When Bob Frothingham of Sykesville was 17, all he wanted to do was be a soldier.

"I wanted to fight," he said. "I had plenty of time when I wished I'd changed my mind."

Frothingham will be one of several World War II veterans recognized at the Sykesville Gate House Museum of History's World War II-era Dinner & Dance on Saturday, Nov. 8.

The dinner and dance features music by the Thom Rowland Dance Band, dinner catered by E.W. Beck's Restaurant & Pub and a cash bar. Attendees are encouraged to dress in World War II-era attire.

The dinner and dance is not only about honoring the World War II veterans like Frothingham, but is also about connecting them to the community, said Kari Greenwalt, Gate House director.

"I hope that people would talk to them once they get to know who they are through the evening," she said.

The 88-year-old World War II veteran enlisted when he attended high school in Hyattsville, but Frothingham had to wait his turn for two years. He was called to active duty in 1940, but because he was 17, he had to be discharged.

He then joined the Army in 1942.

"By that time, I already knew most of the things they were teaching," he said.

Frothingham rose to the rank of first lieutenant, then captain of a machine gun platoon in the 25th Division, and fought in the Pacific Theater against the Japanese.

"The Japanese were tough people to fight because they wouldn't surrender," he said. "It's hard to fight somebody that's not going to quit."

And quit, they didn't. Frothingham was wounded on April 18, 1945, by a Japanese machine gun.

"I was thinking, 'Those bastards,'" he said, chuckling. "When you're young, you don't think you're ever going to get hurt."

Though Frothingham healed after spending more than two years in Army hospitals, he never forgets the four killed and 12 wounded who fought alongside him.

"These guys were my friends, too, and when you get a man killed, you wonder if you could have done something better, or different," he said. "I just don't get over that. ... I would have given my life for any of them."

Because he survived, the annual Sykesville event means all the world to him.

"I feel great because I feel lucky to still be alive," he said.

The difficulty about the event, now in its eighth year, is getting in contact with area veterans, Greenwalt said.

Some have passed away, while others have moved. It's important to remember those in the Greatest Generation, she said, to keep their stories alive.

"With time, we're losing that generation and not just in the sense of death, but information-wise," Greenwalt said. "And they can't make it out in large numbers like they used to."

Frothingham agrees.

"I think the people my age still think about it," he said. "Young people don't, generally. It's been too many years."

Greenwalt hopes that will not be the case, and hopes people of all ages come to learn about what they've read in books and seen at the Gate House.

"This is a way of connecting those papers, those pictures, those objects with actual stories and actual people who were involved," she said. "It gives you a whole different take of where our country has been and what these people mean overall for all of us."

Not to be forgotten are the women who were vital in the war, Greenwalt noted. They are also welcome to the event for free.

About 210,000 women today are World War II veterans, according to a 2002 U.S. Census estimate.

Those women served in various capacities such as the Women's Army Corps and Marine Corps Women's Reserves.

Regardless of what role the veterans served in, Greenwalt said she hopes people will remember their service at the event and on Veterans Day.

"Veterans Day is one of our most important national holidays that we have because we thank all service men and women who are living for all of what they've done," she said.

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World War II-era Dinner & Dance

6 to 10 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 8

Sykesville Fire Hall, 6680 Sykesville Road, Flohrville

$30 for each ticket. $210 for a table of eight. WW II veterans receive a free ticket and must contact Gate House Museum of History.

For tickets, call 410-549-5150 or e-mail kgreenwalt@sykesville.net

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