Ridgefield resident and World War II veteran John Oatley, 93, was honored to have his picture displayed at the Ridgefield Post Office Jan. 22.
With his picture hanging next to 15 other hometown war veterans at the Ridgefield Post Office, John Oatley feels like he’s in good company.
“I appreciate it,” said the 93-year-old who served as a Naval Aviation Cadet in Corpus Christi, Texas, during World War II. “It’s nice to know that the city and the people feel the same way too.”
Oatley was interviewed by The Reflector in 2014 about his time managing five major movie theatres in the Hollywood area for Warner Brothers. There, he met stars of the day such as Ronald Reagan, Gary Cooper and Errol Flynn.
When a career change was in order, a neighbor suggested Oatley pursue law enforcement. He was part of the Crime Scene Investigation Unit for the Santa Ana Police Department.
He learned how to take photographs of crime scenes, collect evidence, take plaster casts of tire tracks and various other skills necessary to accurately process a crime scene.
Oatley opened his own private investigation business in 1962. After keeping that venture going for about 15 years, he felt it was time to step away from the limelight. Oatley settled down in Ridgefield, where he has lived for the past 25 years.
La Center resident Carole Parker honors veterans like Oatley by collecting their photographs and posting them on the walls of the post offices in Ridgefield and La Center.
“I was down at the post office in La Center. They had a bunch of vet pictures just thumb-tacked on a bulletin board really bad,” Parker recalled.
“I thought, ‘this has got to be better for them.’”
Her connection to the military was through her late husband, Lloyd, who fought in Vietnam and earned the Purple Heart. Unfortunately, Lloyd Parker died during a training exercise in Germany at the age of 26.
Carole Parker has posted about 85 photos of local veterans at the La Center Post Office and another 16 at Ridgefield.
“It’s just so important to me because I think so many of our service men go unnoticed,” she said. “When they retire or as they get older, I think that it’s important that the community knows that they served. This is my gift. This is my way of giving back.”
