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World War II couple receives war honors
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Chillicothe Gazette, April 11, 2007
Now Gerald and Cecilia O'Connor Grever have something to go with their memories of World War II service while they kept up a long-distance romance.
He was a Navy Seabee in the South Pacific, she was a Navy petty officer serving as a stenographer in Washington.
 "I don't know why, but neither one of us ever got the medals we earned," Gerald Grever said. "That's a long time ago. That's why we're so pleased to have them today."
The couple was married Feb. 7, 1947, back home in Cincinnati. Their daughter, Kerry Grever, set out to get them their overdue honors in tribute to their 60 years of marriage.
She worked with the office of Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-2nd District, which worked with the Department of Defense to get the medals issued.
Friends and family surrounded the couple Monday at the American Red Cross office in the Cincinnati suburb of Blue Ash as Schmidt presented Gerald Grever with a plaque containing his World War II Victory Medal, an American Campaign Medal, an Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and his honorable discharge pin. Cecilia Grever was awarded her own honorable discharge pin, along with the Victory medal and American Campaign medal.
Grever recounted that he joined the Navy in 1942 and became a Seabee, the Navy's construction force. After 13 months helping build airstrips in Alaska, he came home to Cincinnati for a 30-day leave.
He met Cecilia O'Connor, who worked with two of his aunts. She later joined the navy.
Gerald Grever helped build airstrips on South Pacific islands, including at Saipan, where he remembers seeing Japanese soldiers who had been trapped by Marines committing suicide by jumping off cliffs into the ocean.
"My husband has all the interesting stories," Cecilia Grever said. "He saw a lot. All I ever had to worry about during the war was catching the bus home from work."
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