The Asiatic Pacific Campaign Victory Commemorative Medal was presented to former soldier Robert W. Hickey Monday morning during an observance of the end of the war in the Pacific, VJ Day.
Members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3278 and the Ladies & Men’s Auxiliaries held the observance at 11:00 AM at the VFW Post at 2300 Stephen F. Austin.
Mr. Hickey enlisted in the Army in November of 1944. He was sent to the Philippines in early May of 1945, and in late June he was wounded in action.
Hickey learned of the end of the war while he was in a convalescent camp as he was watching a movie under the stars.
“A man came up and unplugged the projector, letting out a loud whoop and told us the war was over,” said Hickey.
The war against Japan lasted 3 years and 5 months and ended officially September 2, 1945. Over 322,419 service members were killed, wounded, or listed as missing in action in the Pacific.
Hickey was released from duty in December 1946.
After the war ended, Hickey spent some time in West Virginia and worked a short time in a coal mine. He then attended Kansas State where he studied architectural engineering because as he put it “half of the world got destroyed during the war.”
During the Korean War, Hickey again signed up with the military and was sent to Korea as a photographer.
Hickey returned to the states after this war waiting at Camp Wolters, headquarters of aviation engineers at Mineral Wells, for discharge. He was called to the Brownwood area to photograph as repairs were made to a runway damaged after a heavy rain when a fully loaded plane landed and the runway gave way.
It was in Brownwood where he met Jayne Fuller, “the cutest carhop ever,” at Chisholm’s Chicken. The two later married in September of 1952. The couple had four children and moved several times as Hickey’s career led him from Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Minnesota and eventually to Washington, D.C. working for Phillips Petroleum, the Jobs Corp, and the government as a contracts and grant specialist.
The Hickeys moved to the Blanket area when he took a job with Human Services in Comanche. Here he says he “enjoyed working helping those who needed it and caught several of the ones who didn’t.” He retired and worked as a substitute teacher in the Blanket school system.
Hickey stated that he enjoyed his time in the military and gained knowledge and skills. Born in Oklahoma as a farm boy, the military offered him a lot of opportunity.
“I served five and a half years, was involved in 2 wars, lost friends in battle, but the only thing I wouldn’t want to repeat was the first six weeks of basic training,” Hickey stated. “I wouldn’t give anything for my time in the military, for the experience and the travels.”
Hickey is pictured above (left) along with James Masters of the VFW Post 3278.
