It’s old and worn and has little intrinsic value. The pendant is shaped in the form of the letter V with a ship’s anchor cradled in the arm of the angle. On the anchor are the letters USN. The pendant was made in honor of the day that the United States achieved victory over Japan in August 1945. The USN in the center is for United States Navy. The V is embedded with small marcasite stones that are almost the same color as the metal surrounding them, so you have to look carefully to see if one is missing.
The pendant was purchased at the end of World War II by a blonde, blue-eyed, farm boy, who served his country in the Navy. He sent the necklace to his sister. She was back at home working in a factory in order to support both her family and the war effort. She was an original Rosie the Riveter.
These two shared many memories of growing up on the family farm. They were often in trouble. Like the time they were caught playing tag on the rafters in the barn. Their mother said it was a wonder they weren’t killed. They gave their mother grief when they were supposed to be confined in a dark room because they had measles, and instead climbed out the window to play. They got a whipping when they threw cow pies at the neighbor boy because he had tattled on them, and when they were teens there was hell to pay when they hit the neighbor’s cow, accidentally, with the old Model T.
Sister loved the pendant, wore the pendant, and then safely tucked it away when it was no longer fashionable to wear an end-of-war emblem.
Many years later the sailor died. The funeral was packed with people who came to honor this great man. Some were men who had also served in “the big one.” Soldiers and sailors have a special bond, and this one was reinforced by their membership in an organization for veterans called the Veterans of Foreign Wars. As these friends, and brother veterans came to the casket and saluted with precision, they all had tears running down their faces.
The veteran’s sister chose this time to pass the special pendant on to her daughter. The pendant invokes the daughter’s memories of her uncle. He should have received a medal for teasing. He was always teasing. It was hard to tell when he was occasionally serious – that he was actually serious.
The V in the pendant has significance to her. It stands for Virgil, her uncle’s name; it stands for victory in a war in which he so valiantly served; and it stands for Valerie – the name of the niece who proudly wears this emblem of victory, and the sacrifices made in order to achieve it.
More than anything, the pendant is a symbol of love and family, freedom and country – a priceless treasure.
