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| General Wayne O. (Sage) Kester |
In Respect of our Pearl Harbor Soldiers
Story and photo by Roni Bell
"General Wayne O. (Sage) Kester, was born in a sod house on Muddy Creek near Stockville, Nebraska in 1906. He graduated from Kansas State Agricultural College with his DVM in 1931, passed the Army veterinary proficiency exam but was not called to active duty until 1933. He served as Chief of Veterinary Services for the Pacific Theater during World War II. In 1949 he was reassigned to the U.S. Air Force, charged with establishing the Air Force Veterinary Corps. He was the first veterinarian to attain brigadier general rank in that service."
From Kansas State University archives.
On December 7, 1941, seventy six years ago today, General Sage Kester had his cavalry troupe in training on one of the volcanoes above Pearl Harbor. When he saw the bombing, he and his company rode down and immediately began directing everything..."a horseback."
When Sage died in 1999, he was the last soldier to have witnessed the bombing of Pearl Harbor - a horseback.
Having had the honor to ride with Sage, he told me the finest "coming of age" story ever: "I was taking a string of horses from Muddy Creek to ? (I can't remember now.). It was quite the adventure as I was about 13, and it was a long ride. Seemed I rode through all the seasons. I kept looking back to make sure the mare I didn't have on the string stayed with us.
When I rode into winter and turned to check on the mare, my chin stuck to my coat. My 'peach fuzz' got froze to the collar. It was then I realized 'I'm becoming a man."'
America will be forever indebted to incredible individuals like Sage.
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