Our Opinion: Happy 100th to a local hero

In this September 2020 photo, Bill McAnany is seated on the sun porch of his Jefferson City home as he recalls his experiences in the U.S. Navy during World War II. McAnany was at Pearl Harbor when it was attacked Dec. 7, 1941.
In this September 2020 photo, Bill McAnany is seated on the sun porch of his Jefferson City home as he recalls his experiences in the U.S. Navy during World War II. McAnany was at Pearl Harbor when it was attacked Dec. 7, 1941.

Bill McAnany turns 100 this Saturday, and he still vividly remembers treating soldiers who were horrifically injured during the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor.

He was 20 at the time and was serving as one of four X-ray technicians on the U.S.S. Solace, a 400-bed hospital ship.

It was a Sunday, a day off, and he and four friends met early that morning to take a cab ride to explore Hawaii.

When they were told to return to duty, that Pearl Harbor was under attack, they initially thought someone was kidding them. But they returned, and the reality quickly sank in: Airplanes careening into the sea, which was ablaze from oil spills. Men were blown off their ships, into the fiery water. They suffered horrific burns.

"You were seeing things you never saw in movies," he told the News Tribune in 2018. McAnany and others treated victims who were "struggling to stay alive."

During World War II, McAnany served aboard the Solace near the Battle of Guadalcanal. On another hospital ship, the U.S.S. Samaritan, he treated troops from the battles of Guam, Saipan, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

He was stationed in Tokyo Bay when the Japanese surrendered to Allied forces on the U.S.S. Missouri on Sept. 2, 1945, but he did not witness the event. He also served a year in the Korean War.

What makes McAnany's story more amazing is just the type of person he is. He's a man of faith who is intelligent, charismatic and generous, among other things.

For longer than most of us have been alive, McAnany has been asked by groups and individuals to recount his story on that fateful day, and he always obliges. He's generously given his time, especially to talk to children. He doesn't want the younger generation to forget about history. However, perhaps even more importantly, he imparts these words of wisdom: Life is precious. It's typically the last thing he tells youths.

"We don't know how great life is," he said in our 2018 story. "Don't throw your life away because it is a great thing, and you only go around once."

For McAnany's 100th birthday, let's honor his precious life. Some Jefferson City residents are joining together to send him birthday cards. Let's join them. (Also, he and his wife, Linda, soon will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.) Send cards to: William "Bill" McAnany, P.O. Box 7016, Jefferson City, MO 65102.

News Tribune