Howard "Pappy" Young
Howard “Pappy” Young
September 15, 1907 -June 22, 2005 TAPS
In memory of Howard L. “Pappy” Young
Pappy was born in the small Washington State town of Rockford on September 15,
1907 to Ida M. Buster and Coey A. Young. The family, which included in addition to
Pappy a daughter Effie and another son named Harold, moved from Rockford to Spokane
when Pappy was still a baby. Pappy resided in Spokane until he was called to
active duty from the Marine Corps Reserves in 1940.
In 1929 Pappy was the winner of a contest that offered the
prize of marriage while airborne in a biplane. He promptly
called his sweetheart, Betty M. Scotten, who lived in Seattle. He proposed and she
accepted. Their airborne nuptials were the start of a marriage that lasted 69 years.
Their children, Beverley (Mickey) and Neil (Skip) were born in 1931 and 1933 respectively.
Before being called to active duty, Pappy worked at three different jobs to support his
family. He sold vacuum cleaners door to door. He was a projectionist in a local theater,
and he operated an elevator in a professional building. He learned the meat
cutting business in the late’30’s and also worked one summer in Montana for the
Forestry Service. Pappy joined the Marine Corps Reserves in 1938 and attended a
summer training camp in 1939.
In 1940 Pappy opened a butcher shop in a large grocery store.
Within a few weeks of that opening he was called to active
duty and had to close the shop. His family moved in with his
parents and Pappy reported to Camp Elliot as a radio technician.
His duties were changed to working in the mess hall
when they discovered his knowledge of meat cutting.
In 1942 Camp Pendleton was opening and Pappy was sent
there to set up the first mess hall. When it came time to
make the ceremonial opening march of Marines from Camp
Elliot to Camp Pendleton, Pappy had to return to Camp Elliot
to participate in the march. He loved to tell the story of that
trip and how they fed the troops.
1929 Travelaire airplane
like the one Pappy and
Betty were married in.
During WW II Pappy saw duty on Guadalcanal, New Zealand,
and was with the Fifth Marine Division on Iwo Jima. Pappy
proudly told of witnessing the historic flag raising on Mt.
Surabachi. After Iwo Jima was secured and Japan surrendered,
he went to Kyushu, Japan as part of the occupation
force.
Upon returning from Japan, Pappy was stationed at MCRD,
San Diego. He used his GI Bill to take flying lessons, went
on to become a certified flight instructor, and taught many
of his friends how to fly. In 1949 he was transferred to Parris
Island, SC, and later went to Camp Lejeune, NC. While in
North Carolina he applied for a change of MOS and was
sent to Olathe, KS for training as an Air Traffic Controller.
After graduation he was assigned to El Toro, CA and later
transferred to duty in Korea.
Pappy retired from the Marines at MCAS Beaufort, SC and
he and Betty moved to Oceanside, California where he
worked for several years as a meat cutter at the Commissary
at Camp Pendleton. During this time he and Betty
bought their home in Oceanside where they lived the rest of
their lives. At this time Mickey was living on Camp Pendleton
with 2 children. Skip was at El Toro.
In retirement Pappy and Betty were active in the Oceanside
Carlsbad Coin Club. He had a Plexiglas business where he
manufactured hundreds of coin holders and custom items
for coin collectors. They traveled to Hawaii, Hong Kong, Japan
and several other countries with their coin collector
friends, attending coin shows. He became active in the Marine
Air Traffic Control Association (MATCA), attending reunions
across the country. Betty traveled with him until
she became ill. She passed away in 1998.
Pappy loved to paint landscape scenes and collected old
greeting cards. He would share his paintings and cards by
scanning them and sending them out to friends on the
Internet. He made copies of his mother’s old post card type
greeting cards.
He loved all kinds of electronics and had half a dozen computers
and related equipment, always keeping up with the
latest advancements. He kept up constant e-mail communications
with his family, friends and the MATCA group.
Semper Fi Pappy
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