Golden Oaks veterans honored at Woodring Wall of Honor

Apr. 9—Veterans and spouses of recently deceased veterans visited newly updated monuments memorializing their military service at Woodring Wall of Honor on Friday.

Residents of Golden Oaks Village visited the living walls where more than 250 names recently were engraved. The retirees gathered around the walls, looking for their names or the names of their loved ones.

"Today, we let them come out and see their names engraved on the wall for the first time," said Elaine Johns, director of marketing at Golden Oaks and executive director of Woodring Wall of Honor and Veterans Park. "We want to let them know they will be honored and remembered for years to come."

One Golden Oaks resident whose name was added to the wall was Virgil Fussell, 100. He served in World War II in the U.S. Army Air Force. His wife of 79 years, Millie worked in the defense industry during the war as well. Such female workers went by the name "Rosie the Riveter."

Fussell met several Vance pilots while they were out for lunch at Woodring. He told the airmen that he wants a ride on a glider plane for his birthday.

The 100-year-old veteran told war stories as the Golden Oaks group toured Woodring, sharing about the time his guardian angel saved his life.

"The Army had a glider that held 15-20 troops, it was towed by C-47," Fussell said. "They were training pilots. I had a small group that were on 24-hour call for maintaining that cable. We volunteered and flew out of a bomber base that was never mentioned on the news, except by Tokyo Rose. We would fly to Howland Island, where Amelia Earhart made her last flight."

He went on to explain how his team assisted with communications maintenance of telegraph cable. Fussell said as the planes landed, there was a dirt strip with revetments — to protect from ocean waves — that the pilot had to go in on.

"When a C-47 let a hook down to take a glider off the ground, the plane flies over," Fussell said. "Dummy me, I volunteered. About 2 or 3 a.m. in the morning I got a phone call to go out on a job. My guardian angel went to work. We were out all day and we came in, then I stopped in front of the tent, and (a comrade) said, 'You guys are lucky SOB's, when the C-47 came in, it came over too fast and jerked the wings off the glider and killed everybody on-board.' That's only one of the times my guardian angel took care of me."

Fussell has many stories of his guardian angel taking care of him. He said these occurrences and validity of these events were not debatable, because of how many times they came through for him.

"Virgil and Millie Fussell are one of the longest married couples in Oklahoma," Johns said.

She asked the pair for secrets to a long and happy marriage. The couple will celebrate their 80th wedding anniversary in August 2022.

"I don't really have much of a response," Millie said. "He always said that the secret to it was that if you were wrong, admit, but if you were right, shut up."

Johns asked Millie if they had ever thought of splitting up at any time. Millie joked, "No, I never thought of divorce, but murder, several times."

Jeanne is business reporter for the Enid News & Eagle.

Have a question about this story? Do you see something we missed? Do you have a story idea for Kat? Send an email to kjeanne@enidnews.com.

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