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Veteran shares his story
Oro Valley man's book tells later generations what he and his peers experienced

By Shelley Shelton
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 11.10.2005

He hasn't written the Great American Novel, but his life could be considered a Great American Story.

Oro Valley's own Sherman E. Walgren, 87, has written a book about his life. Walgren is a World War II Navy veteran who was honored by the Town Council a year ago, after he shared history with a Texas man looking for an uncle who died on the ship on which Walgren served.

Walgren will present an autographed copy of the book, "Sail Easy in Peace and War" to Oro Valley Mayor Paul Loomis at Wednesday's Town Council meeting to express his gratitude for the honors he received last year, when Loomis proclaimed Nov. 3, 2004, to be "Sherman E. Walgren Day" in Oro Valley.

The Texas man, Phillip Bucklew, was born five years after his uncle died as the U.S.S. Northampton sank. It was the uncle's 19th birthday.

Bucklew's wife, Margaret, told Walgren she would help him with his book when he was ready to write it.

Walgren figured it was time after traveling to Texas last spring and meeting the Bucklews.

"When I first saw them, it was like he was my brother, you know. Like I've known them all my life," Walgren said. He returned home and began typing in the afternoons, finishing his story in about five weeks, he said.

Margaret Bucklew wasn't quite ready for the project she received. For starters, it was written in all capital letters - the same capital letters Walgren used when he worked as a radio operator in the Navy typing telegrams.

"I thought he was going to make one little small book that was going to be Xeroxed off," she said with a laugh in a telephone interview last week. It turned out to be a 200-plus-page paperback, complete with images of certificates, photographs and military documents that were scanned in.

The Bucklews plan to be at next week's Town Council meeting when Walgren presents the book to the mayor.

"We're so happy we got to meet him and help him reach his goal," Margaret said.

Her husband said the two were "just shocked" when they found out they were included in the book. The tome ends with Walgren's February visit to their home.

"It just made me appreciate the ship and the crew and Mr. Walgren and his wife all the more," Phillip said.

Walgren said later generations don't fully understand what his generation experienced during the Great Depression and World War II.

"We have a volunteer Army, Navy and Air Force and all. Those guys understand. History's being lost," he said. "If people that don't know me buy the book, they learn something about the war in the South Pacific."

Though he didn't regale his daughter with many war stories as she grew up, Walgren says his wife of 60 years, Mella, tires of hearing them now: He watches a lot of History Channel, which frequently airs programming centered on World War II.

"I still watch a lot of war. And my wife gets mad at me for it," he said.

Even so, he said, the two "have had one heck of a life. It's been beautiful."