Wearing her original naval nurse uniform and wristband dog tag, 102-year-old Cecelia Darnell listened as the Fox Hollow Elementary School choir sang the national anthem to her and 14 other veterans with dementia Thursday afternoon.
“She always wanted to be a nurse,” said Darleen Darnell, Cecelia’s daughter. “(The Navy) was her way of being able to do that.”
Born in Astoria, Ore., Darnell was raised on a farm with her six brothers. She was the only girl.
She served as a naval nurse in San Francisco from 1942 to 1944, taking care of wounded servicemen, writing letters for those who couldn’t and reading to the men.
During that time, Cecelia Darnell met and married Darleen’s father, a Marine who was injured in the South Pacific and suffering from malaria.
About Veterans Day, Darleen Darnell said her mother “never thought about herself, just my dad being honored. But it’s her day, too.”
Darleen Darnell said her mother was as sharp as a pistol. At the age of 95, she’d still push a mower to cut grass. When her family suggested she get a mower she could use while sitting, she scoffed and said, “Look at all those fat men in their seated mowers.”
Darleen Darnell said her mother loved her time in the Navy and often would wonder what happened to the servicemen she helped. But Cecelia Darnell’s health started to take a downturn about three months ago. She no longer talks and is not always aware of what is going on.
Veterans with kids and grandkids at Fox Hollow Elementary School were invited to join the celebration. Before the kids in the choir started singing, Cecelia Darnell led the school and the 14 other veterans from Chelsea Place, an Anthem Memory Care community in Aurora for people with dementia, in a short parade around a field in front of the school.
Students wrapped up the parade, high-fiving and shaking the hands of veterans.
Veteran Gloria Goodgain said it was amazing that Cecelia Darnell was honored as the parade leader, especially as opportunities for women in the military are expanding.
“It wasn’t popular when I went in,” Goodgain said. “I’m sure it wasn’t popular when she went in, either.
Goodgain said the service wasn’t prepared for women when she entered the Air Force in 1969, often relegating them to clerical work. During that time, a single woman who became a parent was immediately discharged, although the same was not true for men.
“You can come in and serve,” Goodgain said. “But it was almost like you were staying at home.”
Upset with the discrimination, Goodgain filed a lawsuit against the Air Force. Her victory had sweeping effects, changing the rules in all branches of the military.
“We can be a mother, we can fly a plane, we can fire a gun, we can do it all,” Goodgain said. “As uncomfortable as (suing the Air Force) was, someone had to do it for change.”
After the parade, the school’s 700 students thanked the Chelsea Place veterans. As the kids passed, Goodgain shook Cecelia Darnell’s hand and thanked the woman for serving and for forging a path for women to follow. Goodgain said she got chills.
Then as Goodgain took a seat, two girls walked up, shook her hand and thanked her for her service.
This was the first time veterans from Chelsea Place joined Fox Hollow Elementary School in its annual Veterans Day celebration. Principal Joleta Gallozzi said the school has a lot of military families and believes its celebration means a lot to them. Representatives from Chelsea Place and the school said Thursday’s event was likely the start of a tradition.
To end the celebration, a choir of third-, fourth- and fifth-graders sang the national anthem and “God Bless the U.S.A.” for the veterans.
As they sang, Army veteran Keith Rageth, who Chelsea Place employees said hadn’t talked in a year, mouthed along with the lyrics as tears fell down his face. A couple of seats to his left, Cecelia Darnell smiled at the kids.
