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ByDillonDavis| ddavis11@mlive.com
onOctober08, 2014at11:29AM, updatedOctober10, 2014at10:19PM
LEGENDS FLIGHT
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All Stories
FRUITLAND TOWNSHIP, MI – Warren Tibbitts' lip continually quivers and his hands are fidgeting down the end of the armrest as he sits
in a striped chair in the living room of his Fruitland Township home. The home is on a private one-lane road bordering White Lake, a
residence guarded by a ceramic white poodle where he lives alone.
Legends Flight: World War 2 veteran prepares for trip of a lifetime with heavy heart,
memories of his wife
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2. Warren Tibbitts World War II veteran from Muskegon County's Fruitland Township
World War II Marine veteran Warren Tibbitts will be participating in the West Michigan's Legends Flight and visiting Washington D.C. for the day
on October 9, 2014.
His home is decorated in mementos of a lifetime. On a bookshelf behind him, a copy of Tom Brokaw's "The Greatest Generation" and
John Grogan's "Marley and Me," among yearbooks, family photos and a fewodds and ends. The coffee table has a scrapbook from his
time in the Marines and the pins his wife Beverly and he would wear to military reunions.
On the wall next to his bedroom, a portrait of Beverly, her short blonde hair and bright signature white teeth illuminated as the sunlight
of the lake reflects off of it. She would have been 82 last month. He's yearning for her badly today, as he does every day.
Still, this week is a special one for the one-time combat corpsman who served with the Marines during World War II, as he's flying out of
Muskegon on Thursday, Oct. 9 as part of Legends Flight.
The trip is a locally coordinated effort, put together by a volunteer committee and paid for by donations, to take surviving veterans of
Muskegon, Ottawa and Oceana counties to the World War II memorial in Washington, D.C. Veterans will board a 162-seat aircraft
chartered out of Muskegon to D.C., for day trip to the Capitol.
"These brave men and women have already paid more than their share," Legends Flight committee chairman Steve Allen told the MLive
Muskegon Chronicle in March. "With the passing of time, we have started to take them for granted. This is a way for everybody in West
Michigan to remember them and honor their brave service."
It's an opportunity of redemption for Tibbitts, who said he returned home from World War II shortly after NewYear's Day 1946 after
much of the pomp and circumstance for America's war veterans was over.
"I was in the South Pacific during the war from 1944-46. By the time I got back to the states, the war had been over for four months so I
came back to no celebrating," he said. "This trip I'm making with these guys, these are my guys. This is kind of taking the place of
missing the festivities after the war. I'm looking forward to that."
War and peace
Herbert Warren Tibbitts was born and raised in Millinocket, Maine, a small town in the northeast with the lifeblood fed through a now
defunct paper plant, not entirely unlike Muskegon.
During the war, "Doc," as he was known during his service, spent time in NewCaledonia, Guadalcanal, Russell Islands – a "terrible,
terrible area," he recalls – as well as Saipan and Guam before the invasion of Japan, completed by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki.
He doesn't like to talk about his time in the military much, other than recalling how"gung ho" he was to join in his youth. There are
some funny stories, ones he enjoys sharing at Veteran's Day mass at Lebanon Lutheran Church in Whitehall. But aside from that, his
service in the military appears an uncomfortable subject and his hands grewincreasingly shaky as the topic was broached.
However, he does recall the first expedition back in his home country.
"We got on base and another one of the funny things, they gave us all night liberty," he said. "We don't have any Marine uniforms, we
just have fatigues. So they gave us liberty and out in San Diego we go. And the first place we went into was a drug store to get
milkshakes."
Once he returned from the war, he attempted to regain his life. He graduated from Springfield (Mass.) College in 1952, began teaching
government and coaching baseball at Jackson High School in 1956 and later earned a Master's degree from Michigan State University in
1962.
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3. 1962.
He was a teacher and lover of life, but there was always something missing. And this was the course of his journey until he met Bev.
Endless love
Warren first met Beverly on a blind date.
Bev was a widowafter losing her first husband to a heart attack and Warren was a man searching for a newsense of purpose in his own
life. Following a brief courtship, the two were married July 3, 1985. Warren retired as a teacher in Jackson and moved to Whitehall to be
with Bev, a Muskegon High School graduate, to begin life anew.
They took extravagant trips together to Alaska and Germany and cruises to exotic areas off the coast of Florida. Their love blossomed
on the golf course, too, as the two were known for taking weekly trips to the local course. He even remembers Bev's favorite club within
100 yards – a 13 wood, nowknown in his world as "Bev's club."
As the years passed, Warren sensed his health was in decline and was terrified to leave his beloved Bev, so he purchased a white poodle
they named Buffy. And though the most memorable story of Buffy's life was one that involved it running away before being found days
later 10 miles from their home, it was a sweet dog intent on filling the hole Warren intended to leave, until Buffy fell ill and had to be put
down.
Buffy would be replaced by a black poodle, Shadow, who's been known to followWarren around the house, fulfilling the namesake.
Perhaps Shadowsenses the weight of Warren's steps, as the two still search the house for the beautiful Bev.
She died on a Monday. Her obituary said it was peaceful, but in matters of life and death, one is never prepared. Her life was ripped from
him swiftly and completely, and the house still is full of reminders of her. It's a hurt he lives with every single day.
There's the picture of her cuddling Shadownext to their bed. His eyes well up holding it, and yet it's the last thing he wants to see
before he sleeps each night.
It's still nowhere close to her warm embrace and the gaze of her lightly colored eyes looking back at him.
"I'm always looking around for her," he said. "What do I do now, you know? I just think of her all the time. I'll never get over it, never. I
don't care about even finding anybody.
"There's nobody that could ever replace her, nobody."
It's taken his mind to a dark place where he contemplated taking his own life, empathizing with those who have committed suicide. But
he knows deep down and in shallower places, that's not what Bev would want.
Not from her sweet Warren, not even now.
"It just feels, the best I can describe it, it's just a downer," he explained. "There's no need of being around, no need of living. I knowthat
she wouldn't want it that way."
What lies ahead
His family largely is what he has left now. There's Bev's sons Jeff, Rick and Greg and his daughters Sharmon and Sharon – his eldest,
Cheryl, died of cancer several years ago.
Many of his closest friends he met during the war also have died, with the fewones remaining serving as his golfing buddies – he
reportedly shot a 102 on Monday – and a support system when he attends reunions.
He has the dog, Shadow– it didn't leave his side the entire time at his house Monday, other than to go outside briefly. The dog is well
loved, the corner of Warren's living room littered with dog toys of every shape and color.
But even on the trip, even close to two years since she died, Bev is with Warren all the time. He knows if she were still living, the two
would be gearing up this week for the Legends Flight to D.C. And, in many ways, she still will be.
"Oh, she would love it," he exclaimed. "She might go with me."
Down the driveway and back into the street, the last sight of Warren's house is of his yellowshutters, his eyes peering back in the
windowand a ceramic white poodle on his porch, keeping him safe against what lies ahead.
What that might be, he doesn't quite know. But he remains a kind man with a big house and a broken heart, one he knows will never go
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4. Veteranto reunite withgirlfriend from 70 years ago he calls 'the one'
Peek ThroughTime: 'The Greatest Generation' –A Jacksonfamily who served
away as long as he lives.
Dillon Davis is a staff writer at MLive Muskegon Chronicle. Email him at ddavis11@mlive.com and followhim on Facebook and on
Twitter.
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Well done, Dillon. Great description of Mr. Tibbits that captures the essence of this member of what Tom Brokaw aptly called "the greatest generation."
Before I looked at the byline, I thought it was a Tom Rademacher feature, and that's a hugely positive comparison.
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The Chronicle really SHOULD NOThave described what this gentleman's home looks like, the general area where it is located, AND the fact that he lives
alone. I hope family or friends will be staying in the home on Thursday while he is away.......shame on the Chronicle.......
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Thank you,sir. We owe huge debt to you and all the men and women who sacrificed everything to keep us free.
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Thanks Mr. Tibbitts. And thanks all of you who are making this flight possible. .
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