Archive for the ‘Bronze Star’ Category
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 »
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 »
1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Division, 8th Regiment, Company D
In Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Silver Star, U. S. Army, Vietnam War on December 7, 2011 at 4:38 am
Walter Levasseur of Rotonda holds a board containing his Army military decorations. Included are two Purple Hearts, a Silver Star, two Bronze Stars and an Air Medal. Sun photo by Don Moore
Walter Levasseur a former master sergeant in the U.S. Army, served two tours of duty in Vietnam in 1967 and 1970. By the time he was through, he had received the Purple Heart with an oak leaf cluster for being wounded a second time, the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars — one for valor the other for meritorious service — and the Air Medal for going on 25 combat missions in a helicopter. Read the rest of this entry »
3rd Marine Division, 4th marine Regiment, Hotel COmpany 2nd Battalion, Landing Zone Blue, Operation Starlite
In Bronze Star, Presidential Unit Citation, Purple Heart, U.S. Marine Corps, Vietnam War on November 25, 2011 at 4:38 am
Pvt. Jim Mazy of Englewood, Fla. is pictured as an 18-year-old Marine who took part in the first major battle in Vietnam involving American forces called “Operation Starlite” on Aug. 18, 1965. Photo provided
Jim Mazy, who lives south of Englewood, Fla. was a radio operator in Hotel Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division. He was wounded in “Operation Starlite,” the first major battle of the Vietnam War between American forces and the Viet Cong near Chu Lai, South Vietnam in 1965. Read the rest of this entry »
1st Armored Division, Ann-Margaret, Bob Hope, Desert Shield, IBM, Kuwait, Long Binh, Tet Offensive
In Bronze Star, U. S. Army, Vietnam on October 31, 2011 at 4:38 am
Ed Vuolo of Port Charlotte, Fla. is pictured as a 19-year-old soldier in Vietnam in 1968. He's ready for war with his rifle, body armor and steel helmet standing outside a bunker at Long Binh, headquarters for all Army activities in Southeast Asia. Photo provided
Ed Vuolo grew up on Long Island, NY, graduated from high school in 1966 and two years later he was drafted into the U.S. Army. Read the rest of this entry »
Ghazni Afghanistan, NATO, st Military Intelligence Battalion
In Afghanistan War, Bronze Star, U. S. Army on September 19, 2011 at 4:38 am
Sgt. 1st Class Larry Reyes in Afghanistan. he served there with the 301st Military Intelligence Battalion. Photo provided
Sgt. 1st Class Larry Reyes was recovering several years ago from injuries sustained in a tour with the 301st Military Intelligence Battalion that returned from Afghanistan. He and his wife, Michele, were vacationing at the home of his mother, Linda Reyes, in North Port, Fla.. Read the rest of this entry »
2nd Infantry Division, 38th Parallel, Korea, Operation Killer
In Bronze Star, Korean War, Presidential Unit Citation, Purple Heart on August 31, 2011 at 4:38 am
Sol Shuman looks at his military commendations. He was wounded in the Korean War by an enemy mine. Sun photo by Don Moore
Sol Shuman of Lake Suzy, east of Port Charlotte, Fla., was a platoon sergeant in the Indian Head Division, 2nd Infantry Division that went to Inchon, North Korea with Gen. Douglas MacArthur and his troops, in January 1951. Mac Arthur was headed for China. Read the rest of this entry »
142nd Signal Battalion, 17th Cavalry 101st Airborne Division, 2nd Armored Division, Cam Rahn Bay, Fort Hood, Screaming Eagles
In Bronze Star, National Guard, Purple Heart, U. S. Army, Vietnam War on August 1, 2011 at 4:38 am
Pat Farino of Port Charlotte, Fla. is pictured in his dress uniform when he returned in 1968 from his second tour of duty in Vietnam. He served with the 101st Airborne Division in 'Nam. (Photo provided)
Pat Farino of Port Charlotte, Fla. went to Vietnam in 1968 with the 101st Airborne Division. He was a 22-year-old airborne trooper who served with the ‘Screaming Eagles’. Read the rest of this entry »
1st Cavalry Division, Black Virgin Mountain, Huey helicopters, Michelin Rubber Plantation, Tay Ninh, Three Corps
In 1st Calvary, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, U. S. Army, Vietnam War on June 13, 2011 at 4:38 am
Pfc. John Zajdlik stands in front of a 155 millimeter Howitzer at Tay Ninh, Vietnam during his tour in 1968-69 with the 1st Cavalry Division. Photo provided.
John Zajdlik had a reason to dislike the Communists. He and his family escaped Communist rule when they took control of his Czechoslovakian homeland shortly after the end of World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
95th Medical Gas Treatment Battalion, Battle of the Bulge, Battle of the Hurtgen Forest, Patton's 3rd Army
In Bronze Star, U. S. Army, World War II on May 13, 2011 at 4:38 am
Andrew Napolitano inspects a Bronze Star he received by mail from the Department of the Army several years ago. He served in WWII, but he has no idea why he was awarded the medal. Sun photo by Don Moore
Although he served as a private in a medical unit in Gen. George Patton’s 3rd Army, took part in the “Battle of the Bulge” and the Hurtgen Forest Campaign, two of the worst battles on the Western Front, what Andrew Napolitano of Venice, Fla. remembers most about World War II is a small bell he took from an English pub.
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Ben Het, Camp 101, Green Beret, Hanoi Hilton, MIA/POW, Montagnards, POW Camp 101, Radio Hanoi, US Army Special Forces
In Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Silver Star, U. S. Army, Vietnam War on May 11, 2011 at 4:38 am
Stephen Leopold shakes hands with his father, Charles, at their first meeting in almost five years after his release from a North Vietnamese POW camp at the end of the Vietnam War in 1973. Photo provided
POW Camp 101 is what it was called. The camp was a hell hole located 20 miles outside Hanoi, North Vietnam. It’s where 100 American MIAs languished during the Vietnam War and nobody in the United States knew they were there.
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Ben Het, Camp 101, Green Beret, Hanoi Hilton, MIA/POW, Montagnards, Radio Hanoi, US Army Special Forces
In Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Silver Star, U.S. Air Force, Vietnam War on May 9, 2011 at 4:38 am
Stephen Leopold in a Green Beret uniform (right) given him at Clark Air Force base in the Philippines shakes hands in 1973 with base officers. He had been released days earlier from a North Vietnamese POW camp after almost five years in prison. Photo provided
It made no difference that 23-year-old 2nd Lt. Stephen Leopold was a Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University who served as a member of the U.S. Army’s elite Special Forces in Vietnam. Three weeks after arriving in country he was captured by the North Vietnam Army near Ben Het, in the jungles of Two Corps, May 9, 1968.
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2nd Infantry Division, 457th Medical Collecting Company, Ardennes Forest, Battle of the Bulge, Belgium, Malmedy Massacre
In Bronze Star, World War II on April 20, 2011 at 4:38 am
Members of the 2nd Infantry Division struggle to survive in the snow during the Battle of the Bulge. It was the largest battle on the Western Front in World War II. Photo provided
Combat Medic Sgt. Larry Earle was freezing his backside off in December 59 years ago.
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Cam Rahn Bay, Central Highlands Vietnam, Hue, Montagnards
In 1st Cavalry, Bronze Star, U. S. Army, Vietnam War on April 11, 2011 at 4:38 am
Sgt. Jim Surber helps his 1st Sergeant with his back pack during a sweep in the Central Highlands of Vietnam with the 1st Air Cavalry Division in 1967-68. Photo provided
Jim Surber was a dogface in Company D, 6th Battalion, 1st Air Cavalry Division in Vietnam from March 1967 to March ’68. He rode to war in Huey helicopters.
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Air Medal, Bronze Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, Laos, NATO, POW/MIA, Purple Heart, US NAval Academy, USS Nimitz, USS Ranger, Vought A7 Corsair II
In Bronze Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart, U.S. Navy, Vietnam War on April 8, 2011 at 4:38 am
Lt. Comdr. Barton Creed was shot down over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in an A-7 fighter-bomber like the one pictured. He survived the ejection from the jet plane and was last heard from by the unsuccessful rescue party that tried to pluck him from the Laos jungle. Art by Lou Drendel/Aviation-Art.net
The cheap, cerise-colored, aluminum bracelet on her right arm was battered and worn. Every day for the past 25 years, Vera Creed of Port Charlotte, Fla. has had it on.
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Inchon, Korean Peninsula, McArthur, OCS, Women's Air Raid Defense
In Bronze Star, Korean War, U. S. Army, Vietnam War, World War II on March 7, 2011 at 3:38 am
Kil Kilcauley is flanked by his two young daughters sitting on the steps of his mother-in-laws' Honolulu home in the 1950s. At the left is Linda and Karen is at the right. Photo provided
Kil Kilcauley of North Port has seen a lot of life in his 97 years of living. He’s fought in three of this country’s wars–World War II, Korea and Vietnam–and lived to tell about it. Read the rest of this entry »
Amphibious School, Cold War, Cuba, FALN Communist, Havana Harbor, Hydrofoils, Key West, USS Black, USS Farragut, USS Radford, USS Salmon, USS SKate, USS Wimble
In Bronze Star, Cold War, U.S. Navy, World War II on January 26, 2011 at 4:38 am
Retired Navy Captain Jim McKinney holds a picture of the hydrofoil guided missile boats he commanded in Key West in the 1980s. On he shelf beside him are pictures of his son, Brad in the foreground who is also a Navy captain; himself and his father, Eugene McKinney who was an Admiral who served in the submarines service in World War II. Photo provided
Jim McKinney is a Navy man. So was his father and so is his son.
Jim was a career naval officer who served during the Cold War as a commodore of a squadron of hydrofoil boats in Key West equipped with Harpoon, ship-to-ship guided missiles. His father, Adm. Eugene McKinney, was skipper of two World War II submarines: the USS Salmon and the USS Skate. He received three Navy Crosses and a Silver Star for Valor for the combat missions he made. Brad, Jim’s oldest son, is the commander of the Explosive Ordinance Department at the Navy’s facility at Panama Beach.
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18th Infantry Division, 9th Armored Division, Aaken, D-Day, Easy Red, Fortress Europe, Omaha Beach, Patton's 3rd Army, Remagen, The Big Red 1
In Army, Bronze Star, Silver Star, World War II on December 10, 2010 at 4:38 am
American soldiers rush out of their landing craft toward the D-Day beach at Normandy on June 6, 1944. More than 8,000 would be killed or wounded that day. Photo provided
The citation accompanying his Bronze Star Medal reads:
“LAWRENCE G. SCHAEFERLE, CAPTAIN, Medical Detachment, 32nd Field Artillery Battalion. For heroic achievement in connection with military operations against the enemy in the vicinity of St. Laurent-sur-Mer, Normandy, France, 6 June, 1944. Although subjected to heavy enemy fire, Capt. Schaeferle remained on exposed beach, administering first aid and assisting in evacuation of the seriously wounded. His heroic devotion to duty saved many lives. Entitled to wear six bronze battle participation stars on European Theatre Ribbon for campaigns in Sicily, Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes, and Central Europe. Awarded the Bronze Star Medal for combat service in France and Bronze Service Arrowhead for Normandy Invasion.”
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251st Bomb Group, 724th Squadron, B-24 Liberator, Le Harve France, Prisoner of War, Stalag Luft #3, Strabing Germany, USS John Ericson, Wermach
In Bronze Star, Purple Heart, U.S. Air Force, World War II on November 8, 2010 at 4:38 am
This is 2nd Lt. Victor Barber's B-24 crew that first formed in Lincoln, N.B. where this picture was taken before flying to Europe and becoming part of a heavy bomber squadron in the 15th Air Force during World War II. Barber is standing in the rear at the far left. Photo provided.
Disaster struck on Friday 13, 1944 for 2nd Lt. Victor Barber a 21-year-old bombardier aboard a B-24 “Liberator” four-engine bomber flying from a base in Foggia, Italy. He was a member of the 251st Bomb Group, 724th Squadron, 15th Air Force.
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1st Marine Division, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, Da Nang, Echo Company, Nixon, Operation Hue City, Operation Osceola, Tet Offensive
In Bronze Star, Marines, Purple Heart, Vietnam War on October 22, 2010 at 4:38 am
Cpl. Charles Shaughnessy is pictured with his hunter-killer squad in 1968 at their marine base in Vietnam. He’s the leatherneck at the top left in the picture. Photo provided
“Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division was a black flag outfit. We were a skull and crossbones unit comprised of assault hunter-killer teams. We took no prisoners,” Charles Shaughnessy, who saw considerable action in 1968 in Vietnam as a 20-year-old Marine corporal and squad leader, said.
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274th Armored Artillery Battalion, Battle of the Bulge, Camp Lucky Strike, Hitler's Eagle's Nest, Siegfried Line, The Priest, Utah Beach
In Bronze Star, World War II on September 20, 2010 at 4:38 am
Sgt. Ralph Coffin (left) and a buddy stand at the Siegfried Line near Branshied, Germany during the 274th Field Artillery’s advance across Europe with the 3rd Army during World War II. Photo provided
Ralph Coffin fought all across Europe during World War II with the 274th Armored Artillery Battalion, part of Gen. George S. Patton’s 3rd Army. He landed in Normandy on Aug. 19, 1944 at St. Mere L’Eglise and fought from there to Avaranches and on to the Muese River by Sept. 1 and then to the famed fort at Verdun held by the Germans.
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5th Armored, 75th Medical Battalion, Ardennes, Battle of the Bulge, D-Day plus 6, Hurtgen Forest, Normandy, Patton's 3rd Army, Remagen, Rhineland, River Elbe, St. Lo, Utah Beach
In Army, Bronze Star, World War II on August 18, 2010 at 4:38 am
Sgt. Ed Erving of Port Charlotte, Fla. is pictured at the wheel of his ambulance somewhere in Germany during World War II. Photo provided
He landed on Utah Beach on D-Day plus 6, took part in the breakout at St. Lo, the Battle of the Bulge, Hurtgen Forest, Remagen and stopped at the Elbe River near Berlin at war’s end.
Edwin Erving of Port Charlotte, Fla. was trained as an ambulance driver and medic attached to the 5th Armored Division in World War II. He landed at Utah Beach in Normandy, France on D-Day plus 6 with the 5th Armored.
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534th Engineering Boat and Shore Regiment, Camp Gordon Johnson, General Mac Arthur, Higgins Boats, Lingayen GUlf, Luzon, USS West Point
In Bronze Star, U. S. Army on August 16, 2010 at 5:00 am
This picture was taken in 1946 when George Sheldon was a corporal getting out of the Army after serving three years in the South Pacific with Gen. Douglas MacArthur. Photo provided
A year after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, dragging the United States into World War II, George Sheldon, who grew up in Haverhill, Mass., joined the Army and eventually ended up in an amphibious brigade.
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Airborne Ranger, Command Control North, Green Beret, Montagnard, Presidential Unit Citation, S.O.G., Special Services
In Bronze Star, Presidential Unit Citation, Purple Heart, Silver Star, Vietnam War on July 9, 2010 at 6:00 am
Bills took this picture of one of his Montagnard recon teams with several of his American teammates. The Montagnards were particularly good jungle fighters who hated the Vietnamese.
John Rambo has nothing on Mark Bills.
The Venice, Fla. dentist was once a member of an elite, secret Army Special Forces group dropped behind enemy lines during the Vietnam War.
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508th Regimental Combat Team, Airborne Ranger, Aldershop, Big Red 1, General DePuy, Greenbrier Military Institute, Kentucky Military Institute, Lt. Col. Alexander Haig, Virginia Military Institute, Walter Reed Hospital
In Bronze Star, Korean War, Silver Star, Vietnam War on May 10, 2010 at 6:00 am
Lt. Col. Rufus Lazzell of Punta Gorda Isles, Fla., commander of the U.S. Army’s 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Division tells Gen. William Westmoreland, commander of American troops in Vietnam, about the fire fight he and his men just had with the Viet Cong while some of the general’s staff listen. The 1967 shootout, in which a number of VC were killed, near Lai Khe, 40 miles north of Saigon. Photo provided
From the looks of him you’d never know Rufus Lazzell is a highly-decorated Airborne Ranger with two wars under his belt. He is a little guy with a matter-of-fact attitude who doesn’t spend much time talking about his military exploits in Korea or Vietnam decades ago. Read the rest of this entry »
511th Paratrooper Regiment, Bilibid Prison, Los Banos, Luzon Island, Tagaytay Ridge, Yokahama
In Bronze Star, Presidential Unit Citation, Purple Heart, World War II on April 14, 2010 at 6:00 am
This was Sass after graduating from jump school at Fort Benning, Ga. He joined the 511th Paratrooper Regiment serving in the Philippines.
Charles Sass is a former platoon sergeant with the 511th Paratrooper Regiment. He made three combat jumps on Luzon Island in the Philippines during World War II.
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