Recently, I received a special gift from our daughter, Cheryl. Knowing I was a collector of caps, she had one designed as a tribute to my days in the Navy during World War II.

The cap is navy blue nylon featuring some highlights of my time with some of the finest young fellows I'd ever met.

I was never stationed aboard a ship, but I was fortunate enough to have traveled some 20,000 miles in what was known as the Asiatic Pacific Theater of Operations as our troops headed for the island of Guam to design and set up the 1132 Electronic Supply Unit. My duties there were to receive and stock sound equipment for radio, radar and sonar use. I was fortunate never to be in a combat area.

However, my children have asked questions about where I went and what I did. Some things I could share with them, but others I couldn't.

Getting back to the cap, it featured the name of the ship, the USS General William Mitchell AP-114, and an embroidered picture of the ship. The bill of the cap features the traditional scrambled eggs. On the back of the cap is my name and rank. Although I was not entitled to the scrambled eggs, it made the cap prettier. On several occasions since I was given the cap, I have had men and women say to me, "We appreciate what you boys did during the big war." I have even had several people salute me.

Most recently while walking around the midway at the fair, a handsome young man greeted me with a salute and addressed me as Captain. I was touched by his sincerity but assured him I was just a little peon. I learned he had spent six years in the Marine Corps and is now a band director at one of the fine schools in the area. I gave him a brief story of my cap and let him know I was no captain and only served as many others did. However, it was nice to be recognized by this fine Marine.

Quite often during conversations about the world in which we live, I will hear someone say, "Oh, we could never have a World War again or another Great Depression."

Believe you me, I think we could have either one. But I hope and pray this never happens. History is full of wars and rumors of wars. I have always felt that my time in the service of my country marked some of the best years of my life. It permitted me to not only travel extensively, but I also received the best discipline anyone could get. May God bless America.

Lest we forget ...

T&D Columnist Rinehart Chewning is a longtime resident of Holly Hill.

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