Pvt. Alex Haak is shown in the foreground painting murals for the 43rd Infantry Division’s mess hall in Germany in 1953 when he served in headquarter’s company. Photo provided
Alex Haak was 8-years-old when the German Army defeated the much smaller Dutch Army in May 1940 and marched into Amsterdam, Netherlands his home town and occupied the country for five years. As World War II progressed conditions for him and his family and friends grew worse and worse.
First Lt. Hal Johnson stands in front of his P-47 “Thunderbolt” fighter after World War II when he was flying with the 81st Fighter Group, 91st Squadron, stationed at Wheeler Field in Hawaii. Photo provided
As a kid Hal Johnson wanted to be a fighter pilot. When he joined the Army Air Corps in 1943 they made him a B-24 “Liberator” bomber pilot. Read the rest of this entry »
Cpl. Robert Robb receives the Purple Heart from his platoon commander, Capt. Birney Adams, at a ceremony in Korea during the war. Photo provided
Cpl. Robert Robb was a sniper attached to Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Regiment, 1st Marine Division in Korea during the war. His unit took Hill 749, a volcanic mound known as the ‘Punchbowl,’ away from a regiment of North Koreans holding the high ground in mid-September 1951. Read the rest of this entry »
Marvin Aronow is pictured with his Purple Heart medal and the clip from his .30 caliber carbine pierced by an enemy bullet during a firefight to take a hill away from the enemy during the Korean War. Sun photo by Don Moore
The day after Thanksgiving, Nov. 26, 1951, Marvin Aronow from Bronx, N.Y. was drafted. He wound up in Korea as a member of I-Company, 31st Regiment, 7th Infantry Division.
“It wasn’t my idea to get drafted. When I got put in the Army I told them, ‘My teeth were bad.’ They said, ‘Here’s a rifle. You don’t have to bite the enemy with your teeth.’ Then I said, ‘I’ve got bad eyes.’ They replied, ‘We’re gonna put you up real close to the enemy.’
“They did.” Read the rest of this entry »
When this picture was taken it was 1953 Sgt. Ron Kocher was serving as a Marine Corps artillery spotter with the 2nd Regiment, 1st Marine Division in Korea. Photo provided
Ron Kocher of Arcadia, Fla. started out to join the Navy in 1951, but ended up in the Marines because the Navy recruiter wasn’t there when he showed to sign up.
Bill Ditto in his Class A dress uniform in recent years. He was a drummer in a burial service at Rocky Gap Veterans Cemetery near Berkeley Springs, W. Va. Photo provided
Before Bill Ditto of Englewood, Fla. went aboard the battleship USS Missouri as a Marine guard in 1949, growing up in West Virginia, he had never seen the sea or a ship the size of the “Mighty Mo.” Read the rest of this entry »
Everett Charles early in his Navy career. He joined in 1950, right out of high school. Photo provided
Everett Charles of Vizcaya Lakes mobile home park in El Jobean skippered a PBR (Patrol Boat River) that prowled the Upper Saigon River hunting for North Vietnam Army regulars and Vietcong irregulars moving enemy supplies into South Vietnam. He made 216 combat patrols as captain, plus an additional 89 patrols into enemy territory as an advisor aboard South Vietnamese gun boats during the three years he served over there. Read the rest of this entry »
Sgt. Sandy Branzei holds a Chinese pistol he took off a dead officer killed during
the attack on “Boomerang Hill” in the “Iron Triangle” during the final weeks of the Korean War in 1953. Photo provided
A month before the armistice was signed in July 1953, putting the Korean War on hold, Sgt. Sandy Branzei was in a bunker with his .30 caliber machine-gun atop “Boomerang Hill” when his unit, King Company, 7th Regiment, 3rd Division, was attacked and overrun by waves of Chinese soldiers. Read the rest of this entry »
Ernie O’Brien was photographed in his Marine Corps full dress uniform at a recent funeral he attended in Port Charlotte, Fla. Sun photo by Don Moore
In his dark blue Marine dress uniform trimmed with red piping, wearing white gloves and a white hat, Ernie O’Brien of Port Charlotte, Fla. stands ramrod straight at 87. He looks as if he could hit the beach at Guadalcanal, as he did more than 65 years ago. His silver mustache adds a touch of manliness to a face that has seen war up close and personal. Read the rest of this entry »
Aviation Electrician’s Mate 1st Class Don Schilke of Englewood, Fla. stands at the rear of the World War II vintage “Avenger” torpedo bomber he flew in during the “Cold War” searching for Soviet submarines about the time of the Korean War. Photo provided
Don Schilke joined the Navy Reserves while still in high school in Oak Park, Ill. in 1947. After graduation he found himself in Composite Squadron 21 at North Island Naval Air Station in San Diego training for a job as an anti-submarine warfare crewman aboard a Grumman “Avenger” torpedo bomber. Read the rest of this entry »
John Schoell of Port Charlotte, Fla. was 17 when he signed up with the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team in 1950. He made two combat jumps during the Korean War. Photo provided
John Schoell of Port Charlotte, Fla. took part in the first combat jump involving American paratroopers since World War II. He was as a member of the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team, and jumped on Oct. 20, 1950, near Sunchon, North Korea — just over the 38th Parallel dividing the North from the South. Read the rest of this entry »
Ed Jaworek learned to fly this Stearman PT-17 biplane at Carlstrom Field in Arcadia, Fla. in 1942. He flew a Mitchell B-25 attack bomber during the war. Photo provided
Ed Jaworek was a co-pilot who flew a Mitchell B-25 twin-engine attack bomber on low-level combat missions for the 8th Air Force in Europe during World War II. He took part in the Berlin Air Lift, in 1949 and piloted a C-46 twin-engine “Commando” transport in and out of Berlin. When the Korean war rolled around, in the 1950s, he flew a medical air transport C-47 “Gooney Bird” during the last months of that war. A C-119 “Flying Boxcar” was his plane during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Read the rest of this entry »
Command Sgt. Maj. John Gay was third in line to be named Sergeant-Major of the Armies. He served his country in three wars: World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. Photo provided
When Melitta Gay of Venice called me a while back and said she was going through all her late husband’s stuff from a 31-year military career that spanned World War II, Korea and Vietnam and wanted me to come check it out for possible inclusion in the Sun, I was perplexed. He had already gone on to Valhalla 18 years ago like all good warriors, so what did she want me to do?
“Come see me,” she said. “I have more than enough information to make a long story about my husband for your newspaper.” Read the rest of this entry »
In this old scrapbook picture, Yeoman 3rd Class Granville Pennypacker is pictured shortly after he arrived in Hawaii in 1947 to begin his 22 year military career. Photo provided
From the end of World War II, through the Korean War of the 1950s and halfway into the Vietnam War, late in the 1960s, Granville Pennypacker of Englewood, Fla. served as a yeoman, a Navy administrator, in strategic hot spots around the world. Read the rest of this entry »
Pfc. Mike Meehan of Englewood, Fla. is shown in this 1951 photo when he when he took part in the Korean War. He was 22-years-old. Photo provided
Michael Meehan of Englewood, Fla. received a Silver Star, the third highest commendation awarded an American soldier for gallantry under enemy fire, when his unit, the 17th Regiment of the 7th Division, was trying to capture a hill held by North Koreans. Read the rest of this entry »
Lt. Col. Tom Baxendale of Port Charlotte, Fla. flew almost two dozen different military airplanes during his military career that spans World War II, Korea and Vietnam. Photo provided by Tom Baxendale
On one of the 160 missions he flew over “The Hump,” Lt. Col. Tom Baxendale ran head-on into a flight of Japanese Zero fighters. He was piloting an unarmed C-46 twin-engine transport loaded with 55-gallon drums of gas. Read the rest of this entry »
This picture of Charles Milam as a “bird colonel” was taken in 1975 about the time he retired when he was 49 after 30 years in the service. Photo provided
Charles Milam of Port Charlotte, Fla. was a freshman on a football scholarship playing for the University of Arkansas Razorbacks in 1944 when he decided to join the Marine Corps. Read the rest of this entry »
Marilyn Monroe visits 7th Infantry Division soldiers along the DMZ in Korea in February 1954. She toured the country putting on shows for servicemen even though she and Joe Dimaggio were supposed to be on a honeymoon in Japan. Photo provided by Roger Burton
Roger Burton is no war hero. In fact, he missed the whole war.
The infantry corporal was a couple of weeks too late for the Battle of Pork Chop Hill, one of the nastiest engagements of the Korean War. Read the rest of this entry »
Sgt. Lawrence Gilbert stateside with the National Guard during summer maneuvers. Photo provided by Lawrence Gilbert
Sgt. Lawrence Gilbert of North Port, Fla. was a member of the 1st Ranger Battalion attached to the 1st Division, part of Gen. George Patton’s 7th Army that landed in Sicily on July 10, 1943 during the middle of World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
Gen. I.D. White, commander of the 8th Army, presents Alexander in 1956 with an award for her services in Korea. Photo provided
With her wispy white hair, her frail body and her tiny voice, Harriette Moore is the epitome of someone’s grandmother. Looks can be deceiving.
Military experts watch a simulated atomic bomb explosion, like one that might have been made by an artillery shell, at the Naval Training Device Center in New York State where Tom Peterson served late in his 25-year service career. Photo provided by Tom Peterson
Tom Peterson’s baptism of fire came during the Battle of the Bulge, the biggest battle on the Western Front during World War II. He was a young 2nd lieutenant commanding a platoon of M-4 tanks, part of the 781st Tank Battalion attached to the 7th Army. Read the rest of this entry »
This was Seaman Bernie Strapp of North Port, Fla. when he was 17-year-old sailor serving in the Navy during World War II. Photo provided
Bernie Strapp of North Port, Fla. joined the Navy at 17 in February 1943 during the middle of World War II. Because he had taken carpentry in high school he wound up working in a ship repair unit in San Diego, Calif. Read the rest of this entry »
Here he is a second lieutenant serving in the Second World War. Clark received the Silver Star for gallantry under fire during WWII. Photo provided by Al Clark
Col. Al R. Clark of Port Charlotte, Fla. joined the Oregon National Guard in 1935 at the age of 15. Before his 33-year regular Army career was over, he saw action on the front lines in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. Read the rest of this entry »
Lt. David Weaver is pictured in 1955. He was 34 and serving at the Oceana, Va. Naval Air Station. Photo provided.
David Weaver, who grew up in Charleston, S.C. and joined the Naval Aviation Cadet Program in 1943 when he was 21, was sent to the Pacific Fleet and assigned to Escort Carrier Group VF-60 at Saipan. Read the rest of this entry »
This snapshot of Ivar Svenson and Ann Byerlein was taken in Da Nang just before Ann completed her year in South Vietnam working at a civilian hospital and headed back to the States. He was serving in the Marine Corps in Vietnam. Photo provided
Col. Ivar Svenson, United States Marine Corps, was in charge of plans and operations for the III Marine Amphibious Force headquarters unit stationed in Da Nang, South Vietnam in 1968. Ann Byerlein was head nurse of the intensive care unit at Da Nang Provincial Hospital in May of that year, during the height of the Vietnam War. Read the rest of this entry »
Capt Craig is pictured in his dress blues near the conclusion of his 20 years of service in the United States Marine Corps. Photo provided
Rodger Craig had just graduated from high school in 1950 and signed up to be a Marine about the time the Korean War started. He was in boot camp at Parris Island, S.C. when war broke out. Read the rest of this entry »
This was Abraham Coleman as a 17 year old recruit who signed up and eventually went to war some 60 years ago. He grew up in Punta Gorda, Fla. Photo provided
Former Cpl. Abraham Coleman joined the U.S. Army in 1947 at 17, “just to get the hell away from Punta Gorda.” He wanted to find a better life with more opportunities for a young black man than living in a small Southern town. Read the rest of this entry »
Harlan Twible is pictured shortly after returning to the United States following the USS Indianapolis sea disaster in the Pacific in the closing days of World War II. Photo provided
Minutes after the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis‘ bow was blown away by a torpedo fired by Japanese submarine I-58 on July 30, 1945, Ensign Harlan Twible was treading water in the shark-infested, inky waters of the Philippine Sea. Read the rest of this entry »
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 the 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.
