Archive for the ‘Purple Heart’ Category
337th Regiment, 3rd Battalion, 85th Infantry Division, Gen. Mark Clark's 5th Army, Invasion of Sicily, Salerno
In Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Silver Star, U. S. Army, World War II on November 12, 2012 at 4:38 am
1st Lt. William Standish is pictured after WWII wearing his Combat Infantryman’s Badge and his ribbons indicating he fought in four major campaigns and received the Silver and Bronze Star medals. Photo provided
It was 1st Lt. William Standish’s worst nightmare. He and the men in his platoon were charging a German-held house in the fog atop Hill 566, just south of Bologna, Italy, during World War II. The fog lifted and they were standing in the open, 50 feet away from an enemy machine-gun position. Read the rest of this entry »
Black Virgin Mountain, Nui Ba Den, Tay Ninh Province, U.S. Special Forces, Viet Cong guerrillas, Vietnamese 3rd Corps Headquarters
In Bronze Star, Purple Heart, U. S. Army, Vietnam War on October 1, 2012 at 4:38 am
Staff Sgt. Ray Jewett received three Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart as a combat photographer in Vietnam during his two tours of duty. He almost died after being shot in the neck by an enemy bullet during a battle at Black Virgin Mountain while filming a Special Forces unit in 1964. Photo provided by Dick Hornyak
Staff Sgt. Raymond Jewett was a combat photographer in July 1964 attached to the U.S. military Assistance Command in Vietnam. Read the rest of this entry »
1st Battalion, 319th Infantry Regiment, Company C, G.I. Bill, Patton, St. Lo
In Purple Heart, U. S. Army, U.S. Army Air Force, World War II on July 9, 2012 at 4:38 am
Sgt. Mike Labick of Kings Gate subdivision in Port Charlotte, Fla. is pictured in his Army uniform at the end of World War II. He was in the Battle of the Bulge. Photo provided
The first day former Sgt. Mike Labick arrived in Normandy in September 1944 he wound up in a front line foxhole at Saint-Lo as a newly-minted member of Gen. George S. Patton’s 3rd Army. Read the rest of this entry »
1st Army, 4th Infantry Division, Cherbourg Peninsula, D-Day + 3, English Channel, General Omar Bradley, Normandy, Omaha Beach, Sainte-Mère-Église, St. Lo
In Purple Heart, U. S. Army, World War II on June 27, 2012 at 4:38 am
John Salvani is pictured with his younger brother, Geno, who served aboard am LST (Landing Ship Tank) in the Pacific during World War II. The picture was taken in front of their parents’ Detroit, Mich. home. Photo provided
John Silvani grew up in an Italian neighborhood in Detroit, Mich., graduated from high school about the time World War II began and went to work at the Ford plant in Dearborn as a teenage tool-and-die maker after receiving a military deferment. Read the rest of this entry »
"Mustang", 1st Marine Division, 3rd Marine Division, 9th Translation Team, Camp LeJeune, Carley Mountain, Danang, Interrogation School, Jr. ROTC, Marine Corps Reserve, Parris Island, Pensacola Naval Air Station, Phu Bai, Sikorsky Sea Stallion, Vietnamese Language School, West Palm Beach
In Korean War, Marine Corps Reserve, Purple Heart, U.S. Marine Corps, Vietnam War on June 13, 2012 at 4:38 am
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 »
14th Regiment, 2nd Division, 503rd Field Artillery, 9th Infantry battalion, Company B, Purple Heart, Pusan
In Korean War, Purple Heart, U. S. Army on June 8, 2012 at 4:38 am
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 »
10th Mountain Division, 1st Battalion, 2nd Platoon, 5th Army, 86th Infantry Regiment, Apennine Mountains, Camp Hale Colorado, Company A, General Mark Clark, Po Valley, Riva Ridge
In Purple Heart, U. S. Army, World War II on June 4, 2012 at 4:38 am
Pfc. Al Partridge, at far right, with three of his buddies during a year long training at Camp Hale, near Vail, Colo. Photo provided
A harmonica stopped a bullet from hitting Pcf. Al Partridge ‘s heart during the 5th Army’s assault in Italy’s Apennine Mountains in January 1944. Read the rest of this entry »
"Alligator" driver, "Buffalo" tank, 'Blue Beach', 2nd Armored Amphibious Tractor Battalion, 3rd Amphibious Tractor Battalion, 4th Marine Division, Bougainville, Company B, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, Kitano Point, Mount Suribachi
In Purple Heart, U.S. Marine Corps, World War II on June 1, 2012 at 4:38 am
Pfc. Frank Garcia is pictured in the back row, second from the right in this Philadelphia Bulletin newspaper published during World War II. Photo provided
A week after the Japanese bombed the Pacific Fleet based at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941, dragging the United States into World War II, Frank Garcia joined the U.S. Marine Corps. Read the rest of this entry »
"Little Boy", Annapolis, Captain Charles McVay, Fleet Adm. Raymond Spruance, General Hospital 95, Lt. Dick Redmayne, Lt.J.g. Chuck Gwinn, Samar Philippines, USS Bassett, USS Indianapolis
In Korean War, Pacific, Purple Heart, U.S. Navy, World War II on May 30, 2012 at 4:38 am
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 »
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 »
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 where he grew up. 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 »
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 »
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 Parachute Regiment, 5th Marine Division, Bougainville, D-Day plus 10, hinomaru yosegaki
In Purple Heart, U.S. Marine Corps, World War II on November 5, 2011 at 4:38 am
Bob Crossley of Venice, Fla. holds a Japanese battle flag taken from a dead Japanese Marine during the Battle of Iwo Jima 60 years ago this month. Note the tiger's head at the upper left hand corner. He believes this indicates the Marine who owned it may have fought in China before he died at Iwo Jima. The flag is signed by all the men in the company. Sun photo by Don Moore
U.S. Marine Pfc. Bob Crossley of Venice, Fla. hit the beach on Iwo Jima in a Higgins boat in the third wave on Feb. 19, 1945. He was a member of the 5th Marine Division, 26th Regiment, 2nd Battalion D-Company. Read the rest of this entry »
2nd Infantry Division, Browning Automatic Rifle, Old Baldy, Pork Chop Hill
In Purple Heart, U. S. Army, World War II on October 21, 2011 at 4:38 am
Larry Izzo of Oak Forrest subdivision in Englewood, Fla. was a 21-year old Browning Automatic Rifleman with the 2nd Infantry Division in Korea when this picture was taken in 1952. Photo provided
Larry Izzo of the Oak Forest subdivision in Englewood, Fla. was a 21-year-old corporal attached to the G-Company, 2nd Battalion, 9th Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division in Korea. He was a BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle) man. Read the rest of this entry »
Bastogne, Battle of the Bulge, Normandy, Saar River, Saint-Lo
In Purple Heart, U. S. Army, World War II on September 26, 2011 at 4:38 am
This was Pfc. Vito Mancine, who now lives in Port Charlotte, Fla., immediately after World War II. Note the Combat Infantryman’s Badge on his chest (long rifle and wreath) that indicates he has seen battle. Photo provided
Pfc. Vito Mancine of Port Charlotte, Fla. was a 21-year-old Browning Automatic Rifleman when he landed in Normandy, France, about a month after D-Day, June 6, 1944. He was a member of the 5th Division in Gen. George Patton’s 3rd Army. 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 »
2nd Marine Division, Distinguished Service Medal, George Company, Nagasaki, Purple Heart, Saipan, Tinian, World War II Victory Medal
In Purple Heart, U.S. Marine Corps, World War II on August 22, 2011 at 4:38 am
Nick Melone of Port Charlotte, Fla. holds a Japanese battle flag he captured as a Marine while fighting during the Battle of Saipan in the closing months of World War II. Sun photo by Don Moore
Nick Melone of Port Charlotte, Fla. sat in a big gray cushy chair, a tether running from his nose to a nearby oxygen bottle. He reached for a folded flag stuffed in the top of a blue plastic storage tub of World War II memorabilia. The 89-year-old Marine sergeant shook the folds out of the white cotton flag with a bright red sun in the center - it was a Japanese battle flag signed by members of the enemy soldier’s unit. 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 »
Angaur, Eniwetok, Guam, Kwajalein, Leyte, Lingayen, Okinawa, Peleliu, Saipan, Tinian, USS Pennsylvania, Wake
In Purple Heart, U.S. Navy, World War II on July 13, 2011 at 4:38 am
Drennon Judy is lined up on the deck of the Battleship Pennsylvania to receive his Purple Heart along with seven other sailors. He is the third seaman from the left. Photo provided
Drennon Judy was a quartermaster who served aboard the Battleship USS Pennsylvania. He saw action during many of the major battles in the Pacific during World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
Gold Star Mother, Library of Congress, Medal of Honor, P-40 "Warhawk", P-51 Mustang, Red Ball Express, Tuskegee Airman, USS Perch, Veterans History Project
In Korean War, Medal of Honor, Presidential Unit Citation, Purple Heart, Silver Star, U. S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy, Vietnam War, World War II on June 20, 2011 at 4:38 am
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 »
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 »
196th Light Infantry Brigade, Que Son Valley
In Purple Heart, U. S. Army, Vietnam War on June 10, 2011 at 4:38 am
Spc-5 Bob Rogers of Port Charlotte, Fla. is awarded his third Purple Heart at 18 for injuries in Vietnam while fighting with the 196th Light Infantry Brigade during his second tour. Photo provided
In September 1968, on his second tour of duty in Vietnam, Spc.-5 Bob Rogers’ squad walked into a Viet Cong ambush near Chu Lai in the Que Son Valley and was almost captured by the enemy.
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354th Pioneer Mustang Group, 9th Air Force, Brest Peninsula, Camp Lucky Strike, Focke Wulf-190, Luftwaffe, Messerschmitt-109s, P-51D Mustang, Stalag Luft 1
In Purple Heart on June 3, 2011 at 4:38 am
This picture appeared in his home town paper. The information under the picture in the paper notes: "Lt. John Miller of Grantwood (right), receives the congratulations of his buddies after he downed his first Nazi plane, but a greater story is his miraculous escape from a plummeting Mustang fighter plane." Photo provided
Jack Miller loved his P-51D Mustang fighter. Twice he was shot down when he was a 20-year-old 2nd lieutenant serving as a member of the 354th Pioneer Mustang Group, 9th Air Force stationed in France during World War II.
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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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Battle of the Hurtgen Forest, Belgium, Purple Heart
In Purple Heart, U. S. Army, World War II on April 15, 2011 at 4:38 am
Mark Vanderveer of Holiday Park in Englewood, Fla. holds a piece of German shrapnel surgeons took out of his back after he was injured in the Battle of the Hürtgen Forrest during World War II. Sun photo by Don Moore
Mark Vanderveer only fought in one major battle during World War II, but it was a doosie. He served as a PFC in E-Company, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Division of the 1st Army during the Battle of the Hürtgen Forest fought along the Belgium-German border.
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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 courtesy of 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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442nd Regiment, Alcise-Lorraine, Anzio, Anzio Annie, Salerno
In Pacific, Purple Heart, U. S. Army, World War II on February 28, 2011 at 4:38 am
This was "Anzio Annie," the giant German artillery piece mounted on a railroad flat car, that terrorized American troops trapped on the beach at Anzio. Sgt. Harold Glover is one of the soldiers standing on the barrel of the gun with his Thompson. The picture appeared in Stars and Strips, the military newspaper during the war. Photo provided
Harold Glover of La Casa mobile home park in North Port, Fla. was a sergeant in the “Fighting 36th Infantry Division” that first saw battle in North Africa in World War II, went on to Italy and before the war was over made the invasion of Southern France and marched into Germany. He received three Purple Hearts while fighting at Salerno, Anzio, Monte Casino and finally crossed the Rhine River into Germany at war’s end.
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79th Infantry Division, Cherbourg Peninsula, D-Day plus 6, Gelsenkirchen, Kettwig, Normandy
In Purple Heart, U. S. Army, World War II on February 4, 2011 at 4:38 am
Billie Hopkins is pictured when he graduated from boot camp shortly before joining the 79th Infantry Division during World War II. Photo provided
Billie Hopkins, who winters at Little Charlie Creek mobile home park in Wauchula, was only 5-feet, 3-inches tall and weighed 112 pounds. His size made him a perfect candidate to be a ball turret gunner on a B-17 or B-24 bomber in World War II. But the Air Corps didn’t want him because he was color bind.
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593rd Boat Division, General William Westmoreland, Mekong Delta, North Vietnamese Army, River Rat
In Presidential Unit Citation, Purple Heart, US Navy, Vietnam War on December 27, 2010 at 4:38 am
This was Bill Schwartz crew aboard his PBR patrol boat during the Vietnam War in 1968. He is the third sailor from the left. Photo provided
Bill Schwartz was a “River Rat.” He was a brown water sailor who skippered a PBR patrol boat in the Mekong Delta area of South Vietnam in 1968 during the Vietnam War.
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Chalan Kanoa, Mount Fina Susu, Regimental Combat Team 24, Saipan, Super Fortress, Western Union
In Marines, Presidential Unit Citation, Purple Heart, World War II on November 15, 2010 at 4:38 am
Cpl. Ed Bremen is presented the Purple Heart at a ceremony in California in 1945 at the hospital where he was recovering from a battle wound he received on Saipan. He was a member of the 4th Marine Division. Photo provided
Ed Bremen was a Marine sharpshooter in Company F, 2nd Battalion, 24th Regiment, 4th Marine Division. He became a Browning Automatic Weapon man who saw action in the Pacific on Roi and Namur islands near Kwajalein Atoll in February 1944 and Saipan in the Mariana Island chain in June, 1944. He was wounded there and spent the next 16 months recuperating in a trio of hospitals throughout the country.
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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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D-Day, Normandy, Operation Tiger, Slapton Sands, Utah Beach
In Purple Heart, World War II on October 27, 2010 at 4:38 am
This was Ed Kent of Manasota Beach, Fla. when he served in the 4th Infantry Division in Europe during World War II. Photo provided
Ed Kent was the gunner on an M-7, self-propelled 105 millimeter Howitzer, who landed June 6, 1944 at Utah Beach on D-Day in Normandy, France during World War II. The 20-year-old corporal survived 15 days before being seriously injured by shrapnel from incoming enemy fire, was sent back to England and eventually the States to recuperate.
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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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Leyte Gulf, Task Force 58, USS Eversole
In Navy, Purple Heart, World War II on August 30, 2010 at 5:00 am
This is the USS Eversole, a destroyer escort, Boatswain’s Mate Diamond Trifilo in Sable Trace, North Port, Fla. served on during World War II. She was sunk at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest sea battle in the war. Photo provided
When Boatswain’s Mate 2nd Class Diamond Trifilo went over the side of the USS Eversole, a destroyer escort, after she was struck by two Japanese torpedoes during the Battle of Leyte in World War II he was wearing nothing but his boatswain’s whistle on a chain around his neck.
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1st Marine Division, Baghdad, Cedar Key, Humvee, Martin Savidge
In Iraq, Marines, Purple Heart on July 14, 2010 at 6:00 am
A Marine burial detail flanks Lance Cpl. Brian Roy Buesing’s caisson-borne casket during his graveside ceremony at Cedar Key Cemetery on April 5, 2003 in the North Florida fishing village. More than 800 mourners packed the high school gym for the young Marine’s funeral. Sun photo by Jeffery Langlois
Lance Cpl Brian Roy Buesing, killed in an ambush in the Iraqi desert, was buried in a north Florida fishing village as his Marine unit marched on downtown Baghdad half a world away. Read the rest of this entry »
48th Field Artillery Battalion, Distinguished Service Crosses, Pork Chop Hill
In Korean War, Purple Heart, Silver Star on July 14, 2010 at 6:00 am
Second Lt. Ron Freedman, 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 »
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
Mark 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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28th Marine Regiment 5th Division, Iwo Jima, Medal of Honor, Mount Suribachi, World War II
In Medal of Honor, Purple Heart, U.S. Marine Corps, World War II on July 2, 2010 at 6:00 am
President Harry Truman is all smiles as he presents Sgt. William Harrell U.S. Marine Corps with the Medal of Honor shortly after World War II. Photo provided
To everyone else, Sgt. William Harrell was a war hero. He was the recipient of the Medal of Honor, “…for conspicuous gallantry at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty” at Iwo Jima during World War II. To Gary Harrell he was just dad. Read the rest of this entry »
Chosin Few, Col. Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller, Hungnam, Inchon, Korea, Purple Heart, US Marines
In Korean War, Purple Heart, World War II on June 21, 2010 at 6:00 am
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 »
Atomic Bomb, Enola Gay, Hiroshima, Red Gremlin, Tibbets, Tinian Island, World War II
In Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart, World War II on June 4, 2010 at 4:38 am
Lt. Col. Paul Tibbets waves to the ground crew on August 6, 1945 as he pilots the B-29 bomber “Enola Gay” on its last bomb run. He flew from Tinian Island in the Pacific to drop the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan that help end World War II a few days later.
Before he dropped the world’s first Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima in a B-29 Super Fortress named for his mother, “Enola Gay,” Lt. Col. Paul Tibbets flew a B-17 Flying Fortress over Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich.
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Golden Pelican Squadron, Midway, Nimitz, Pearl Harbor, Torpedo Bomber Squadron, World War II, Yamamoto
In Presidential Unit Citation, Purple Heart, World War II on June 2, 2010 at 4:38 am
Bert Earnest is pictured as a naval aviation cadet in 1941. He received two Distinguished Flying Crosses for one mission in his TBF-1 Avenger torpedo bomber during the attack on the Japanese fleet at Midway as a member of Torpedo Bomber Squadron #8.
The god of war smiled on United States forces at Midway.
“In 30 hours, at the Battle of Midway, the fate of World War II was changed in the Pacific,” according to commentary from newsreel footage taken at the time.
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47th Regiment, 9th Infantry, Patton's 3rd Army, Remagen, Rhine River, World War II
In Bronze Star, Purple Heart, U. S. Army, World War II on May 21, 2010 at 6:00 am
Pvt. Mike Clemente is pictured at the time he got out of boot camp in 1944. He was 19
The red, white and black Nazi flag was in as good condition, swastika and all, as the day Mike Clemente pulled it off a flag pole that stood in a tiny public square in Remagen, Germany almost 60 years ago.
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1st Armored Division, 6th Armored Division, Bastogne, Battle of the Bulge, Desert Fox, General Patton, Kasserine Pass, Metz, North Africa, Purple Heart, Rommel, Sicily, Silver Star, World War II
In Purple Heart, Silver Star, U. S. Army, World War II on May 19, 2010 at 6:00 am
Sgt. Mike Sovan was the commander of a Sherman tank. He served with the 15th Tank Battalion, 6th Armored Division in Patton’s 3rd Army during World War II. He lost four tanks to German 88s, received three Purple Hearts, two Silver Stars, and a Bronze Star with a “V” for Valor among his many commendations.
Sgt. Mike Sovan, a Sherman tank commander, and his men had just crossed the Nied River in France during World War II as part of Gen. George Patton’s 3rd Army when their third tank was shot out from under them.
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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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373rd Fighter Group, 411th Fighter Squadron, Abbey de Maredsous, Ardennes Forrest, Belgium Underground, Denee Belgium, P-47 Thunderbolt, Prum Germany
In Purple Heart, U.S. Army Air Corps, World War II on March 28, 2010 at 6:00 am
Second Lt. Robert Grace is pictured in his flying cap, goggles and leather flying jacket a lifetime ago. The North Port, Fla. retiree lost his P-47 Thunderbolt fighter plane to flak over Nazi-occupied Belgium in World War II. Photo provided
Their target was a railroad marshaling yard along the German-Belgium border. Second Lt. Robert Grace was making his initial pass over the target at Prum, Germany in a P-47 Thunderbolt fighter plane on May 29, 1944 when he was shot down.
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3rd Army, 3rd Division, Gen. George Patton, Pope Pius XII
In Purple Heart, Silver Star, U. S. Army, World War II on March 14, 2010 at 4:32 pm
Harold Sandler had just been commissioned a 2nd lieutenant at Fort Benning, Ga., when he tried on his new officer’s uniform for the camera.
Harold Sandler didn’t start out to be a “Ninety-day Wonder” or a war hero, but that’s what he became by the time World War II was over.
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