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“Did you ever see the pictures of the thousands of people in the city streets, celebrating the end of WWII? Well, one of those thousands was me,” said Edward J. Jorgensen, U.S. Navy veteran and Solvang resident. “Everyone celebrated for days and I am thankful to have been a part of it.” 

Jorgensen and several other World War II veterans were honored for their service and helped commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII in a ceremony held by the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) on Saturday, Sept. 19, at the Santa Ynez Airport. 

“This is a nationwide event, where DAR chapters all around are doing things to celebrate our WWII veterans and celebrating the 75th anniversary of the end of the war. We wanted to do something special to honor their service,” said Terry Bunn, of the Refugio Del Cielo chapter of the DAR. 

On Sept. 2, 1945, formal surrender documents were signed aboard the USS Missouri, designating the day as the official Victory over Japan Day (V-J Day), according to the National WWII Museum. The news spread quickly and celebrations erupted across the United States. 

“More than 400,000 Americans gave their lives to secure our nation’s freedom, and in the midst of exultation, there was recognition that the true meaning of the day was best represented by those who were not present to celebrate,” said Robert Citino, Ph. D., executive director of the Institute for the Study of War and Democracy at The National WWII Museum.

Local World War II veterans were honored for their service and commemorating the 75th anniversary of the end of the war by the Refugio del Cielo chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Photo by Raiza Giorgi

The veterans in attendance were Jim Kunkle, a decorated fighter pilot; Dwight Watts, a naval aviator on an aircraft carrier in the Pacific; Bill Hardy, who served on a destroyer in the North Atlantic; Rutledge “Putty” Mills, U.S. Army; and Lompoc resident Albert Ramirez, who served in the U.S. Army and the U.S. Navy and also fought in Korea. 

Jorgensen said he was honorably discharged early from his service after contracting malaria while serving in the South Pacific. 

The two veterans that are homebound are Robert Herdman and William K. Palmer, and a convoy of veterans and DAR members paraded to their houses to hand-deliver their certificates after the event. 

“This week also (Sept. 15) marked the 76th anniversary of when I got shot down,” said Kunkle. 

Kunkle is not only a fixture of the Santa Ynez Valley community, but he’s also a beloved figure in Normandy, France. The community even named a street in his honor when he visited in 2018. 

On Sept. 15, 1944, Kunkle was shot down near Aachen, Germany, while protecting fellow pilots. He wasn’t able to communicate with his command and broke from formation to attack the enemy alone. He was able to hit two enemy aircraft before his plane was shot down. He suffered multiple burns as he climbed out, but he was able to open his parachute and land near some American infantry.

First Lt. James Kunkle is seen at the A-78 airfield in Florennes, Belgium during World War II.

Kunkle was honored with the Distinguished Service Cross by then-President Barack Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy in a D-Day commemoration ceremony in June 2009.

Kunkle continues to fly his own airplane at the ripe age of 97.

“I can’t fly often enough,” he laughed. 

To read more about Kunkle’s efforts during the war visit https://santaynezvalleystar.com/wwii-hero-to-be-honored-on-75th-anniversary-of-d-day/.  

Axtell was part of a team developing fighter jets that ended up producing the XP-80. The code name for the project was “Skunk Works,” after a reference in the newspaper cartoon “Li’l Abner.”  

The XP-80 flew before the end of World War II, but it wasn’t used in combat until later.

“While I was in the Air Force we ended up as the first squadron that went to Hiroshima after they dropped the bomb,” he said. “I can tell you, that is something I will never forget, just the utter destruction for as far as the eye could see. It was heartbreaking.” 

While Watt’s carrier was being attacked by Japanese kamikazes, his plane failed to launch, and he ended up floating on a life raft for some time. Watts also served in the Korean War.

The Daughters of the American Revolution is an organization with a rich history and more than 1,000,000 women have joined the organization since it was founded over 125 years ago. They became members to honor their heritage as well as make a difference in their communities across the country and the world. Learn more about the amazing history of the DAR and what members are doing today to continue that legacy at www.dar.org. To learn more about WWII history and especially the end of the war visit www.nationalww2museum.org/war/topics/75th-anniversary-end-world-war-ii. 

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Rutledge “Putty” Mills of Santa Ynez has a special affinity for space travel and a special pride in his country.

After serving in World War II, he was directly involved with NASA’s Apollo missions, training astronauts after building the prototype of the Lunar Rover for the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

Mills shows pictures of the moon that were taken during test landings of unmanned rockets.

This year, he and his wife Carol will be the grand marshals for the Fourth of July Parade through Solvang.

“The choice of Putty and Carol was easy. They represent a local tie to the past of America’s Greatest Generation and their sacrifices and innovation, and the current generation that has continued the incredible technological advances to further our exploration of space,” said Steve Palmer of the Solvang Breakfast Rotary Club, which organizes the parade.

“We were so honored to be chosen as the grand marshals. This holiday is the most important, as we get to take a day and honor the people that created this great country, and those over the years that have improved it,” Mills said.

While looking back at the age of 96, he also looks forward.

 “I look up at the sky and think out of all the millions of planets in the universe, how can we be the only life forms. It seems to me that there very well could be other versions of life, and I wonder what they are,” Mills said.

He also is amazed that the country has gone in a matter of 50 years from putting a man on the moon to talking about the possibilities of putting someone on Mars.

This year is the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission that first landed on the moon, when astronaut Neil Armstrong said those famous words, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins launched from the Kennedy Space Center on the morning of July 16, 1969, and four days later Armstrong set his foot on the moon. More than half a billion people were watching on television, according to NASA.

Aldrin soon joined him and uttered his simple but powerful description of the lunar surface: “magnificent desolation.” Then they explored the surface for two and a half hours, collecting samples and taking photographs.

The pair left behind an American flag, a patch honoring the fallen Apollo 1 crew, and a plaque on one of the Eagle lander’s legs. It reads, “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon. July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind

But before the three Americans could land on the moon, other Americans had to plan, experiment and test new technology for years.

As a part of the development team of the Lunar Rover Module, Mills had to overcome extraordinary engineering challenges and exercise creative ingenuity to solve a multitude of known and unknown variables to create a vehicle for exploration of the moon’s surface, Palmer added.

One of the two prototypes Mills built is sitting in his barn at his home in Santa Ynez. He trailered it in last year’s Fourth of July Parade, and he is hoping to have it up and running for his year’s parade.

He also knows that in today’s world of rapidly advancing technology, young people are often unimpressed when they see his rover prototype.

“Armstrong was right when he said it was the beginning of a new age. I just am so honored to have been a part of history,” Mills said.

Mills was born in the suburbs of Philadelphia in 1923 and remembers making the long trek across the country after his parents decided to opt for warmer weather and moved to Santa Barbara on the advice of a friend.

When he graduated from Santa Barbara High School during World War II, Mills applied to be a fighter pilot. At the time, most kids idolized fighter pilots and Mills was ready to take the two-day test to become one of them.

After his tour was over, Mills was assigned to landing test shuttles on the moon with Saturn V rockets. It took 10 tries until one landed.

“During the flight, the rocket took pictures that were sent back,” Mills said as he showed the original photographs from the project.

When the idea of the moon rover project was proposed, a design by Boeing won. Then it was subcontracted to SB Research of Goleta. Mills ended up moving to Flagstaff, where the rover testing would be done on rocky desert terrain that was similar to the surface of the moon.

He worked closely with Gene Shoemaker, who was a renowned geologist and astronomer who trained the astronauts for their geological activities.

As Mills was taking the designs from Boeing and creating the prototypes, they estimated the costs of building it to be near half a million dollars.

“Being a conservative man … I put together most of the supplies from my surplus military catalogue,” Mills said.

“I built two of them that the astronauts trained with, with surplus military supplies that cost about $2,000 each. NASA paid more than $40 million for four rovers that went up,” Mills said, proud that he had saved the government so much money on the prototypes.

With a 90-day turn-around for the prototypes, he got them built in 89 days, he laughed. He also stayed to train astronauts Gene Cernan, Harrison Schmitt, Jim Irwin and Dave Scott to drive it.

The batteries to power the electric vehicle had to be made of silver zinc, which could stand up to extreme conditions. Everyday lead-based batteries would not work in extreme cold. Mills also made gear reductions because the rover could travel only at low speeds.

“The rover was in one-sixth of our gravity, which meant it had to go really slow in order to stay on the surface,” he said.

Thinking back over his time and influence on space travel, Mills said he was proud to be called for the assignments. As a kid who never graduated from college, he is a self-taught engineer and still studies 40 hours a week.

He’s also proud of his country.

“I can remember being a kid and loving the sight of the fireworks. I get this special feeling every time I see them, and I’m thankful we get to come together as a community and country to share it,” Mills said.

4th of July Schedule

Solvang residents and visitors will celebrate Independence Day on Thursday, July 4, with events being held throughout the day. Here is the schedule:

10 a.m. to 11 a.m. — Free concert by Santa Ynez Valley Wind Ensemble at the Solvang Park Gazebo.

11 a.m. — Fourth of July parade sponsored by the Solvang Rotary Club, featuring floats, horses, vehicles and more. The parade begins at Santa Ines Mission and then proceeds down Mission Drive, Fourth Place, Copenhagen Drive and Alisal Road, ending back at the mission.

Noon to 2 p.m. — A barbecue sponsored by Solvang Rotary Club will take place in Solvang Park. There will be hotdogs, hamburgers, linguiça and meal combos including chips and soda ranging from $5 to $7 per meal. The T-Bone Ramblers, a local band, will provide entertainment.

2 p.m. to 3 p.m. — Free concert by the Santa Ynez Valley Master Chorale featuring Americana, traditional and patriotic music at the Solvang Veterans Memorial Hall.

2 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. — Gates open at 2 p.m. at Mission Santa Inés for festivities that include food booths, wine and beer garden, and kids’ activities including a bounce castle and face-painting. Local performers will take the stage at 5 p.m. to provide entertainment until the fireworks begin.

Admission is $10 per adult and free for children ages 7 and under. Free admission will also be granted to active-duty military and their dependents with ID. Tickets can be purchased at the gate or in advance at Solvang Friendship House (880 Friendship Lane in Solvang) or Hometown Insurance (186 W. Highway 246 in Buellton).

9 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. —Fireworks show, sponsored by the Rotary Club of the Santa Ynez Valley, will take place in the fields at Mission Santa Ines.

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Even though Kevin Connor isn’t a veteran, his military jeep is — and he feels a sense of duty to keep it running to honor those who have served. He and his wife have been a part of the local Flat Fender Friends group for more than 10 years.

“It’s a great opportunity to honor our veterans and give people a look at history and what the jeep came from,” Connor said.

Flat Fender Friends founder Dennis Beebe restored his 1942 Ford GPW (jeep) after he bought it from a used-car lot in Buellton.

The Flat Fenders are veterans and non-veterans who have an affinity for restored military vehicles. They are widely seen in the valley’s many parades and other events and will be driving in the upcoming Fourth of July Parade in Solvang.

“Our biggest gathering is typically the Fourth of July parade, as we love driving our veterans and seeing the patriotism,” said founding member Dennis Beebe.

Beebe, a retired Air Force colonel, said the group has been around for about 15 years. They have lovingly restored jeeps and more recent military vehicles that have seen service from World War II to Afghanistan.

Beebe acquired his 1942 Ford GPW (known as a jeep) from the used car lot next to Olivera’s in Buellton. It had been covered in putty and didn’t even look like a military jeep. Beebe started researching military vehicles and talking to people about how they should look.

“Our other founding member, Bruce McBroom, literally pulled his jeep next to mine and we measured where the holes should be so we could mount the spare tire and other hardware distinctive to them,” Beebe said.

Jeeps were the primary light transport vehicle of the military during World War II and the post-war period. They were shipped overseas and used in all areas of combat because they were off-road-capable and lightweight, Beebe said.

“A lot of the vehicles you see in our area never actually went overseas because the vehicles they shipped over were left there when the wars ended. The ships would transport the military servicemen and women home, not the jeeps,” he added.

“A lot of people think that they are all Willys Jeeps, but people forget that a lot were actually made by Ford. Ford was reluctant to make something designed by someone else, and they gave their Jeeps subtle differences,” Beebe said.

Beebe noted that the jeeps and other vehicles that people see in local parades are from a range of wars. Some were used during World War II, such as one that belonged to founding member Jim Axtell. Although his was never used in the war, Axtell bought his jeep brand-new from the Army. Axtell sold it to McBroom, and Beebe stores it for him.

“I told Jim he can be a member as long as he can climb in and out on his own,” Beebe laughed. “To this day he still can, and he just turned 100.”

Another one of their members, Herman Pfauter of Santa Barbara, was a teenager in Germany when he saw the Allied jeeps rolling through his village. He instantly feel in love with the American vehicles, and he has the largest collection of anyone in the group. Now in his 80s, Pfauter has found a home for some of his jeeps by donating and building a structure for the Estrella Warbird Museum in Paso Robles.

“We even have a member that lives in France. Fabian Libre has a jeep and contacted us to be a part of the group. He named his ‘Kunk’s Klunk’ after Jim Kunkle’s P-38 he flew in World War II during D-Day. He even let Jim drive it when he was in Normandy for the 75th anniversary,” Beebe said.

A few of the members have jeeps from the Korean War, Vietnam War and more recent Humvees.

“We don’t have a lot of requirements to be a part of our club. There’s only three, maybe four, rules,” Beebe laughed. Those rules are no dues, no newsletters, no regular meetings and no uniform.

To get more information, email Beebe at dennis.beebe@comcast.net.

July 4 parade

The grand marshals of this year’s July 4 parade, with the theme “We, the People,” will be Putty and Carol Mills. Putty is a member of the Flat Fender Friends, and we will have a story about the couple in our July 2 issue.

The parade, sponsored by Solvang Rotary, will start at 11 a.m. at Mission Santa Ines. It will go down Mission Drive to Fifth Street, left onto Copenhagen Drive and back to the Mission. To be a part of the parade, visit the Rotary’s website at www.solvangrotary.com and send in an application form.

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In some old soldiers, the fighting spirit never dies.

French government officials recently awarded their country’s highest honor to local World War II veteran Rutledge “Putty” Mills, and he immediately threw up his hands and yelled, “If I am ever needed, I am ready to fight.”

The 95-year-old veteran received cheers and a standing ovation.

Mills and fellow valley resident John Wright received Legion of Honor medals at a private ceremony on July 18 at the Solvang Veterans Memorial Hall.

“The French people were so helpful and were always willing to help us when we were over there. They were even willing to trade their delicious French bread and cheeses for our K-rations, and let’s be honest, those (military meals) were terrible,” Wright said as the audience laughed.

The Legion of Honor, established in 1802 by Napoleon, is France’s highest honor for military or civilian service, and it is awarded to French citizens and to foreigners. Wright and Mills were honored for their wartime service in France.

“Freedom is a gift, and we honor those that fought for our democracy and human rights,” said Christophe Lemoine, the Consul General of France stationed in Los Angeles.

“The French people never forget your service to restore our freedom, and you are the best examples of the Greatest Generation,” Lemoine added.

The audience included Jim Kunkle, another local veteran who previously received the Legion of Honor medal, as well as Santa Barbara County 3rd District Supervisor Joan Hartmann and Solvang Mayor Jim Richardson

Mills served as an aircraft mechanic in Europe with the 331st Field Artillery Battalion in Gen. George Patton’s 3rd Army. He saw action in central Europe and Northern France supporting the Battle of the Bugle.

He was then deployed to the Philippines for cleanup until the Japanese surrendered. He was featured in the Santa Ynez Valley Star’s June 19 issue for his post-war contributions to NASA’s space program.

Wright was a heavy-truck driver in France in July 1944 with the 482nd Engineer Maintenance Company, where he worked to build and maintain airfields for the 8th Air Force. Wright was involved in action in Normandy, Rhineland, Ardennes and central Europe, and he was awarded five Bronze Stars and the Good Conduct Medal.

Wright and Mills each received a proclamation from the city of Solvang and were honored by Vandenberg Air Force Base officials.

“While we work on satellite GPS systems these days and can talk to any unit in the field, 75 years ago this wasn’t an option. I can’t imagine the personal hardships and displays of heroism you had to do, but we are grateful for your service,” said Col. Bob Reeves from Vandenberg.

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Rutledge “Putty” Mills stepped carefully as he made his way to the lower part of his acreage in Santa Ynez. At 95 years old, he moved quite spritely as he chattered about the upbringing that led him to become part of American history.

Near his barn, to an untrained eye, sat a gray go-cart-looking contraption with a NASA sticker on the front. But as he talked he revealed that this was the prototype he built for American astronauts to practice driving the Lunar Rover before their trip to the moon during the Apollo 17 landing in 1972.

NASA paid $41 million for four moon rovers, but Mills built his prototypes for $2,000 each.

“I built two of them that the astronauts trained with, with surplus military supplies that cost about $2,000 each. NASA paid more than $40 million for four rovers that went up,” Mills said, proud that he had saved the government millions of dollars.

Mills and his fellow members of the Santa Ynez Valley Men’s Forum will be parading his prototype in this year’s Fourth of July Parade in Solvang.

Mills was born in the suburbs of Philadelphia in 1923 and remembers making the long trek across the country when his family decided to opt for warmer weather and moved to Santa Barbara on the advice of a friend.

“My mother had the trunk of the Buick packed and off we moved in 1930. Santa Barbara was an amazing community to grow up in, and I loved riding my motorcycle so much that I became the youngest member of the Santa Barbara Motorcycle Club,” Mills said.

When he graduated from Santa Barbara High School during World War II, Mills applied to be a fighter pilot. At the time, most kids idolized fighter pilots and Mills was ready to take the two-day test to become one of them.

“Out of two million people in the military the officers told me that I had the best scores. I guess I was pretty good, but by the time my training was over the war was just about finished,” Mills said.

Because he had “amphibious training,” which included very little water training in Morro Bay, Mills was flown overseas after the first assaults on Japan.

“I was staged in the Philippines for a year as cleanup, but we still took fire every day from enemies,” Mills said.

Mills shows pictures of the moon that were taken during test-landings of an unmanned moon shuttle.

After his tour was over, he was assigned to landing test shuttles on the moon with Saturn V rockets, which took 10 tries before one actually landed.

“During the flight the rocket took pictures that were sent back,” Mills said as he showed the original photographs from the project.

When the idea of the moon rover project was proposed, it was the design by Boeing that won. Then it was subcontracted to SB Research of Goleta.

“The engineers said they needed someone with experience in hardware and driving off-road, so I guess that’s when my name came up because my colleagues knew I rode motorcycles,” Mills said with a laugh.

He ended up moving to Flagstaff, where the rover testing would be done on rocky desert terrain that was similar to the surface of the moon. He worked closely with Gene Shoemaker, who was a renowned geologist and astronomer who trained the astronauts for their geological activities.

“When the Russians sent Sputnik up, it was extremely embarrassing to America and I remember Gene calling up President Kennedy and suggesting getting a man on the moon, and Kennedy told him go for it and by any means necessary,” Mills said.

He said he got to see Kennedy in person once, but never got to meet him.

As Mills was taking the designs from Boeing and creating the prototypes, they estimated the costs of building to be near half a million dollars.

“Being a conservative man … I put together most of the supplies from my surplus military catalogue,” Mills said.

After building the prototype for the moon rover, Santa Ynez resident Rutledge “Putty” Mills stayed in Flagstaff to train the astronauts how to maneuver it.

The batteries had to be made of silver zinc, which could stand up to extreme conditions. Everyday lead-based batteries would not work in extreme cold. Mills also made gear reductions because the rover could travel only at low speeds.

“The rover was in one-sixth of our gravity, which meant it had to go really slow in order to stay on the surface,” he said.

With a 90-day turn-around for the prototypes, he got them built in 89 days, he laughed.

He also stayed to train astronauts Gene Cernan, Harrison Schmitt, Jim Irwin and Dave Scott to drive it.

Thinking back over his time and historic influence on space travel, Mills said he was proud to be called for the assignments. As a kid who never graduated from college, he is a self-taught engineer and still studies 40 hours a week.

“I love studying history and spend a lot of time reading. It keeps the brain sharp and youthful,” Mills said.

Mills said he is thrilled to present the prototype in the Fourth of July parade and hopes that everyone enjoys seeing a piece of American history up close.

“I was going to donate it to the space center that was going to be built on Vandenberg, but when that project was delayed, I hung onto it because I think it belongs in a museum on the Central Coast,” Mills said.

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