MOUNT VERNON — Edwin Ayers’ wife was four months pregnant when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Although the Army offered him a deferment at the time, Ayers chose to remain eligible for the draft, and nearly four years later the U.S. Army shipped him off to Camp Lee, Va., for basic training.
Ayers was eventually assigned to the Army Engineers 1061st Headquarters Company and stationed in Manila, Philippines.
Ayers recounted the 28-day Pacific voyage.
“We went there on an old cattle ship converted to a troop transport. I thought I was never going to see land again,” said Ayers.
Trained to operate heavy construction machinery, Ayers arrived in the Philippines to find out the Japanese had surrendered and he was being reassigned to the role of mess sergeant. Ayers laughs when he recalls his twist of fate.
“We got there and right away they shipped me and a couple other guys on temporary duty over to Cavite. I spent my whole time in the Pacific as a mess sergeant.”
Ayers said it was his job to run food shipments between the Navy’s massive storage facilities and the individual mess hall units. He said the job had it perks.
“We were eating a lot better than a lot of the guys around us,” said Ayers.
In October 1946, Ayers was honorably discharged and sent back to an Army base is Illinois to await his release. It was while he was waiting to go home that someone stole all of his possessions.
“Someone stole everything,” said Ayers. “I had tons of photos I was saving. It really made me sick, that; I had nothing but the clothes I was wearing.”
Ayers’ first job back in the States was in sales, working for Pepsi Cola. Six months after he started, he said, they sold the plant out from under him and he found himself driving a distribution truck out of Mansfield.
Ayers eventually ended up working for Keebler in its advertising department. There he stayed for the next 16 years, until age 50, when he was laid off. Ayers retired at age 66 after 16 more years in advertising and sales.
Today, at age 89, Ayers spends his time volunteering at the Veterans Affairs Office and at Knox Community Hospital. He spends several days a week driving local veterans to hospital or doctors appointments, and has been doing it for the past 10 years. At the hospital, Ayers has logged over 6,500 hours of volunteer service.
Several months ago, Ayers and 50 other veterans took a one-day trip to World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.
“It was beautiful,” said Ayers. “Every World War II vet ought to have the chance to see it. It was just beautiful.”
Ayers recalls his time in the service with quiet pride.
“When I was called, I never hesitated. I just went and I’m glad I did,” he said.
Ayers has been married to his wife, Frances, for the past 57 years. The two have a son and a daughter, five grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren.