Herb Bork, a 100-year-old World War II veteran, poses for a portrait Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021, in the living room of his Pendleton home.

PENDLETON — Herb Bork had just arrived in Guadalcanal when the bombs began to fall.

It was June 1943, more than 18 months after the United States entered World War II. The U.S. armed forces moved more than 100 tank-landing ships to the island in the South Pacific. In all, less than two dozen ships made it through the initial bombardment from Japanese forces, Bork said.

Bork was aboard one of these ships when a group of bombers attacked. He watched as gasoline containers burst into flames around him. He reached toward one of the anchors and lowered himself into the water below.

What he hadn’t noticed was the proximity of the anchor to the propeller. It churned and nearly pulled him under. He almost drowned when a man with a life raft swam out and grabbed him. Don’t fight, the man said. Just paddle.

“I was very fortunate to get out alive,” said Bork, a 100-year-old Pendleton resident and well-known metal caster.

For the rest of his service during World War II, he slept to the sounds of nightly raids.

His was not a service on the front lines of battle. Drafted into the medical division, his focus was a silent killer — mosquitoes.

At least 1,600 U.S. troops were killed during the battle for Guadalcanal. But tropical diseases such as malaria killed thousands more.

Bork’s goal was to control the spread of disease. By jeep, he and other scientists traveled around the island with what he called a “dipper,” surveying the area and spraying mosquito breeding areas. He checked thousands of men for disease and handed out mosquito nets and medication. Many soldiers didn’t heed their warnings and even mocked them while they moved through camp. Some, he said, paid the price.

Regardless, Bork said he was fortunate the work kept him off the front lines. Other troops around him were caught, tortured, shot, killed or sent home legless, armless or with post-traumatic stress disorder.

“I was very fortunate I didn’t get any scars from it,” Bork said of his service.

Meanwhile, he wrote letters to nine women back home. Their correspondence was “good for morale,” he said, especially while other troops lost contact with their loved ones. But none of those women were the girl Bork met in college shortly before his service. The one he’d see again upon his return home.

Fortune found him once again when he traveled home on a 45-day furlough. One day, he picked up the local paper and saw the war was over. He was relieved he wouldn’t be going back. That day, he recalled going huckleberry picking with family in the Blue Mountains near Meacham.

Not long after, Bork was teaching math at a school in Granger, Washington, when he met a fellow teacher. Her name was Nadene.

Leaving for a new home

Last week, Bork sat in his cluttered living room, preparing to move out after more than 50 years in his Pendleton home.

Piles of his belongings filled the room — photo albums, books, clocks, holiday decorations. In one stack, a book called “Health Secrets for Seniors” sat below a book entitled “Say No To Nursing Homes.”

His phone rang. It’s a customer he seems to know well. Sorry to hear about your wife, the customer said. Nadene Bork died in January, two weeks after suffering a stroke during breakfast. She was 98.

The customer’s wife also recently died. The two speak briefly about losing their loved ones. The conversation stalls. They move on and talk about Bork’s business. They bid each other well. Bork hung up and returned to flipping through his photo albums.

When Nadene died, Bork said he found solace and support through church. He met with a group of about 30 congregants, encouraging each other through their grief.

“You appreciate that, and you hope nobody goes through those things alone,” he said.

Now, Bork is moving out to live with his son in Benton, Washington. His family doesn’t want him living alone, he said. Living there without Nadene, he said he notices the empty chairs and empty tables.

Behind him is a career as a teacher, school administrator, leather worker and businessman.

“You hate to see it go,” Bork said. “We had a good life here in Pendleton.”

Still, Bork said he’s looking forward to being around his family, including his two great grandsons, just 5 and 7 years old.