2nd Lt. Ed Lukach of Port Charlotte, Fla. is pictured with his wings shortly after graduating from bombardier school in 1944. He flew 30 combat mission in 8th Air Force during World War II. Photo provided
Like a lot of other young men his age, Ed Lukach wanted to be a pilot when he signed up at 19 for the Army’s Aviation Cadet Program in 1942 near the start of World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
Mike Goff of Punta Gorda, Fla. was a member of the "Banshees," B-Troop, 2nd Battalion of the 17th Cavalry, in Vietnam. Mel Gibson, on this poster, plays Lt. Col. Hal Moore in the new movie "We Were Soldiers," which opened at the Regal Cinemas in Port Charlotte this week-end. Sun photo by Michael McLoone
Warrant Officer Mike Goff never saw “The Valley of Death.” He wasn’t one of the 400 soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Division surrounded and attacked by 2,000 North Vietnam soldiers at the La Drang Valley in mid-November 1965. Read the rest of this entry »
Ray Walker of Punta Gorda, Fla. holds a "SECRET" Army document from World War II. It shows that Gen. Dwight Eisenhower knew the Germans were about to launch the "Battle of the Bulge", their biggest offensive on the Western Front. Sun photo by Don Moore
Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, supreme commander of Allied forces in Europe in World War II, knew a couple of weeks ahead of time the Germans were planning the huge offensive that became known as the “Battle of the Bulge,” according to Raymond Walker of Punta Gorda, Fla. Read the rest of this entry »
For more than 50 years Ray Starsman of Punta Gorda, Fla. and his family served as career officers in the U.S. Army and Navy. Here his grandson, Raymond (center) graduates from Virginia Military Institute in 2010 a Army 2nd lieutenant. He is flanked by his father, Scott (a Navy Commander, left) and grandfather, Ray (an Army colonel). Father and grandfather pinned the new lieutenant's bars on his shoulders. Photo provided
Producing the manual for designing the International Space Station was the most important and satisfying job Col. Ray Starsman of Punta Gorda, Fla. ever had during a long and varied working career. Read the rest of this entry »
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 »
When this picture was taken Richard Young was a seasoned soldier. Note the campaign ribbon on his chest signifying he served a tour in Afghanistan. Photo provided
John Albanese was surprised when he opened the door of his Deep Creek, Fla. home Saturday two weeks ago and found Richard Young, his nephew who recently returned from a tour in Afghanistan with the United States Army, standing there. Read the rest of this entry »
Pvt. Carl Cooley was an infantryman in the famed Yankee Division during World War II. Photo provided
Five days after Carl Cooley of Grove City, Fla. graduated from Fremont High School in Fremont, Ohio, on June 2, 1943, he took his physical and officially became a private in the United States Army. Read the rest of this entry »
Second Lt. J.J. Jones, center and her two friends, 2nd Lt. Louis Longacre Kelly, left, and 2nd Lt. Martha Hooper Zajic enjoy themselves in a New York City nightclub before going overseas during the Second World War. Photo provided
Former 2nd Lt. J.J. Jones of Punta Gorda Isles, Fla. was an Army nurse who served in the Philippines during World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
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 »
John Meloney of Port Charlotte, Fla. pictured at an outing years after his World War II spying days were over. Photo provided
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second of two parts.
World War II was over, but not for Sgt. John Meloney. He was on his way from Oslo, Norway to London where he held a quick meeting with his O.S.S. (Office of Strategic Services) handlers and off he flew to Salzburg, Austria. Read the rest of this entry »
John Maloney (right) and Devereaux Parte, a counter intelligence agent, stand on the Charles River Bridge in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1945 at the close of World War II. There was still a lot of spying going on among nations despite the fact the conflict was over. Photo provided
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first of two parts.
John Meloney was smart and had an ability with foreign languages, that’s why the Office of Strategic Services (O.S.S.), the precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency, selected him to be a World War II spy. 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 »
Ed Vuolo is pictured in 1991 as a desert warrior somewhere in Kuwait during "Operation Desert Shield." Coalition forces took on Saddam Hussein after he marched his troops into Kuwait. Photo provided
1st Sgt. Ed Vuolo of Port Charlotte, Fla. drove into Kuwait on Jan. 17, 1991 aboard a Humvee behind the M1A1 Abram Tanks of “Old Iron Sides,” the United States’ 1st Armored Division as part of “Operation Desert Shield.” Read the rest of this entry »
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 »
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 »
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 »
Sgt. George Burns, who fought with the Timberwolf Division, 104th Infantry Division, in World War II, is pictured with a young German girl after the battle. Burns lived in Punta Gorda, Fla. for 28 years until his death in 1994. Photo provided
George Burns, who lived in Punta Gorda, Fla. for 28 years until his death in March 1994, received the Distinguished Service Cross for his exploits with the 104th Infantry Division, “The Timberwolves,” in World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
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 »
Horse soldier: Eighteen-year-old Pvt. Bob Boliere holds two of his mounts at Fort Sheridan, Ill. in 1938.
At 90 years old, Bob Boliere of Stillwater Villas in Englewood, Fla. may be the last of the U.S. Army’s horse cavalry. Read the rest of this entry »
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 »
Sgt. Roy Kroesen of Rotonda, Fla. in his Army dress uniform in 1945. He fought with the American 696th Field Artillery Battalion across Europe during World War II. Photo provided
Ninety-one-year-old former Sgt. Roy Kroesen of Rotonda commanded “The Priest,” a 105 mm, M-7 self-propelled howitzer in World War II that looked a lot like a tank. He served with the 696th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, which came ashore at Pont-Scorff, France, on Aug. 7, 1944, and fought through France, Belgium and Germany, eventually meeting the Russian Army at the Elbe River near Berlin. Read the rest of this entry »
Sgt. John Robinson was 20 years old and served with the 2nd Armored Division in World War II when this picture was taken. Photo provided
It was a voice from the past typed in blue on the sheet of yellowing copy paper that dropped from the little book about the 2nd Armored Division’s exploits in Europe during World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
Audie Murphy was the most decorated soldier of World War II. Ed Kantz of Punta Gorda, Fla. served with Murphy in Patton's 3rd Army. Photo provided
Ed Kantz of Punta Gorda, Fla. served in the 15th Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division of Gen. George Patton’s 3rd Army during World War II. He also soldiered through Italy, France and Germany with Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier in World War II. 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 »
Col. Thomas Palmatier is conductor of the U. S. Army Band headquartered at Fort Myer, near Washington, D.C. Here his father and mother, Harold and Marjorie Palmatier who live in Harbor Cove in North Port, FLA. hold his picture. Sun photo by Don Moore
When it comes to martial music and popular songs of a certain era, Col. Thomas Palmatier, recently appointed commander of the U.S. Army Band stationed at Fort Myer, outside Washington, DC., is the Army’s “Music Man.” 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 »
Cpl. John Vicalvi of Port Charlotte, Fla. holds a Thompson sub-machine gun. The picture was taken in August 1944 on Bougainville in the South Pacific during World War II. Photo provided
John Vicalvi’s discharge notes he received two Bronze Service Arrowheads and two Bronze Battle Stars on his Asiatic-Pacific Theater Campaign Ribbon for two landings and two major battles: Bougainville and the Philippines. Read the rest of this entry »
This was Lowell McCarty's boot camp company at Camp Croft, S.C. where he trained to be a soldier before being shipped to Italy shortly after the end of World War II, Photo provided
Lowell McCarty want to be a fly boy.
“I tried to enlist in the Air Corps when I was 17. I passed the written exam with no problems, but when I took the physical exam they found out I was color blind and they told me, ‘We don’t want you!’” the 84-year-old Port Charlotte man said more than six decades later. Read the rest of this entry »
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 »
This is Warrant Officer II Charles Myers of Port Charlotte, Fla. when he became an officer in the U.S. Army in 1978. Photo provided
Charles Myers was born and grew up in the Panama Canal Zone in Central America in 1933. At 21 he enlisted in the U.S. Army on May 17, 1954 under agreement between the U.S. and Panama. Read the rest of this entry »
American assault troops struggle to reach the sands of Omaha Beach on D-Day June 6, 1944. Eugene Pentiuk came ashore a few days later. U, S. Army Photo
Eugene Pentiuk joined the Michigan National Guard in 1939 on a dare from a buddy. They signed up shortly after graduating from high school in Pontiac, Mich. He and his friend trained for a year in the Louisiana wilds as members of the 32nd Infantry Division. Read the rest of this entry »
George McLean of Venice, Fla. holds a shadowbox of World War II mementos. The box has his 1st Lieutenant's bars, dog tags, medals and other items concerning his service in the Pacific Theater of Operations. Sun photo by Don Moore
The old man held a shadow box of World War II memorabilia on the couch beside him at his home on the Island of Venice. There were first lieutenant silver bars, dog tags, a picture of a serious-looking young officer, and a gold medal with a yellow ribbon and two attached bronze battle stars signifying he had fought in two major battles — the New Guinea and Philippine invasions.
Pfc. James Johnson was a member of the U.S. Army Honor Guard shown marching through the front gate at the Fontainebleau, Napoleon's summer chateau, for a ceremony of some kind. Photo provided
When James Johnson joined the 82nd Airborne Division, an elite fighting force, in the fall of 1955 as a 20-year-old soldier he took part in one of the largest ground maneuvers the Army ever staged in the United States.
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 »
Harold Snyder, who lives in Summer Greens condo in Venice, Fla. was a private first class in the 2nd Infantry Division in Patton’s 3rd Army when this colorized picture was taken 65 years ago. Photo provided
Harold Snyder was a rifleman and anti-tank gunner in the Indian Head Division, 2nd Division, in Gen. George Patton’s 3rd Army in Europe during World War II.
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 »
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.
A bugler from the 102nd Infantry Division plays taps as a rifle squadron fires a volley to commemorate 1,016 concentration camp prisoners murdered by German SS Troops at Gardelegen, Germany. Photo provided
Fred Strass was a rifleman in an infantry company that fought in Europe during World War II. He served as a sergeant in K-Company, 406th Regiment of the 102nd Infantry Division. Read the rest of this entry »
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.
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.
Lou Drendel of Venice, Fla. became a member of the 82nd Airborne at age 18 in 1955. He made 41 jumps but never left Fort Bragg. Photo provided
Long before he joined the 82nd Airborne Division as a peacetime warrior in the mid-1950s, Lou Drendel of Venice was fascinated with things military. It began when he was a kid and his father built balsa wood airplane models for him. Read the rest of this entry »
1st Lt. Bill McDermott in the foreground is all smiles because this was his last day in Vietnam, April 7, 1971. It was the first time in a year he had gotten a cold beer. Photo provided
Bill McDermott of Lake Suzy, east of Port Charlotte on the way
to Arcadia, Fla. wound up as a 1st lieutenant in the 11th Armored Cavalry
Division based in Three Corps in the northern jungle of Vietnam. He
was a graduate of DePaul University and a member of the school’s ROTC
program.
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.
This is James Stephenson when he graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1929. Photo provided
Col. James Oliver Stephenson of Venice, at 93, may be the oldest West Point graduate in southwest Florida.
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.
For grateful service: An Army sergeant presents Betty Turner with her husband, Hudson Turner’s, burial flag during a service held Monday afternoon at the Sarasota, Fla. Veterans National Cemetery. At Betty’s far left is her son, Philip and her daughters: Carolyn and Elizabeth. Sun photo by Don Moore
A VFW chaplain said a few words, two soldiers in dress uniforms folded an American flag into a precise triangle and handed it gently to the widow, a rifle squad fired three volleys and Taps was played as 50 mourners bowed their heads. Read the rest of this entry »
Escaping German soldiers plod along a road heading west in their escape from the advancing Russian army at the end of World War II. Photo provided
Pete Self of Englewood was a rifleman in H-Company, 143rd Regiment of the 36 Infantry Division when he first came ashore at Naples, Italy on Sept. 9, 1943 during World War II.
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 »
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.
This is Glenn Miller at 19 when he was serving with the 9th Infantry Division in Vietnam in 1969. Photo provided
Glenn Miller went to Vietnam in January 1969 as an 18-year-old helicopter mechanic with the Army’s 20th Transportation Company. He was stationed at Cu Chi, a base camp some 20 miles north of Saigon.
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.
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.
Jim King of Punta Gorda, Fla. served as a sergeant in the 1st Cavalry Division in Vietnam in 1967-68. Photo provided
Jim King and his buddy, Charley Carr, joined the Army right out of high school. The two 18-year-old California boys got an education about life long before they reached Vietnam and faced the enemy.
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 »
Jim Tankersley of Brookside Bluff Condominium Park north of Arcadia, Fla. looks at a magazine about Gen. Omar Bradley’s 9th Army during World War II. Sun photo by Don Moore
1st Sgt. Jim Tankersley, who lives in Brookside Bluff Condominium Park north of Arcadia, Fla. was in charge of ground communications for the 95th Infantry Division’s artillery battalion. He and a squad of 25 soldiers laid and maintained the phone cables connecting division headquarters with front line troops during some of the major battles in Europe in World War II.
Spec-5 Jim Broom and his five-ton dump truck is pictured some where in Vietnam. He was a member of the 815th Engineering Battalion over there and spent 11 months driving this truck throughout the Central Highlands combat zone. Photo provided
Jim Broom of Edgewater Manor, Port Charlotte, Fla. was no war hero. He was just a Specialist-5th class who drove a five-ton dump truck and got shot at by the enemy in Vietnam in 1967-68 while serving with the 815th Engineer Battalion for 11 months and 15 days.
Read the rest of this entry »
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 »
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.
This was Staff Sgt. Dennis Wesley Clark and his M-16 rifle in 1969 when he served at a Marine base at Dong Ha, along the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Vietnam. Photo provided
Dennis Wesley Clark volunteered for Vietnam in 1969. He ended up fighting the North Vietnamese Army along the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Vietnam.
This is how Cpl. John Seelie of Englewood looked after returning from the Pacific Theatre of Operations during World War II. He served in the 25th Infantry Division at Guadalcanal and New Georgia after surviving the attack on Pearl Harbor. Photo provided
John Seelie of Englewood, Fla. was supposed to box the day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941. He was a champion welterweight who just joined the 25th Infantry Division stationed at Schofield Barracks outside of Honolulu, Hawaii. Read the rest of this entry »
Maj. Jim Shelton, author of the book, left, is pictured with Lt. Col. Terry Allen, commander of the “Black Lions,” center, and Sgt. Maj. Francis Dowling. Both Allen and Dowling were killed by the VC at Ong Thanh. Photo provided by Jim Shelton
The ”Black Lions” were looking for a fight. The battalion had been on a search-and-destroy mission for more than a week. Now the men of the 2nd Battalion, 28th Regiment, and 1st Infantry Division were exhausted from chasing the Viet Cong through the jungle 50 miles north of Saigon. Read the rest of this entry »
2nd Lt. Harry Long was in his mid 20s when this picture was taken. He was a medical officer with the 3rd Battalion, 318th Regiment of the 80th Division that served with Patton’s 3rd Army in World War II.
It was his baptism of fire. Ten days before, in early August 1944, 2nd Lt. Harry Long, a member of the Medical Administration Corps of the 318th Infantry Regiment, 80th Division landed on Utah Beach in Normandy, France as part of Gen. George S. Patton’s 3rd Army. Read the rest of this entry »
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.
Read the rest of this entry »
