farragutpress

‘Drive-by’ celebration

Church, family celebrate WWII vet’s milestone 99th birthday

July 16, 2020 by Tammy Cheek

James Oscar “J.O.” Gates, a Knox County World War II veteran, had his own “drive-by” parade Monday, July 6, when fellow Calvary Baptist Church members drove past his house for his 99th birthday.

“The church has been good to us,” he observed.

At least 50 vehicles circled his neighborhood, displaying signs, waiving and calling out to wish him a “happy birthday.”

“We didn’t know what to think,” said Alma Sue Gates, his wife of 78 years.

“(Family members) put up a tent so he could sit in the front yard,” said Calvary Baptist senior pastor, the Rev. Dr. Dan Riley, who organized the parade.

“It really makes you feel good to think that somebody realizes that you want to do the right thing in life,” J.O. said. “So, I feel like the parade was good, and people really did try to present themselves to help me to feel better and live another good year, maybe — if it’s the Lord’s will.”

Riley said J.O., a member of Calvary Baptist since November 1990, has been a faithful, beloved member for many years, always ready to volunteer, whether it be as a deacon or teacher.

“He’s the oldest member in our church,” the pastor noted. “He’s just a unique guy. It’s kind of rare that people reach out to all denominations. He’s just so appealing to all ages — both he and his wife, Alma Sue.

“Anytime we call for volunteers, he was always going to be there,” Riley added. “Alma Sue is the same way. She’s a few years younger (than J.O.) and she still volunteered in the preschool here (until the COVID-19 restrictions).”

J.O. has been an active man, not just in his church, but also in his everyday life, but “I’ve slowed down in the last year,” J.O. said. “Up to then, I mowed the yard and everything else.”

But, now, battling cancer in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, J.O. has not been able to attend church.

“It’s been a real struggle,” Riley said. “So, I thought if he can’t come to us, then we’ll go to him.”

About turning 99, J.O. remarked, “I’ve had a lot of them.”

J.O. attributed his longevity to his faith.

“I belong to the Lord,” he said. “I’ve been a Christian ever since I was 16 years old, and I have been blessed by the Lord for all these years, through World War II and all.

“He took care of me, and that’s what counts.”

“I think (his becoming a Christian at 16) just changed the trajectory of his life,” Riley said. “It just had a profound impact on him.”

Born and reared in Cleveland, in Bradley County, J.O. was saved at a revival

“I just got the impression that the Lord wanted me to serve Him,” he said. “So, I laid down on that platform and told Him; there I was and just do what He wanted with me.

“He’s done a pretty good job, I think,” he added with a chuckle.

J.O. met Alma Sue, now 96, at church.

“We did start dating when I was a junior in high school,” Alma Sue recalled. “He graduated two years before I did.”

When J.O. got drafted, then 23, in 1942, he and Alma Sue got married just before he left for training in New England, then went to France in 1944. He also would see Germany and Belgium during his service.

He served three years in the 903rd Ordinance of the U.S. Army as a staff sergeant, in charge of making sure the men got their food and other supplies.

“I was on a ship four days after D-Day,” he said, recalling arriving on the beach in Normandy.

“You couldn’t dream what it looked like on that beach,” he said. “There were bodies everywhere.”

Likewise driving through a nearby town, he recalled bodies were lined up on each side of the road — Germans on one side and Americans on the other.

He recalled one instance when he was traveling by Jeep and stopped on a bank to get some rest.

But, “the Lord just woke me up and told me to move.”

Reluctantly, he did move and found another place to sleep. The next morning, he drove by the bank where he was about to sleep the night before.

When he got there, all he found was a hole 15-foot deep where a bomb hit.

“I would have been dead if He hadn’t woke me up,” J.O. said. “People can’t believe, but when I was in trouble I knew right where to go, and I went to the Lord.”

Riley recalled J.O. telling him that he had gotten lost behind enemy lines but “(J.O.) felt the Lord guided him back.”

He returned home in 1945.

Alma Sue noted J.O. then went to work, helping her father in his lime business before working at Cleveland Stove Company until he retired in 1986. They later moved to Knoxville to help take care of her widowed father.