Double salute for Brashears; both served during WWII

Leroy and Dorothy Brashears deserve a double salute; both are veterans and proudly served their country during World War II.

Is was one of the greatest experiences they have had in their lives - especially since that is where they met and married; on Feb. 9, they will celebrate their 65th anniversary.

Leroy grew up in Baltimore, Md. and enlisted in the Navy in 1942 at the age of 18.

Dorothy, an Iowa girl, grew up in Central City. She enlisted a year later.

There was no doubt that the Navy was the place to be for Leroy; he grew up near water and enjoyed it. His speciality was working with torpedoes. He spent a total of 30 months at sea aboard two destroyers and a sea plane tender. He made the "banana run" more than once (Bermuda, Puerto Rico, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Cuba), through the Mediterranean, through Iceland, Wales, England, Brazil, Casablanca, North Africa, Panama and he is sure he has forgotten some of the stops.

Duties including overhauling the torpedoes, checking out the torpedoes on board the ships and leaving new supplies of the devices.

Dorothy shared that she had always wanted to travel and thought it was "our duty" to serve in the military.

She and her friend were living in Des Moines, where Dorothy attended business school and was working for "Look" magazine. They belonged to the YWCA and attended dances there for the soldiers. She and her friend had the opportunity to visit with those soldiers who told them the finer points of being a part of the service. After her enlistment, she was sent to Still Water, Ok. where she took part in a secretarial school. She was later sent to Virginia.

Leroy was out on the ship most of his tour but was required to return to the Naval base in Virginia to take a torpedo refresher course; where Dorothy was stationed. The two met in the library. When Leroy went back to sea, they corresponded through letters. A few months later, they were married in the little chapel on that Naval base. Her duty was up shortly after and she moved back to Iowa while Leroy went back out to sea for some six months. They wrote many, many letters and Dorothy was fortunate to be able to travel to Florida to see Leroy once during that time while he was in dry dock.

When Leroy got out of the service he intended on picking Dorothy up and heading back east to live - it didn't happen. He landed some good jobs in Iowa and liked it and saw kids through school. The couple and youngest son Steve, a high school sophomore, moved to Alta in 1976.

The Brashears, parents of four, have had a wonderful life together. On their 60th anniversary their two daughters took them back to the Naval base they were married and the little chapel still stood there. They also had the chance to tour Washington D.C. and were amazed by the wonderful World War II monument.

They have great memories of their time in the service and are glad they made the commitment.

"When I think back, enlisting was the thing to do back then. The country was more patriotic back then. I don't regret one day of it - I belonged there." He pointed out, however, that the numbers of WWII vets are becoming fewer and fewer as they continue to age.

The couple's children and grandchildren have proudly displayed their relics from the service.

Leroy and Dorothy have six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.