groups have 5 members as a substitute of 4. “That is so we may at all times rotate one out and maintain going.”
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The Japanese would finally give up. Ducharme and his fellow Marines made historical past, changing into the primary American troops to set foot on Japanese soil as occupiers in 3,000 years. He went on to serve in Guam, Guadalcanal and Korea with 16 others in his members of the family serving and thriving.
“Not a single one among us ever got here residence with a scratch on us,” he stated. “Fairly wonderful.”
Then, three years after the Warfare ended, there she was – strolling down the road in her Navy uniform. The girl who would change his life.
Pictured: Patricia Ducharme.
“I stated, ‘oh my God, have a look at that girl,’” remembering how taken he was along with her instantly. “With out occupied with it, I stated ‘I’ll marry her.'”
And he did.
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O’Neil and Patricia Ducharme had been married on the Fourth of July in 1947. They shared 69 and a half years of affection and laughter collectively till Patricia died in 2016. Part of O’Neil did too.
Huge image view:
Depressed and indifferent for months, he described being “within the dumps” till a good friend invited him to the airport. The Honor Guard of West Central Florida requested him to affix them in welcoming veterans from a day-long journey to the struggle memorials in Washington, D.C.
It was simply what he wanted.
Pictured: O’Neill and Patricia Ducharme.
“Immediately, my life turns again right-side up,” Ducharme stated with a heat smile.
What they’re saying:
It was, for him, a brand new love. A collective sharing of the welcome he by no means obtained all these years in the past.
“I felt like I [finally] got here residence,” he stated, tearing up. “I actually by no means got here residence earlier than that. Now, I am residence.”
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Why it is best to care:
Ducharme is now forging new bonds together with his army brethren as time closes in on them. The World Warfare II Museum in New Orleans estimates that lower than .05% of the 16 million who fought in World Warfare II are nonetheless alive. A mean of 131 die day-after-day.
A number of near Ducharme have handed just lately.
“This has been a really robust month for me proper now, as a result of I’ve misplaced 5 pals, all World Warfare II veterans,” he stated with a tear in his eye. He by no means stated letting go was straightforward.
Pictured: O’Neil Ducharme together with his household.
At present, 5 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren are his newest blessing and maybe the perfect medication but for therapeutic the guts of a selfless marine.
For extra on the Honor Flight of West Central Florida, click on right here.
The Supply: The data on this story was gathered throughout an interview with World Warfare II veteran O’Neil Ducharme.
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