Archive for 2012|Yearly archive page
POW, 8th Air Force, B-17 Flying Fortress, Stalag Luft No. 3, "Sitting Bull", Schweinfurt, 305th Bombardment Group, Koln-Hohenlind Hospital, Dulag Luft, Moosburg
In World War II, U.S. Army Air Force on May 25, 2012 at 4:38 am
This is 2nd Lt. Martin Fetherolf of Punta Gorda Isles, Fla. who served as a navigator aboard a B-17 bomber shot down over Germany during World War II. He kept a “War Log” while in a German POW camp. Photo provided by Tess Fetherolf
“The DAY of Aug. 17, 1943 was to be, perhaps the most important and certainly the most eventful of my life to date,” the late Martin Fetherolf of Punta Gorda Isles, Fla. wrote in his “War Log” from Stalag Luft-3 in the heart of Germany during World War II. It’s where he spent most of his 20 months and 12 days as an American prisoner of war. Read the rest of this entry »
101st Infantry, 26th Division, Company B, Heart Shield Bible, Moosburg Germany, Munich, Patton's 3rd Army, POW, Prisoner of War, Stalag-7A
In World War II, U. S. Army on May 23, 2012 at 4:38 am
This badly damaged picture of Pfc. Bill Waits of Nocatee, Fla. is his only service picture. He served in the Army’s 26th Division with Gen. George Patton’s 3rd Army in France and spent seven months in a German POW camp before he was liberated along with another 110,000 other Allied prisoners. Photo.provided
The steel-plated gold cover on the outside of Bill Waits’ “Heart Shield Bible” he carried in his breast pocket while a rifleman in the 26th Infantry Division during the Allied invasion of France in the closing months of World War II was inscribed in flowing script: “May this keep you from harm.” Read the rest of this entry »
Battle of Midway, Legion of Merit, Naval Unit Citations, Pearl Harbor, Subdivision 72, USS Lexington, USS Narwhal, USS Nereus, USS S-20, USS Sea Devil
In Pearl Harbor Survivor, U.S. Navy, World War II on May 21, 2012 at 4:38 am
Capt. Ralph Styles, former skipper of the USS Sea Devil, holds a shadow box full of medals including two Navy Crosses, two Legions of Merit, Navy Unit Commendation, a solid gold submarine pin for being awarded two Navy Crosses. In the background is a banner with the USS Sea Devil’s emblem surrounded by five Japanese rising sun flags indicating five enemy war ships sunk or damaged and seven white flags with red centers denoting seven enemy transports sunk. Sun photo by Don Moore
The enemy submarine, I-374, sailed out of Tokyo Bay into the open Pacific shortly before sunrise on Sept. 22, 1944. Capt. Ralph Styles, skipper of the sub USS Sea Devil, was laying in wait submerged near the harbor’s entrance. Read the rest of this entry »
169th Infantry, 43rd Division, Guadalcanal, Macalester College, Munda Airfield
In Purple Heart, U. S. Army on May 18, 2012 at 4:38 am
Ray Kari, who winters at Lettuce Lake Campground south of Arcadia, Fla., had an “out of body experience” after being shot while serving as a medic in the Pacific Theatre in World War II. Sun photo by Jeffery Langlois
Pvt. Ray Kari was the youngest, least-trained medic in Company B, 169th Infantry, 43rd Division when he waded ashore in the middle of the night on a small attol just off New Georgia Island in the southwest Pacific a lifetime ago. Read the rest of this entry »
Long Beach Harbor, Plane Guard, Tora! Tora! Tora!, USS Everett F. Lawson (DD-830), USS Orleck (DD-886), USS Pueblo, USS Samuel Gompers (AD-37)
In Korean War, Vietnam War, U.S. Navy on May 16, 2012 at 4:38 am
Eugene Maresca of Buttonwood Village mobile home park in Punta Gorda served a three-year hitch in the regular Navy and spent the next 17 years as a Naval Reservist. He was a full commander when he retired in 1983. Photo provided
After 20 years of service in the U.S. Navy, Eugene Maresca retired in 1983 as a full commander. He served three years in the regular Navy and the rest in the Naval Reserve. Read the rest of this entry »
Corsair, El Toro Marine Aviation Base, Espiritu Santos Island, Marine Corps Squadron VMF-114, Peleliu, Rabaul Bay
In Army Air Corps, Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy on May 14, 2012 at 4:38 am
Capt. Wally Weber returns from a mission in his Corsair fighter. When this picture was shot, he was flying from Peleliu Island in the Pacific. Photo provided
Wally Weber of Burnt Store Country Club didn’t have to sweat the draft during World War II. His father was the chairman of the local draft board in the little town in Oklahoma whee he grew up. Read the rest of this entry »
1st Marine Division Reinforced, Brinkley Bass (DD-887), Cactus Air Force, Daytona Beach Naval Air Station, F4U5N Corsair, Fighter Squadron 52, Guadalcanal, Torpedo Squadron VA-55, USS Card, USS Saratoga, Wonsan Harbor
In Korean War, U.S. Navy, World War II on May 11, 2012 at 4:38 am
“Slim” Russell is pictured standing on the wing of an F6F Grumman Hellcat Navy fighter he flew shortly after World War II. Photo provided
“At Guadalcanal, I was almost a war hero to the Japanese,” Allard Guy “Slim” Russell of Sarasota, Fla. said with a smile. “I dropped the first 500-pound bomb on the 75-mile long, 25-mile-wide enemy-held South Pacific island. Read the rest of this entry »
Big Bertha, Chateau Thierry, DeSalles, diary, Juelle, Nantes, Paris, Red Cross, San Aucers, Toul Front, wagoner
In U. S. Army, World War I on May 9, 2012 at 4:38 am
Wesley Norman Jackson is pictured in his World War I Army uniform before he was shipped over seas to drive an ambulance through France during the 18 months he spent in World War I more than 90 years ago. Photo provided
A Farewell to Arms, tells the story of Lt. Frederic Henry, the main character in Hemingway’s novel about a World War I ambulance driver who deserts his unit because he can no longer face the maiming and killing on the front lines he had to endure. Anne Hilliard of Arcadia, Fla. whose father, Wesley Norman Jackson, was also a WW I ambulance driver in France during the war, went AWOL to Monte Carlo for three days to escape the carnage, but returned to his unit and faced his superiors. Read the rest of this entry »
Iwo Jima, Guam, Task Force 58, Guantanamo Bay, Mariana Islands, USS Wasp, USS Intrepid
In U.S. Navy, World War II on May 7, 2012 at 4:38 am
Master Chief Herb Schmaeling of Port Charlotte can still wear his uniform at 82. Each of those black hash marks on his sleeve represent four years in the service. Note the block of wood in front of him with the words, “Plank Owner, USS Wasp CV – 18.” It’s from the deck of the carrier. It means he was one of the sailors who put her into service in 1944. Sun photo by Don Moore
By the time Master Chief Herb Schmaeling retired from the U.S. Coast Guard in 1971 he had served in the Navy aboard the aircraft carrier USS Wasp in World War II and during the Korean and Vietnam wars. Read the rest of this entry »
"Ferrets flights", B-17 Flying Fortress, B-29 Superfortress, Cold War, Iron Curtain, MacDill, SAC, Yokota Air Base
In Cold War, U.S. Air Force, World War II on May 4, 2012 at 4:38 am
The “Suella J” was 1st Lt. Smith’s B-29 “Super Fortress” he flew over the Soviet Union while spying on the Russians shortly after World War II. Photo provided
“Ferrets flights” are what they were called. They were aptly named because the super-secret missions in modified B-29 bombers immediately after World War II were made to ferret out information about the Soviet Union’s most sensitive military sites. Read the rest of this entry »
553 Reconnaissance Wing, Da Nang, Khe Sanh, Korat Thailand, Major Gerald Parchall, McNamara's Last Chance, Otis Air Force Base, Super Constellation
In U.S. Air Force, Vietnam War on May 2, 2012 at 4:38 am
Sgt. Ed Schuppenhouer works a radio while training to become a counter-insurgency expert with the 553rd Reconnaissance Wing in Vietnam in 1967. Photo provided
Sgt. Ed Schuppenhouer was part of what was called, “McNamara’s Last Chance” when he served as a counter-insurgency specialist aboard an EC-121R four-engine Super Constellation in Vietnam in 1967-68. Read the rest of this entry »
Bougainville, Distinguished Flying Cross, Douglas SBD, Green Island, Maj. Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, Rabul, USS Yorktown, VMSB-341
In Distinguished Flying Cross, U.S. Marine Corps, World War II on April 30, 2012 at 4:38 am
Three Douglas Dauntless SBD gunners were saddled up and ready to fly. Clark is on the left. With him is Jimmy Kiester of Germantown, Ohio in the center and Frank Hunt, who lived in Punta Gorda until he died recently. Photo provided by Mel Clark
“We were flying over Rabaul at 15,000 feet and went into a dive in our (Douglas Dauntless) SBD dive bombers. Suddenly, I saw this Japanese Zero coming toward me. The pilot looked right at me as I started firing,” former Sgt. Mel Clark recalled six decades later. Read the rest of this entry »
Mayo Clinic, Saipan, Suicide Beach
In U. S. Army, World War II on April 27, 2012 at 4:38 am
1st Lt. Bette Horstman at a hospital unit in Saipan at the close of World War II. Photo provided
Bette Horstman of Port Charlotte, Fla. was a physical therapist who graduated from Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. near the end of World War II, joined the Army and was sent to Saipan as a 2nd lieutenant to help the troops recover from war wounds. Read the rest of this entry »
Charleston Naval Shipyard, Guam, last Japanese soldier, Navy ROTC, Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Strike Command, Tonkin Gulf, USS Blue Gill, USS Charr
In U.S. Navy, Vietnam War on April 25, 2012 at 4:38 am
Arthur Anderssen as a commander in this formal Navy picture. Photo provided
Arthur Anderssen of Burnt Store Isles south of Punta Gorda, Fla. graduated from Auburn University in 1962 on a Navy ROTC scholarship and joined the Navy immediately to complete his four year obligation. Thus began his 26 year military career. Read the rest of this entry »
"Exercise Tiger", Brixham England, D-Day Invasion, English Channel, Fortress Europe, German E-boat, LST-289, LST-507, Lyme Bay, Slapton Sands
In Purple Heart, U.S. Navy, World War II on April 23, 2012 at 4:38 am
Steve Sadlon, originally from Little Falls, N.Y., was 20 when his landing craft was sunk during an attack by a German E-boat only 39 days before the D-Day invasion of Normandy. Photo provided
Nine German torpedo boats attacked eight American transport ships in Lyme Bay off the southern coast of England near the village of Slapton Sands in South Devon, during the wee hours of April 28, 1944. By dawn, 749 Americans died and 1000 more were casualties of war. Read the rest of this entry »
315th Fighter Squadron, 324th Fighter Group, Croix de Guerre, El Amirya, Monte Casino
In U. S. Army, World War II on April 20, 2012 at 4:38 am
Sgt. Nolan stands on the wing of the P-47 Thunderbolt fighter he maintained for 2nd Lt. Mike McGraph, in the cockpit, as he gets ready to take off on a mission in Europe during World War II. Photo provided.
Richard Nolan of Deep Creek, Fla. enlisted in the Army a year before the United States entered World War II, never dreaming it would be a six-year, world-shattering event for him and the rest of the human race. Read the rest of this entry »
38th Parallel, Fort Sheridan, Seoul
In Korean War, U. S. Army on April 18, 2012 at 4:38 am
Cpl. Dick Cooley of Burnt Store Lakes subdivision south of Punta Gorda, Fla. stands guard in 1953 during a cold winter in the Korean War even though he was a non-combatant. Photo provided
It was 1953 and the Korean War had ground to a halt when Dick Cooley of Columbus, Ohio got word to report to his local draft board. Read the rest of this entry »
5th Special Forces, 82nd Airborne, Airborne Ranger, Cambodia, Cobra, Cuban Missle Crisis, Fort Bragg, Hanoi Hilton, Ho Chi Minh Trail, Master Parachutist, Viet Cong
In U. S. Army, Vietnam War on April 16, 2012 at 4:38 am
Capt. Luis Chirichigno, Ret., second from left, presents Tami Cash, executive director of the Military Heritage & Aviation Museum in Punta Gorda, Fla. with the POW garb he wore in North Vietnam's infamous "Hanoi Hilton" during his three-and-a-half years in captivity. Looking on is retired Brig. Gen. Jim Shelton, left, holding Chirichigno's Ho Chi Minh sandals, and retired Maj. Gen. Rufus Lazzell, both on the museum's board of directors. Sun photo by Don Moore
Charlotte Sun (Port Charlotte, FL) – Sunday, April 15, 2007
Capt. Luis Chirichigno was piloting an Army Cobra attack helicopter high above a couple of low-flying observation copters eight miles south of Duc Lap, South Vietnam, on Nov. 2, 1969. What happened next would make this Peruvian-born American chopper pilot a POW for the next 3 1/2 years. Read the rest of this entry »
Avenger Field, B-26, Eglin Air Force Base, Ferry Command, North American AT-6, Stearman PT-19, Training Command, Vultee Valiant, Women Aviators
In World War II on April 13, 2012 at 4:38 am
Gwen "Clink" Linder of Port Charlotte, Fla. sitting on the wheel of her Stearman PT-19 open cockpit trainer at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas in 1944. This was the first plane she flew as a member of the Women Air Force Service Pilots (WASP's). Photo provided
She was one of the 1,074 Women Air Force Service Pilots (WASP) who flew military aircraft stateside in World War II. They replaced male pilots who were then sent into combat. Read the rest of this entry »
5th Army, 837th Quartermaster Company, Algiers, Anzio, Camp Shelby Mississippi, General Mark Clark, Honor Flight, Monte Cassino, Oran Morocco, Po Valley
In U. S. Army, World War II on April 11, 2012 at 4:38 am
Cpl. Ed Zanck (right) who was in Gen. Mark Clark's 5th Army in Italy is pictured with his older brother, Staff Sgt. Leonard Zanck, who served in the 15th Air Force in Italy, when they met during World War II. Photo provided
Ed Zanck of Farmington Vista condominium complex, Plantation subdivision south of Venice, Fla. was drafted into the Army in early 1942. He took part in the Invasion of North Africa and served in Gen. Mark Clark’s 5th Army throughout much of the Italian Campaign. Read the rest of this entry »
Capt. Daniel V. Gallery, Madeira Islands, USS Flaherty, USS Pillsbury
In Presidential Unit Citation, U.S. Navy, World War II on April 9, 2012 at 4:38 am
This was Seaman 1st Class Art Coelho of Port Charlotte, Fla. when he served aboard the USS Pillsbury (DE-133). Even today at 79 he brags he has no wrinkles. Photo provided
Seaman 1st Class Art Coelho of Port Charlotte, Fla. wasn’t aboard the USS Pillsbury (DE-133) when she took part in the sinking of the U-515, a German submarine, off the Madeira Islands in the Atlantic near the North African coast. However, he was on her two months later when the same destroyer escort helped capture U-505, the first time an American ship had boarded an enemy vessel since the 19th century. Read the rest of this entry »
Cmdr. Harry Smith, Gen. Julian Smith, Gilbert Island Campaign, Makin Island, Mariana Islands, Marshall Island Campaign, Rear Admiral Shibasaki Keiji, Tarawa, USS Kimberly
In U.S. Navy, World War II on April 6, 2012 at 4:38 am
This was Seaman Howard Halsey at 19 about the time he graduated from boot camp at Bainbridge, Md. in 1943 during World War II. Photo provided
Seaman 3rd Class Howard Halsey was a 20-year-old assigned to a 20-millimeter anti-aircraft gun on the destroyer USS Kimberly off Tarawa, a tiny island in the Central Pacific. Read the rest of this entry »
Balao-class submarine, Biak, Borneo, Kuramasan Maru, USS Barbero
In U.S. Navy, World War II on April 4, 2012 at 4:38 am
Torpedoman 3/C John Socotch is pictured shortly after graduating from boot camp at Great Lakes Naval Receiving Center outside Chicago in 1944. He served one combat cruise aboard the submarine USS Barbero in the South China Sea during World War II. Photo provided
John Socotch was a 20-year-old torpedoman when he went aboard the USS Barbero (SS-317) submarine in Freemantle, Australia Aug. 9, 1944. The new Balao Class sub sailed to war into the South China Sea, between Japan and China Sea, on her first combat patrol Oct. 4. Read the rest of this entry »
20th Air Force, 398th Bomb Squadron, 504th Bomb Group, B-29 Superfortress, General Curtis Lemay, Nagasaki, Norden Bombsight, Osaka, Tinian
In U.S. Air Force, World War II on April 2, 2012 at 4:38 am
The crew of the badly damaged B-29, "The Spirit of F.D.R." stands on the tale beside the nearly disintegrated rudder of the huge four-engine bomber. Jim Hussmann of Venice, Fla. is squatting in the foreground. Photo provided
By Jim Hussmann
Special to the Sun
After graduating from the Air Corps’ Navigation School in San Marcos, Texas in December 1944, Jim Hussmann of Plantation Golf and Country Club south of Venice, Fla. was ordered to report to Alamogordo, N.M., where he and 10 other airmen specialists were to begin training as B-29 bomber combat crew. Read the rest of this entry »
Battle of the Bulge, British Spitfire, Merchant Marines, Normandy
In Merchant Marines, World War II on March 30, 2012 at 4:38 am
John Baumer of Willow Creek Apartments in North Port, Fla. looks at a picture of the captured Italian ocean liner Saturno that was converted to a hospital ship he sailed on across the Atlantic four times during World War II. Sun photo by Don Moore
John Baumer went down to the recruiting office in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he grew up to enlist in the Army in 1942 and ended up in the Merchant Marines before he walked out. Read the rest of this entry »
Control and Warning Battalion 932, DEW Line, Loran Navigation Station, Reykjavik, Soviet "Bear" Bombers
In Cold War, U.S. Air Force on March 28, 2012 at 4:38 am
Sgt. Earl Schworm is going to church in a school bus one Sunday in Iceland. He was serving with the 932nd Control and Warning Battalion near Rockville Air Force Base in the southwestern part of the barren, treeless country. His job was to help run a radar station that was part of the DEW Line early warning system. Photo provided.
Earl Schworm, who lives in Boca View condominiums in Placida, Fla., served as a member of U.S. Air Force’s Control and Warning Battalion 932 in what became known as the “Intercept Capital of the World” during the “Cold War” of the 1950s. His job: tracking Soviet strategic bombers trying to penetrate U.S. air space. Read the rest of this entry »
82nd Airborne, Ardennes, Battle of the Bulge, C-47 Transport, Central Europe, Rhineland
In U.S. Army Airborne, World War II on March 26, 2012 at 4:38 am
Dan Hartnett of the Sanctuary condominiums in Cape Haze, Fla. looks at a newspaper story and map his mother saved for him about the largest airborne action in World War II that he took part in as a member of the 82nd Airborne Division. Sun photo by Don Moore
“WITH AMERICAN AIRBORNE FORCES, in Germany, March 24, 1945 — The greatest single airborne operation in all history was successfully launched east of the Rhine shortly before noon today by cooperating British and American forces. Read the rest of this entry »
Battle of Okinawa, Battle of the Philippine Sea, Nagasaki, USS Beale
In U.S. Navy, World War II on March 23, 2012 at 4:38 am
Ray Pomeroy was 17 in 1943 and had just graduated from boot camp at Great Lakes Naval Training Center outside Chicago when this picture was taken. Photo provided
From the pages of the diary he kept aboard the destroyer he served on– the USS Beale (DD-471) — Ray Pomeroy of Rotonda, Fla. was able to recreate two of the biggest sea battles of World War II he fought in: The Battle of the Philippine Sea and the Battle of Okinawa. Read the rest of this entry »
Guam, Kamikaze, Leyte Gulf, Marshall Islands, Okinawa, Saipan, USS Comet
In World War II, U.S. Navy on March 16, 2012 at 4:38 am
Robert Johnson holds a picture of himself and his four brothers who all served in World War II or the Korean War. The picture was taken in 1948 at Robert's wedding. Sun photo by Don Moore
D-Day was June 15, 1944. It was the baptism of fire for the crew of the new attack transport USS Comet (APA-166) off Saipan Island in the Pacific’s Marshall Islands chain during World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
Attleborough, B-17 Flying Fortress, B-24 Liberator, Norwich, RAF, St. Lo
In Distinguished Flying Cross, U.S. Air Force, Uncategorized, World War II on March 14, 2012 at 4:38 am
The crew of "Lucky Penny" a B-24 crew is being debriefed on the runway at their home base in England following their first bombing raid along the French coast on D-Day during the Second World War. Photo provided
Jimmy Stewart taught former 2nd Lt. Nick Radosevich of Englewood, Fla. how to fly a B-17 and B-24 bombers during World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
175th Artillery Company, 29th Infantry Division, D-Day, Elbe River, Fort Monmouth New Jersey, Normandy, Omaha Beach, Rhineland, St. Lo, Vierville
In U. S. Army, World War II on March 12, 2012 at 3:38 am
Pfc. Phil Lockwood is shown in his dress uniform shortly after returning from battle at the end of World War II. This picture was taken at the insistence of his mother at a local photo studio. Photo provided
Phil Lockwood of Port Charlotte, Fla. was in the 175h Artillery Company attached to the 29th Infantry Division that stormed Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944 spearheading the Allied invasion of Europe during World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
"Cob Speicher", "Task Force Lightning", 2nd Infantry Division, Indian Head Division, Iraq, Mosul, Schofield Barracks, Tikrit
In Iraq, U. S. Army on March 9, 2012 at 4:38 am
A soldier with the 1st Infantry Division watches for insurgents from the top of an eight-story hotel in Mosul with his M-4 rifle ready for use. With him is an Iraqi colonel learning how American forces fight. Army Photo by Spec. Bryanna Poulin
Specialist Bryanna Poulin of North Port, Fla. is a gung-ho Army reporter-photographer attached to the 25th Infantry Division station at a desert base called “Cob Speicher” just outside Tikrit — Saddam Hussein’s hometown. Read the rest of this entry »
Admiral "Bull" Halsey, Iwo Jima, Kamikazes, Leyte, Luzon, Okinawa, Philippine Sea, Sumner Class destroyers, Tokyo Rose, USS Mansfield, USS Willett
In U.S. Navy, World War II on March 7, 2012 at 4:38 am
Seaman Ken Rivers of Port Charlotte, Fla. is pictured in 1944 after graduating from boot camp at 17. He served aboard the destroyer, USS Mansfield (DD-728) in the Pacific during World War II. Photo provided
By the time Ken Rivers of Port Charlotte, Fla. was 20 he had taken part in seven major engagements in the Pacific in World War II aboard the destroyer USS Mansfield (DD-728), participated in the first naval battle of the war in Tokyo Bay and attended the Surrender Ceremony on Sept. 2, 1945 when the Japanese officially called it quits. Read the rest of this entry »
405th Fighter Group, 509th Fighter Squadron, 9th Air Force, Bastogne, Battle of the Bulge, Brig. Gen. Anthony McAuliffe, Distinguished Unit Badge, P-47 Thunderbolt, Patton's 3rd Army, Stukas
In U.S. Air Force, World War II on March 5, 2012 at 4:38 am
At 23 2nd Lt. Bill Wells sits in the cockpit of his P-47 Thunderbolt fighter plane somewhere in Europe during World War II. He flew 50 combat missions providing air support for ground troops during the war. Photo provided
For their support of Gen. George Patton ‘s 3rd Army that stopped the German offense in World War II at Bastogne, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge , 2nd Lt. Bill Wells’ P-47 Thunderbolt squadron received a Presidential Unit Citation. Read the rest of this entry »
Admiral Chester Nimitz, Admiral Isoroko Yamamoto, Battle of the Coral Sea, Mapanese Naval Code, Midway, USS Hammann, USS Yorktown
In U.S. Navy, World War II on March 2, 2012 at 4:38 am
David Clarke is pictured in his Petty Officer's uniform. He served as a dive-bomber pilot aboard the carrier USS Yorktown before she was sunk at the Battle of Midway. Photo provided
David Clarke of Punta Gorda, Fla. says he was one of the U.S. Navy’s best kept secrets during World War II. He was an enlisted man flying a Douglas Dauntless Dive-bomber off the deck of the USS Yorktown (CV-5). His squadron VB-3 helped sink four Japanese aircraft carriers during the Battle of Midway, the most crucial Pacific naval engagements in the Second World War. Read the rest of this entry »
Cau Lon River, River Division 41, Riverine Infantry, Tango Boat-1277
In U.S. Navy, Vietnam on February 29, 2012 at 4:38 am
This boat was similar to Tango Boat-1277 that Soan Ngo and Jim Milstead skippered during the Vietnam War in 1971. Photo provided
Forty years after rockets rained down on their Tango Boat operating in South Vietnam’s Cau Lon River delta country, killing or wounding all seven crew members, Soan Ngo, skipper of the beleaguered boat, and Jim Milstead, his American advisor, were recently reunited in Venice, Fla. thanks to the efforts of a friend and the internet. Read the rest of this entry »
5th Marine Division, Iwo Jima, Lou Lowrey, Mount Suribachi, Rosenthal
In U.S. Marine Corps, World War II on February 27, 2012 at 4:38 am
This is Russell Holland's Parris Island graduation picture taken in Nov. 1943 according to the information at the bottom of the photograph. He is the Marine holding the M-1 rifle in the top row 2nd from the right. Photo provided
Russell Holland of Punta Gorda Isles, Fla. was a corporal in the 5th Marine Division on Feb. 19, 1945, when his unit went ashore on the first day of the battle for Iwo Jima. It was one of the major battles in the Pacific during the closing months of World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
"Kaiser Coffin", Admiral Chester Nimitz, Ford Island, Kwajalein, Leyete Gulf, Navy Cross, Pearl Harbor, Saipan, USS Enterprise, USS West Virginia, USS Windham Bay, Wheeler Field
In Pearl Harbor Survivor, U.S. Navy, World War II on February 24, 2012 at 4:38 am
Baker 3rd Class Dale Augerson is pictured with his new bride Betty Jane Boyle in New York City Nov. 26, 1945. Photo provided
When the Japanese attacked the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941, Baker 3rd Class Dale Augerson had just put a batch of apple pies in the oven aboard the battleship USS West Virginia. The battleship was moored at “Battleship Row,” together with most of the fleet’s other capital ships. Read the rest of this entry »
Airborne Early Warning Squadron, Argentia Naval Air Station, Great Lakes Naval Training Center, Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Super Constellation
In Cold War, U.S. Navy on February 22, 2012 at 4:38 am
George Burger (left) of Port Charlotte, Fla. wanted to be a Naval aviator, but ended up as a radar operator aboard a Super Constellation flying out of a base in Canada during the "Cold War." He's pictured with his buddy Don Fitzik shortly after they got out of boot camp at Great Lakes. Photo provided
George Burger of Rotonda, near Port Charlotte, Fla., was a radar operator aboard a four-engine Navy Super Constellation patrol plane flying out of Argentia Naval Air Station, Newfoundland in the mid 1950s during the “Cold War” searching for Soviet missiles and submarines as a member of Airborne Early Warning Squadron 13. Read the rest of this entry »
Atlantic Fleet, Hard Hat Diver, Jinsen Korea, Okinawa, Panama Canal, Pearl Harbor, Tientsin China, USS Montague
In U.S. Navy, World War II on February 20, 2012 at 4:38 am
Ed Blissick of Port Charlotte, Fla. is pictured as a 19-year old Navy deep water diver assigned to diving school at Pier 88 in New York City in 1943. Photo provided
Just like Mr. Roberts, who served aboard the USS Reluctant, Seaman 1st Class Ed Blissick of Gardens of Gulf Cove near Port Charlotte, Fla. served on a similar attack transport, the USS Montague, AKA-98, during the final months of World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
305th Bomb Group, 422 Bomb Squadron, 8th Air Force, B-17 Flying Fortress, bombardier, Distinguished Flying Cross, General Curtis Lemay
In Distinguished Flying Cross, U. S. Army, World War II on February 17, 2012 at 4:38 am
2nd Lt. Ed Lukach of Port Charlotte, Fla. is pictured with his wings shortly after graduating from bombardier school in 1944. He flew 30 combat mission in 8th Air Force during World War II. Photo provided
Like a lot of other young men his age, Ed Lukach wanted to be a pilot when he signed up at 19 for the Army’s Aviation Cadet Program in 1942 near the start of World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
"Sky Queen", "The Widow Maker", 387th Bomb Group, 559th Squadron, 9th Air Force, B-26 "Marauder", Bois D' Esquerdo, Carlstrom Field, Focke Wulf-190, Stearman PT-17 "Kaydet"
In U.S. Army Air Force, World War II on February 15, 2012 at 4:38 am
2nd Lt. Ochen of Venice, Fla. is pictured in his leather flight jacket a life time ago during World War II. Photo provided
This interview first appeared in the Charlotte Sun newspaper, Port Charlotte, Fla. on Sunday, March 5, 2006 and is republished with permission.
Learning to fly a Stearman PT-17 “Kaydet” fabric-covered, two-seat biplane at Carlstrom Field in Arcadia, Fla. in 1943 was a far cry from piloting a B-26 “Marauder” twin-engine attack bomber against a heavily fortified German bridge during the closing months of World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
Chichi Jima, hinomaru yosegaki, Hiroshima, Iwo Jima, Marshall Islands, Okinawa, USS Bennington
In U.S. Navy, World War II on February 13, 2012 at 4:38 am
Don Fowler of Rotonda, Fla. holds a Japanese Army rifle and a flag he got in Tokyo while serving aboard the carrier USS Bennington during World War II. Sun photo by Don Moore
Don Fowler was born in Arcadia in 1925.
“I was going to graduate from DeSoto County High School in 1943, but I joined the Navy to see the world that March,” Fowler, who lives in Rotonda, Fla. said more than six decades later. Read the rest of this entry »
20th Air Corps, 22nd Bombardment Group, 2nd Bombardment Squadron, B-24, B-25 "Mitchell" attack bomber, Cape Canaveral, Owi Island, Patrick Air Force Base, Schouten island group, Strategic Air Command
In Strategic Air Command, U.S. Army Air Force on February 10, 2012 at 4:38 am
Hager Blair pictured as a young Air Force recruit shortly after he joined the service during World War II. Photo provided
Hager Blair of Quails Run condominium in Englewood, Fla. was a Kentucky country boy who lied about his age and joined the Army at 16. After graduating from radio school, he volunteered for aerial gunnery school and ended up in 1942 taking gunnery training in Fort Myers, Fla. Read the rest of this entry »
3rd Marine Division, 3rd Marine Headquarters, China Beach, Coast Guard Reserve, Da Nang, Hanoi Jane, Operation Starlite, Vietnam
In U.S. Marine Corps, Vietnam on February 8, 2012 at 4:38 am
Skip Libby is pictured in his Marine Corp graduation picture taken in 1963 after surviving Parris Island, S.C. boot camp. He was among the first Marines to be sent to Vietnam in 1965. Photo provided
Two days after graduating from high school in 1963 Skip Libby of La Casa mobile home park in North Port, Fla. joined the Marines and went to Parris Island, S.C. for basic training. Two years later he was sent to Vietnam as a member of the 3rd Marine Division, the first division of Marines in country. Read the rest of this entry »
101 Airborne Division, 17th Air Cavalry Regiment, 1st Division, 2nd Battalion, A-Shau Valley, B-Troop, Distinguished Flying Cross, Landing Zone X-Ray, Little Bird Helicopter, UH-1H Helicopter
In Distinguished Flying Cross, U. S. Army, Vietnam on February 6, 2012 at 4:38 am
Mike Goff of Punta Gorda, Fla. was a member of the "Banshees," B-Troop, 2nd Battalion of the 17th Cavalry, in Vietnam. Mel Gibson, on this poster, plays Lt. Col. Hal Moore in the new movie "We Were Soldiers," which opened at the Regal Cinemas in Port Charlotte this week-end. Sun photo by Michael McLoone
Warrant Officer Mike Goff never saw “The Valley of Death.” He wasn’t one of the 400 soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Division surrounded and attacked by 2,000 North Vietnam soldiers at the La Drang Valley in mid-November 1965. Read the rest of this entry »
Battle of Leyte Gulf, Battle of the Philippine Sea, Guam, Honshu, Iwo Jima, Kwajalein, Majuro, Nansei Shoto, Okinawa, Saipan, Truk
In U.S. Navy, World War II on February 3, 2012 at 4:38 am
Seaman 2/C John Wisse is pictured at 20 in his Navy dress uniform. Photo provided
It wasn’t the bombing of the carrier USS Franklin off the coast of Japan on March 19, 1945, or the attack by 31 Kamikazes on the four destroyers leading the Franklin’s task force off Okinawa on April 14, 1945, that John Wisse of Rotonda, Fla. considers his worst day in World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
1st Army Radio Intelligence Company, Battle of the Bulge, Black Forest, Buchenwald, Eisenhower, Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt, Malmedy Massacre, St. Vith
In U. S. Army, World War II on February 1, 2012 at 4:38 am
Ray Walker of Punta Gorda, Fla. holds a "SECRET" Army document from World War II. It shows that Gen. Dwight Eisenhower knew the Germans were about to launch the "Battle of the Bulge", their biggest offensive on the Western Front. Sun photo by Don Moore
Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, supreme commander of Allied forces in Europe in World War II, knew a couple of weeks ahead of time the Germans were planning the huge offensive that became known as the “Battle of the Bulge,” according to Raymond Walker of Punta Gorda, Fla. Read the rest of this entry »
Cal Tech, Hawk Missle, International Space Station, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Quan Loi, U.S. Army War College
In U. S. Army, Vietnam on January 30, 2012 at 4:38 am
For more than 50 years Ray Starsman of Punta Gorda, Fla. and his family served as career officers in the U.S. Army and Navy. Here his grandson, Raymond (center) graduates from Virginia Military Institute in 2010 a Army 2nd lieutenant. He is flanked by his father, Scott (a Navy Commander, left) and grandfather, Ray (an Army colonel). Father and grandfather pinned the new lieutenant's bars on his shoulders. Photo provided
Producing the manual for designing the International Space Station was the most important and satisfying job Col. Ray Starsman of Punta Gorda, Fla. ever had during a long and varied working career. Read the rest of this entry »
1st Battalion, 1st infantry Division, 271st Vietcong Regiment, 5th Artillery, Big Red 1, Colonel Alexander Haig, Delta Battery, Ong Thanh, Quan Loi, Tet Offensive, The Black Lions
In Bronze Star, U. S. Army, Vietnam on January 27, 2012 at 4:38 am
Col. Ray Starsman of Punta Gorda Isles is pictured in Vietnam in 1967 when he was a captain in command of Delta Battery, 1st Battalion, 5th Artillery, 1st Infantry Division. He was in charge of six, 105 millimeter Howitzers and the men who serviced the big guns. Photo provided
“I was a 27-year-old captain who commanded Delta Battery, 1st Battalion, 5th Field Artillery, 1st Division. That battery was the longest serving unit in the history of ‘The Big Red One.’ It went back to the Revolutionary War when its original commander was Alexander Hamilton,” the 72-year-old retired Punta Gorda, Fla. bird colonel said. “That was kinda cool.” Read the rest of this entry »
129th Regiment, Battle of Fredericksburg, Fredericksburg VA, General Ambrose Burnside, Mary's heights, Pennsylvania Volunteers, Prospect Hill, Rappahannock River, Robert E. Lee
In American Civil War on January 25, 2012 at 4:38 am
Capt. Herbert Thomas, Charles Bright's great-grandfather, was twice-wounded while leading a charge of Union forces at Mary's Heights, Va. during the American Civil War. Photo provided
When Charles Bright, a 90-year-old Port Charlotte, Fla. World War II veteran was a child, his great-aunt gave him a “Valor Certificate” written, signed and presented to Capt. Herbert Thomas, his great-grandfather, by his battalion commander, Col. Jacob G. Frick after the Civil War. Read the rest of this entry »
American Legion, German submarine, Liberty Ships, USS Amick, Victory Ships
In U.S. Navy, World War II on January 23, 2012 at 4:38 am
Jefferson Askew of Southport Square in Port Charlotte, Fla. is pictured when he was a chief petty officer in 1944. He served aboard the destroyer escort USS Amick (DE-168) during World War II. Photo provided
Jefferson Askew joined the Navy at age 23 in 1940, almost a year before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. By war’s end, he had made 38 trips across the Atlantic in a minuscule destroyer escort, the USS Amick, helping to protect 150-ship convoys making the hazardous voyage to Europe during World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
DEW Line, Great Lakes Naval, Guantanamo Bay, Panama Canal, Thule Greenland, USS Antietam CV-36, USS Belle Grove, USS San Marcos
In Korean War, U.S. Navy on January 20, 2012 at 4:38 am
Otis Manchester of North Port, Fla. is pictured shortly after graduating from boot camp at Great Lakes shortly before the Korean War started. He was a skinny, 19-year-old fireman apprentice. Photo provided
Otis Manchester of North Port, Fla. always wanted to go to sea and see the world. His father had served in the U.S. Navy during World War I and he volunteer for the Navy a year before the start of the Korean War. Read the rest of this entry »
316th Troop Carrier Group, 44th Troop Carrier Wing, 9th Air Force, C-47 Transport, D-Day, Fairchild PT-19A, Lands End, Operation Market Garden
In U.S. Air Force, World War II on January 18, 2012 at 4:38 am
Cadet Ted Weatherhead of Englewood stands on the wing of a Fairchild PT-19A, two-seat trainer at an airfield near Uvalde,Texas, 70 miles west of San Antonio, where he took preliminary flight training in 1943 during World War II. It was the home town of John Nance Garner, IV. FDR's first vice president. Photo provided
Ted Weatherhead was a 21-year-old green 2nd lieutenant and co-pilot of a C-47, twin-engine, transport plane — a member of the 316th Troop Carrier Group, 44th Troop Carrier Wing, 9th Air Force — that dropped 19 fully-equipped 101st Airborne paratroopers behind enemy lines on D-Day hours before the June 6, 1944 Allied invasion of Normandy in World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
Bougainville, Dauntless Dive Bomber, Marine Dive Bomber Squadron 234, Munda Island, New Britain Solomon Islands, Pappy Boyington, Rabaul, World War II Victory Medal
In Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart, U.S. Marine Corps, World War II on January 16, 2012 at 4:38 am
This was Robert Martin at 18 when he ws a member of Marine Dive Bomber Squadron 234, which fought in the Pacific during the Second World War. Photo provided
More than 60 years ago, former Sgt. Robert Martin of Englewood, Fla. was a back seat gunner in a Douglas Dauntless SBD single-engine dive bomber flying against Japanese fortifications on Bougainville in the New Georgia Islands in the Pacific during World War II. He was a member of Marine Dive Bomber Squadron 234. Read the rest of this entry »
Black Watch Regiment, Drake Barracks London, HMCS Bayfield, HMCS Saguena, Isle of Wright
In World War II on January 13, 2012 at 4:38 am
Francis Currie served aboard the Canadian Destroyer Saguenay that took part in the search for the Battleship Bismark after the German ship sunk the English battle-cruiser HMS Hood. Photo provided
Francis Currie of Port Charlotte, Fla.was 15 years old when he joined “The Ladies From Hell,” the Canadian Blackwatch Regiment, in 1938 a year before England declared war on Germany beginning World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
Borneo, Brunei Bay, Frogman, Iwo Jima, James Forrestal, Nagasaki, Okinawa, UDT
In Bronze Star, U.S. Navy, World War II on January 11, 2012 at 4:38 am
Former Lt. j.g. Don Lumsden of Boca Royale, Englewood, Fla. is pictured off Borneo in the South Pacific during World War II. He was a "Frogman" returning from a reconnoiter of the Japanese-held island. Photo provided
At 90 Don Lumsden of Boca Royale subdivision in Englewood, Fla. has the distinction of being the oldest living “Frogman” in the United States of America. He learned about this honor a few days ago from Mike Howard, Director of the Seal Museum in Fort Pierce, Fla. Read the rest of this entry »
13th Air Force, 18th Fighter Group of the 12th Fighter Squadron, Lou Drendel/Aviation-Art.net, Mindanao, Nose art, P-38 Lightening
In U.S. Air Force, World War II on January 9, 2012 at 4:38 am
Twenty-year old 1st Lt. William Fowkes of Port Charlotte, Fla. stands beside his favorite airplane in all the world, "Billy's Filly," a P-38-L fighter he flew on 37 combat missions in the South Pacific during World War II. Photo provided by William Fowkes
“Billy’s Filly” is what he called her. She was the sleekest, most beautiful, best fighter plane there was in World War II, according to Col. William Fowkes of Punta Gorda, Fla., U.S. Air Force retired. Read the rest of this entry »
Carlstrom Field, Magdeburg Germany, P-51 Mustang, Pittsburgh Smoker II, Stalag Luft 1, Stearman PT-19
In U.S. Air Force, World War II on January 6, 2012 at 4:38 am
Second Lt. Al Zimmerman flew a P-51 Mustang fighter in the 355 Fighter Group in Europe during World War II.
A gorgeous but lethal P-51 Mustang fighter plane knifing its way through puffy white clouds seemed to fly off the wall at De Carter Brown’s Port Charlotte studio. Read the rest of this entry »
4th Battalion 12th Marine Regiment, American University - Washington D.C., Annapolis, Camp LeJeune, DMZ, Leatherneck, Parris Island, Phu Bai, USS Missouri
In U.S. Marine Corps, Vietnam on January 4, 2012 at 4:38 am
Capt. John Campbell is shown when he worked for the Marine Corps in the Philadelphia, Pa. area during the 1950s. He served 28 years in the Corps. Photo provided
John Campbell was gung-ho to join the Marine Corp. He quit high school in his sophomore year at 17 and became a “Leatherneck” in 1946. Read the rest of this entry »
Banda Sea, Tachibana Maru, USS Charrette, USS Conner
In U.S. Navy, World War II on January 2, 2012 at 4:38 am
Harry Allcroft of Port Charlotte, Fla. holds a Japanese caarbine and a samurai sword he "liberated" from some of the contraband found aboard the Japanese hospital ship Tachibana Maru. Sun photo by Don Moore
The Tachibana Maru was the only Japanese ship captured under sail by the U.S. Navy during World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
