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 »
“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 »
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 »
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 »
This group of American prisoners were captured by the Chinese during the Korean war and shipped to the Soviet Union as POWs. They were released at the end of the war in 1953. Photo provided
Charlie Kukla arrived in Korea in June 1950 as a 19-year-old “grunt” in the 1st Marine Division.
Within a week he was a prisoner of war. Read the rest of this entry »
Maj. Fred Winterbottom of "The Village on the Isles" in Venice, Fla. is pictured when he served with NATO forces in Europe after World War II. Photo provided
Fred Winterbottom has been a soldier for most of his 92 years. Winterbottom, who lives at the Village on the Isles retirement complex in Venice, Fla. with his wife, Gwen, saw service in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. Read the rest of this entry »
2nd Lt. Will White served at Panmunjom POW exchange ending the Korean War. He was a public information officer working with the world press covering the event. Photo provided.
By the time 2nd Lt. Will White reached Korea in the fall of 1953 the war was over, but the repatriation of POWs at Panmunjom, North Korea was just getting started. The 22-year-old Army lieutenant served as a public information officer for the world press that came to the North Korean border crossing to cover the prisoner exchange. Read the rest of this entry »
Capt. George Hardy, standing second from the left, was co-pilot of a B-29 flying out of Kadina Air Base in Okinawa, Japan during the Korean War. They were part of the 28th Bomb Squadron, 19th Bomb Group. This was his first assignment following racial integration in the United States Air Force. Photo provided
EDITOR’S NOTE: Second of a two-part story.
When the Korean War broke out in June 1950 George Hardy’s World War II service was long behind him. He flew a P-51 “Mustang” in the 99th Fighter Squadron as a member of the Tuskegee Airmen, the all-black fighter group, during the Second World War. Read the rest of this entry »
This was 2nd Lt. George Hardy's graduating class at Tuskegee Army Air Field Sept. 9, 1944 standing in front of a P-39 "Aircobra" fighter. He is kneeling in the front row at the far left. Photo provided
EDITOR’S NOTE: First of a two-part story.
George Hardy of Sarasota, Fla. was a Tuskegee Airman. The retired lieutenant colonel began his military career as a member of the all-black 99th Fighter Squadron, flying 21 combat missions over Germany during the final two months before V-E Day in World War II in a P-51 “Mustang” fighter plane. Read the rest of this entry »
Jim Crowell received this commendation for valor while holding back an enemy advance with a Jeep-mounted machine gun during the 7th Infantry Division's retreat from the Chosin Reservoir in 1950 during the Korean War. Sun photo by Don Moore
Jim Crowell of Port Charlotte, Fla. was enjoying himself as an 18-year-old occupation soldier with the 7th Infantry Division in Japan when the Korean War broke out in June 1950. Over night the teenaged soldier was sent to Inchon, North Korea by ship, together with a division or two of infantry and a like number of U.S. Marines and told by Gen. Douglas MacArthur, in command of NATO Troops, to attack the North Koreans holding the shoreline. Read the rest of this entry »
Seaman Dorothy Arft of Harbor Cove mobile home park in North Port, Fla. is pictured in 1955 at 22 about the time she completed her four year hitch in the Navy. Photo provided
Dorothy Arft loves the Navy. She spent one four-year hitch in the service as a seaman and 29 years working as a civilian employee for the Navy. Read the rest of this entry »
Frank Bloom shortly after graduating from flight school during World War II. Photo provided
Frank Bloom joined the Marine Corps Aviation Cadet Program while still in high school and learned to fly F4U Corsair fighters during World War II. He was called back during the Korean War. Read the rest of this entry »
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 »
John Brophy of Heron Creek subdivision, North Port, Fla. was 21 when this picture was taken shortly after he graduated from boot camp at Fort Dix, N.J. in 1951. Photo provided
John Brophy of Heron Creek subdivision in North Port at 21 was 6-feet 3-inches tall and 120 pounds when drafted in 1951 during the Korean War. He was too skinny to fight. Read the rest of this entry »
This was 20-year-old 1st Sgt. Larry Haynes of North Port, Fla. after he returned from the Korean War in 1951. Note the Combat Infantryman's Badge on his chest and the Korean campaign ribbon with four battle stars signifying he fought in four major engagements. Photo provided
When the Korean War broke out in June 1950 Larry Haynes of North Port, Fla. was an 19-year-old Army corporal serving in H-Company, 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division in Japan. Read the rest of this entry »
At 21 he was taking Primary Flight Training at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas in 1948 when this picture was taken in his leather flying jacket, flying cap and goggles. Photo provided.
1st Lt. Richard Burns almost “bought the farm” on his 95th combat mission over North Korea in his F-84 “Thunderjet.” His squadron’s objective: knock out an enemy bridge. Read the rest of this entry »
For the past year, in addition to writing war stories about local veterans, I’ve provided DVD interviews of these same veterans to the Library of Congress’ “Veterans History Project.”
This week I reached a milestone in these interviews. A couple of days ago I sent 25 DVDs and supporting material on each disk to the Library of Congress. That’s a total for the year of 100 interviews, 100 DVDs the “Veterans History Project” has received since this time last year. Read the rest of this entry »
More reach is given to the long striking arm of the U.S. Air Force North American B-45C Tornado four-jet bomber, a "wing tip tank" version of the B-45. The tanks pack much more range into the Tornado's normal tactical radius of over 800 miles. Black paint on inside of tanks and engine nacelles reduce glare. The sleek bombers carry a payload of over 10 tons and are in the 550 miles per hour speed class.
David Wade of Overbrook Gardens in Englewood, Fla. was a crewman aboard a B-45 four-engine jet bomber during the Korean War era. It was this country’s first jet bomber after the Second World War designed specifically for a nuclear payload.
Wade returned from a tour in Korea and Japan and ended up at the Air Force base in Yuma Ariz. Col. James Jabara was base commander.
1st Lt. Rex Anderson is perched atop his F-86E "Sabre Jet" he flew on 100 combat missions during the Korean War. The picture was taken about the time the 20-year-old received his second Air Medal in 1951. Photo provided
1st Lt. Rex Anderson (Ret.) of Burnt Store Isles tangled with Russian MIG-15 fighters over the Yalu River in dogfights during the 100 combat missions he flew in an F-86 “Sabre Jet” during the Korea War. The commendation accompanying his second Air Medal he received doesn’t tell the whole story.
Eugene "Fuzzy" Fazekas of Spanish Lakes mobile home park in Nokomis, Fla. is pictured when he graduated from boot camp at Great Lakes Naval Training Center in 1944.
When Eugene “Fuzzy” Fazekas of Spanish Lakes mobile home park in Nokomis, Fla. sailed to war as a corpsman with Naval Advance Group 56 in 1944 he hadn’t been given any medical training. Read the rest of this entry »
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 »
Alex Magno is pictured about the time he was serving in the Army at 19-years-old during the Korean War. Photo provided.
Alex Magno was a 17-year-old Italian boy from Chicago who joined the Army and ended up in L-Company, 3rd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division in Korea a month after the Korean War broke out in June 1950.
Marine 1st Lt. Fred Holzweiss of Englewood, Fla. stands in front of a tracked vehicle while training during the Cold War in the 1950s. Photo provided
Fred Holzweiss of Englewood, Fla. was a first lieutenant in the 1st Engineering Battalion attached to the 1st Marine Division in Korea in 1953.
Pvt. Andy Ellul is pictured in uniform just before he came back from the Korean War shortly after the truce was signed in July 1953. He was a mortarman with the 461st Heavy Mortar Battalion. Photo provided
Andy Ellul of Emerald Point condos in Punta Gorda, Fla. arrived in this country from the island of Malta on Christmas Eve 1950 as a 21-year-old immigrant. He went to work for the Ford Motor Co. in Detroit. Two years later he found himself serving as a private in the 461st Heavy Mortar Battalion holding a defensive line along a river near the 38th Parallel that would separate North and South Korea.
Read the rest of this entry »
Sgt. Tim Bryant calls in an air strike on a North Korean target during the conflict t in the early 1950s. He served as a forward observer for the Air Force known as "Mosquitoes." Photo provided
Tim Bryant was a Mosquito. During the Korean War he served as a forward observer for the Air Force. He called in air strikes on the enemy with the help of a pilot in a World War II single-engine, two-seat T-6 training plane and a radio.
The ribbons on his chest show two battle stars, one for Pearl Harbor, the other for Midway. Photo provided
When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor shortly before 8 a.m., Dec. 7, 1941 George Hire was a Marine recovering from coral poisoning at the Naval Hospital. He was looking out the window while washing dishes and saw the first bomb hit the dry dock 100 yards from where he was standing.
Doug Gilchrist holds a dress dagger he was given by a World War II Kamikaze pilot as a token of the Japanese's pilot's admiration for the U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel's understanding of his former foe's feelings. Sun photo by Don Moore
U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Doug Gilchrist was waiting at the airport terminal in Tokyo in 1967 for a flight that would take him to the war in Vietnam when a chance encounter with a Japanese couple changed his life.
Gilchrist is pictured as a young lieutenant learning to fly a trainer in Texas at the end of the Korean War in the 1950s. Photo provided
Lt. Col. Doug Gilchrist was flying a four-engine C-130 Hercules cargo plane, used as a command ship, from a base in Thailand over North Vietnam when he came as close to “buying the farm” as he did during any of his 102 combat missions over enemy territory during the Vietnam War.
Jack Potter was 19 when this picture was taken after graduating from boot camp during the Korea War in 1950. Photo provided
Most of the time during the Korean War Jack Potter served as a coxswain aboard a LCM (landing craft) attached to the attack transport USS Andromeda (AKA-15). He made the second landing at Inchon, South Korea and brought Marines ashore in the first wave.
The Victoria Park is pictured at dockside. She was almost nailed by two German torpedoes one night in Rio de Janeiro Harbor during World War II. Photo provided.
At 90 Al Gosselin of Big Tree mobile home park in Arcadia, Fla. no longer remembers all the details of the 10 trips he made across the Atlantic and Pacific as a radioman aboard six freighters and one landing craft he served on during World War II. But there are instances aboard ship he still recalls as clear as a bell.
This is where Sgt. Tom Miller of Port Charlotte, Fla. set up his artillery spotting position north of the 38th Parallel that eventually divided North and South Korea. The position overlooked enemy troops. Photo provided
In Korea Sgt. Tom Miller was a forward artillery observer. It was a risky job because his observation outpost sat on the tallest hill in the area for all the world to see. Read the rest of this entry »
George Speidell of Port Charlotte looks at a picture of his grandfather who served in the U.S. Navy from 1900 to 1904. He is a guide and a member of the board of directors of the Military Heritage & Aviation Museum in Fisherman’s Village shopping center in Punta Gorda, Fla. where the picture is on exhibit. Sun photo by Don Moore
George Speidell was a “Snipe” aboard the USS Cushing, DD-797, during the Korean War. He worked as a throttle-man in the aft engine room on the Fletcher Class destroyer.
“I was 17 and a disenchanted junior in high school when I convinced my father and mother to let me joint the Navy in 1952,” the former 75-year-old Port Charlotte, Fla. sailor explained. “My grandfather and great-grandfather had been in the Navy and that’s where I wanted to be.” Read the rest of this entry »
John Arens is pictured in his Merchant Marine captain’s dress uniform in the 1970s when he was attached to the U.S. Navy. Note the Combat Infantryman’s Badge on his chest and his jump wings from his service in the Rangers during the Korean War. Photo provided by John Arens
John Arens served as a teenage Merchant Mariner in World War II, become an Airborne Ranger in the Korean War, graduated from diving school in the 1960s, spent 11 years as a Navy SCUBA diver in the Arctic before skippering a Navy spy ship during the Cold War and completed his 40-year military career as the captain of a fast transport ship during “Operation Desert Storm” in 1991.
Joe Rex was a lifer. He served 25 years in the U.S. Navy from World War II into the Vietnam War. He lives in Englewood, Fla. Photo provided
Joe Rex joined the U.S. Navy at 17 in February 1945 near the end of World War II. In 1970, twenty-five years later, he retired as a Master Chief Petty Officer.
Although he was in the service during the Second World War, he served aboard the destroyer, USS Mole –DD-693—at the start of the Korean War and served as a Mobile Electronic Technician near then end of his quarter century in the Navy, Rex’s finest hour may have been during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.
Sgt. Stan Smith is pictured at the left front with his platoon of lady Marines he trained during boot camp at Parris Island, S.C. in 1963. It was a learning experience for all involved. Photo provided
Master Gunny Sgt. Stan Smith of Venetian Lakes, south of Punta Gorda, hit the beach at Inchon with MacArthur early in the Korean War, marched up and back to the Chosen Reservoir with the 1st Marine Division and served with the 3rd Marine Division at Danang in 1965 as one of the first Marines units sent to Vietnam. However, his toughest assignment, during his 21 years in the Corps, may have been the two years he spent at Parris Island, S. C. as a boot camp drill instructor turning females into Marines. Read the rest of this entry »
Al Boyd’s plane, an F-8-F “Bearcat,” gets ready for takeoff from the deck of an unnamed aircraft carrier during World War II. Photo provided. Click on any image to enlarge.
After graduating in 1936 from Naval Aviation in Pensacola as an ensign, Capt. Al Boyd’s first assignment aboard the Battleship Tennessee was as a catapult pilot flying a pontoon spotter plane. Twenty –five years later, as a captain commanding a Navy base out west, he flew an F-4 “Phantom II” jet fighter-bomber faster than Mach-2 –1,700 miles per hour.
On Friday the ancient aviator will celebrate another milestone. He will be 100 years old. A birthday party is planned for him at Sterling House, an assisted living facility, in Punta Gorda where he and his wife, Betty, live.
“When you received your wings and were sent to sea there were two possibilities - a battleship or a carrier,” he recalled.
Since the Navy had only one carrier, the USS Langley, the chance of flying from the Langley’s 542-foot-long deck was slim. In Boyd’s case he was stationed aboard the Tennessee. He was catapulted in a “Kingfisher,” two-seat spotter plane, into the air from the stern of the battleship. His primary job was to report how the ship’s main guns were bearing on the enemy. In addition, these planes were used to search for downed pilots.
Two years later Boyd was transferred to the USS Ranger (CV-4).
“It was the first ship built originally as an aircraft carrier,” he said.
Al Boyd, who lives at Sterling House in Punta Gorda, looks at a picture of himself when he retired as Navy captain in 1965. He fought in World War II and Korea as a naval aviator. He celebrates his 100th birthday on Friday. Sun photo by Don Moore
At 769 feet in length, with a speed of 29 knots and a crew of 1,788 sailors the USS Ranger was a far cry from the Langley. The first carrier was more than 200 feet shorter in length with a top speed of 15 knots and a crew of 631 officers and men.
“When the war broke out I was sent to the Bahamas to work with the British on submarine patrol,” he said. “I was flying a Grumman F-4-F ‘Wildcat’ fighter on patrol.”
A while later Boyd began training pilots to fly Navy planes at Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Maryland. Much of his time during the Second World War was spent training potential pilots for battle.
By war’s end he was serving aboard the carrier USS Ranger in the Pacific. The carrier was primarily a training ship for newly commissioned carrier pilots. It operated in off the coast of California late in the war.
With the coming of the Korean War Cmdr. Boyd was operations officer of an F-4-F fighter squadron aboard a carrier sailing off North Korea. He can’t remember the name of the ship.
Before the war was over, he was transferred to the Naval War College in Newport, RI. A couple of years later Boyd served on Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s staff in Tokyo. Then he spent a couple of years in the Pentagon working for the Chief of Naval Operations.
After that he became commander of the Naval Weapons Facility at Kirtland Air Force Base near Albuquerque, N.M. It was there he flew the “Phantom II” at twice the speed of sound.
“When you reach the speed of sound there’s a ripple or vibration when your plane reaches that mark. It’s smooth flying from there to Mach-2 and beyond,” he said.
A small picture on his bedroom wall shows a pilot sitting in a jet on the tarmac with his canopy open. It reads: “Fast Man: Capt. A.L. Boyd, commanding officer of Naval Weapons Facility, just after a Mach-2 plus flight in a MacDonald ‘Phantom II.’”
Another plaque on his wall proclaims: “Know yea present on 29 July 1960 Capt. A.L. Boyd was the 7th pilot to fly the ‘Phantom II’.”
There is also a large picture of an F-6-F “Hellcat”on the deck of an unnamed carrier, presumably during World War II. On the side of the plane in yellow is stenciled: “Cmdr. A. L. Boyd.”
A commanding picture atop the montage on the wall shows him in a dress uniform with four gold bars on his shoulders. It’s his official retirement picture taken in 1965 when he retired. At the time he was the commander of Lake Mead Naval Base near Nellis Air Force Bases not far from Las Vegas, N.V.
After retiring from the service the Boyds spent five years living in the Norfolk, Va. area before moving to Punta Gorda Isles in 1972. He and Betty have been married 67 years.
Their big day Friday is when Al reaches the century mark.
This story was first printed in the Charlotte Sun newspaper Thursday, December 10, 2009 and is republished with permission.
Sgt. Gil Rynex of Lakewood Village mobile home park near Punta Gorda is pictured getting a firsthand look at an Australian fighter plane on a U.S. Air Force Base in Kunsan, South Korea during the Korean War. Photo provided
Former Sgt.Gil Rynex believes he was just about the luckiest soldier in the United States Air Force during the Korean War. Read the rest of this entry »
Beginning in February 1973 some 600 American aviators held in the Hanoi “Hilton” were released by their North Vietnamese captors. This is a picture of one of the POWs being reunited with his family. Photo provided by Russell Ogan
Second Lt. Russell Ogan was returning from a fighter sweep over the Battle of the Bulge flying low and slow because of the weather, in “Gloria May,” his P-47 “Thunderbolt,” when his fighter took a direct hit from enemy ground fire. Read the rest of this entry »
Second Lt. Ron Freeman, 48th Artillery Battalion attached to the 7th Infantry Division, stands in the doorway of his observation post near Pork Chop Hill during the closing months of the Korean War. Photo provided.
More than 50 years after the rifles fell silent and the cannon fire ceased in the hills north of the 38th Parallel dividing North and South Korea, no one who was there seems to know why both sides put so much stock in controlling Pork Chop Hill during the closing months of the Korean War. Read the rest of this entry »
Cpl. Lou Repko is at the wheel of the Jeep during the first day of the Korean War. Repko winters in Craig’s RV Park near Arcadia, Fla. Click on any image to enlarge.
About Life’s cover shot
“The first U.S. infantry outfit to shed blood in the Korean War was the 24th ‘Victory’ Division. Three of these men are shown aboard a jeep in Korea. Last week the men of the 24th fought heroically to hold the key city of Taejon against superior Communist forces. They were forced to retreat under murderous fire after their communications broke down. Their commander was reported missing and the enemy had surrounded and infiltrated the town. Organized in 1929 as the ‘Hawaiian Division’ it was renamed the 24th in 1941 and some of its elements were bombed at Pearl Harbor. It won its nickname for helping to liberate the Philippines in 1944.”
It’s not often a G.I. make the front cover of Life magazine. Read the rest of this entry »
Maj. Robert Black received the Silver Star for valor in 1968 during the Vietnam War. It is this nation’s third highest award for heroism under fire. He first served in the Korean War as a member of the 8th Airborne Ranger company and in Vietnam as a military advisor in Long An Province. Photo provided.
A Ranger Born tells the story of a man of arms.
Col. Robert Black, a highly decorated Korean and Vietnam War soldier wrote a book about his military adventures. Read the rest of this entry »
Lt. Col. John Dyer stands in front of a “Gooney Bird,” a C47 transport plane, at Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam. These legendary transports first flew in the 1930s and saw service in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. They’re still being used in many countries around the world.
Lt. Col. John Dyer had no idea the planeload of .50-caliber machine-gun ammunition he flew to Tonsonnhute Airport in Saigon was part of a CIA plot to topple the Ngo Dinh Diem government in South Vietnam. Read the rest of this entry »
Sgt. Joe Quick, an Errol Flynn look-alike, is pictured before he shipped overseas at the start of the Korean War in June 1950.
Joe Quick is one of “The Chosin Few”.
He’s one of the members of the 7th Regiment, 1st Marine Division that led the way up and back from the Chosin Reservoir during the early months of the Korean War. For nearly eight long weeks, Quick and 20,000 other U.S. Marines braved overwhelming enemy odds in sub-zero weather fighting day and night, often completely surrounded by Chinese and North Korean forces. Read the rest of this entry »
Pfc. Hector Cafferata of Venice, Fla. is pictured with the Medal of Honor. He will tell you he was no hero; he was just saving his backside when he killed over 100 enemy soldiers in the battle for “Fox Hill” during the early months of the Korean War.
Pvt. Hector Cafferata was a 20-year-old green Marine replacement. He joined Fox Company’s 2nd Platoon a few days before the first wave of Chinese troops attacked his listening post at the Toktong Pass in North Korea that cold November night half a century ago during the early months of the Korean War. Read the rest of this entry »
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 »
Lt. Charles P. Bailey Sr. of Punta Gorda, Fla. in 1943 upon graduating as a Tuskegee Airman. The Germans called his all-black 99th Fighter Squadron the “Black Birdmen.” Photo provided
Lt. Charles Bailey, Sr. was the last of the line. He was the last of Punta Gorda, Fla.’s “Fighting Bailey Brothers.” The last of a family of seven sons and two daughters who distinguished themselves in war and in life during World War II, Korea and much of the 20th Century. Read the rest of this entry »
