Local WWII vet who fought 11 battles aboard the USS Enterprise was honored in Washington, D.C.
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IDAHO FALLS – It’s been nearly 80 years since Lorin Heward was honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy.
The 98-year-old Idaho Falls man is one of the diminishing number of World War II veterans that is still alive across the United States. This week, he was accompanied by family members on a trip to Washington, D.C., where he was recognized for his service. He went on an Honor Flight, a national organization that takes American Veterans to Washington to visit historical memorials and monuments.
Before the trip, he was also invited to be an honorary guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.
“What an honor that is,” Heward told EastIdahoNews.com on Tuesday ahead of the trip.
Though several veterans were on the trip, Heward was the oldest and the only one from Idaho.
The day before he left, Heward shared his memories of military service with us.
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Heward’s war memories
Heward was 17 — a junior in high school — when he joined the U.S. Navy in 1943. In his personal history, he says his reason for joining the Navy specifically is because he “would have three meals a day and a bed to sleep in.”
After eight weeks of boot camp at the Farragut Naval Training Station in northern Idaho, he was eventually assigned to serve as a gunner on the U.S.S. Enterprise.
The Enterprise was involved in 20 battles in the Pacific Theater, according to a history provided by Heward’s family. Of those, Heward fought in 11 of them. The Battle of Okinawa in 1945 — the last major battle of World War II and the bloodiest of the Pacific Theater — is the one that stands out most to him.
Okinawa was a series of battles that lasted three months. During this time, more than 12,000 U.S. armed forces were killed. The number of deaths was “the largest of the Pacific War,” according to the U.S. Department of Defense. Around 100,000 Japanese forces were killed as well.
It began on April 1, 1945, when 1,300 U.S. ships and 50 British ships invaded the island. The Japanese “withdrew into caves in the rocky hills to force a battle of attrition,” military historian John Ray Skates told the DoD.
Later, the Japanese launched the most significant kamikaze attack of the war, sinking 26 ships and severely damaging 168.
Despite the large number of casualties, the U.S. eventually emerged victorious when Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945.
During the kamikaze attack, Heward recalls seeing an undetected Japanese plane fly low over the Enterprise.
“He flew across the flight deck and dropped his bomb, but the bomb did not explode,” Heward says. “Some brave sailor picked it up and threw it overboard.”
The plane headed towards the gun turret where Heward was standing, and he fired at it. It eventually veered off and hit the elevator instead.
Heward’s most traumatic war experience happened about a year earlier when the Enterprise battled a typhoon for an entire day in the Pacific Ocean.
“From the ocean to the top of the flight deck is 70 feet,” Heward recalls. “Waves were hitting the top of that flight deck. The typhoon did more damage than the Japanese ships did for a while. How I survived, I don’t know.”
Longterm impact of Heward’s service
Heward was discharged about six months after the war ended. The Enterprise underwent repairs at a naval base in Bremerton, Washington. He wasn’t allowed to leave the base until the repairs were complete.
Heward eventually returned home and finished his last year of high school at age 20. He enjoyed a 40-year career at a local dairy before ultimately retiring.
His war experiences affected him for years, and it took Heward a long time to adjust to civilian life.
“I was very nervous when I got out of the service, and I had to be doing something all the time,” he says. “To this day, when a firecracker goes off, I still jump.”
He credits his late wife, Edna, who passed away last year after 72 years of marriage, for helping him get through it.
Heward is an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and regularly serves wherever he is able. He attributes his continued activity in his 99th year to hard work and a healthy lifestyle.
He’s grateful to have been chosen for the Honor Flight and to be recognized for his military service.
“All these warriors are forgotten and erased in the hands of time,” Heward’s son, Delvin Heward, says of World War II veterans. “I think about them every Sunday when I go to church. We’re able to worship how we choose because these guys sacrificed so much.”
“We live in one of the best countries in the world and we have the most exotic freedoms because courageous men, like my dad, sacrificed everything. We’ll be ever indebted to them,” Delvin adds.
