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USO night celebrated in Solomons
Friday, Aug. 15, 2008
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photos by DARWIN WEIGEL
John ‘‘Captain John” Pomerville of Leonardtown sings WWII era songs Friday evening at a USO night at the Pavilion on Solomons Island.
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Originally hosted by the Calvert Marine Museum, the event was taken over by The Circle of Angels Initiative last year. The director of the organization, Rosanna Vogt of Chesapeake Beach, was inspired by a friend to restart the program. When she started last year, Vogt had a boom box and a friend who was a veteran with a broken back. That inspired her to reach higher for the next USO night.
‘‘This is something that needs to be done to honor the veterans,” Vogt said. ‘‘We believe that our fighting forces should be honored.”
The USO has been responsible for boosting the morale and improving the welfare of America’s Armed Forces since 1941. During the event, passersby were treated to music from WWII. John ‘‘Captain John” Pomerville of Leonardtown played music from the Big Band era.
Pomerville, a retired Navy Captain, said he was pleased to perform.
‘‘I’m playing Sinatra and Glen Miller, it brings back fond memories of my parents and their generation,” Pomerville said. ‘‘We wouldn’t be where we are today without the veterans.”
Many of the people that stopped to listen to the music were war veterans themselves. A lot of them had fond memories of the USO. Matthew Daniel and his wife of Seguin, Texas, came up just for this event.
‘‘We saw this event in a magazine and my wife got all excited,” said Matthew Daniel, whose wife worked as a USO hostess in her youth. ‘‘When I was a sailor the USO played a big role in supporting the Navy. I am indebted to them forever and I would do anything for their cause.” Daniel spent three years in the Navy and 31 years in the Air Force.
‘‘They had the USO down here where the yacht club used to be,” said Robert Miller of Solomons. ‘‘My wife and her mother participated in the group when it was here.”
Other visitors to the pavilion said they knew about the USO through watching old time movies featuring Bob Hope and Bing Crosby or through their grandparents.
‘‘The USO was a group that got together to help the veterans of war,” Vogt said. ‘‘They usually offered them refreshment and that’s what we tried to do today.” Instead of coffee and doughnuts, water and cookies were offered to those passing the Pavilion.
Vogt had even arranged for Vern Garner of Solomons to give a speech. Garner, a veteran of WWII, Korean and Vietnam wars, wore his dress uniform for the occasion. Garner’s speech highlighted his time in the service flying missions over Japan, his childhood in Solomons and the preservation of freedom.
‘‘I am happy to share my experience as a war veteran with others,” Garner said.
Garner also helped drive the truck with supplies to the Circle of Invasion Navy Base when it first opened. Solomons had the first amphibious base that was used to prepare for attacks such as Normandy.
Vogt hopes to do this event next year.
‘‘The group is hoping to partner with other community members and bring soldiers down from Walter Reed,” Vogt said. ‘‘We want them to come to USO night and then take them on a fishing expedition the next day.”
‘‘We owe a great debt to our World War II veterans and this wonderful island that trained them in the amphibious base and for the invasion of Normandy,” said Lila West of Lusby. ‘‘Listening to this music is a wonderful way to introduce young people to the era.”
