Archive for the ‘World War II’ Category
Operation Tidal Wave, Plosti Refineries, Riusanesti Romania
In World War II on May 15, 2013 at 8:38 am
This was Cornel Dolana in his best outfit about the time he arrived in Italy after escaping Communist Romania in the early 1960s. He eventually made it to America thanks to a Baptist minister he met in Paris. Photo provided
Cornel Dolana is a survivor.
As a child he survived the German occupation of his country on his parents’ family farm outside Plosti, Romania during World War II. He survived the Communist takeover of his country as a teenager. He escaped Communism and fled to Yugoslavia, Italy, France and finally, in the early 1960s, the U.S.A. Read the rest of this entry »
42nd Bombardment Wing, Algeria, Gustav Line, Monte Cassino, P-38 "Lightning"
In U.S. Army Air Corps, World War II on May 9, 2013 at 2:38 am
Like thousands of other young couples, Lulubelle Gaehner and Lt. Bruno Virgili were married weeks before he flew off during World War II. Photo provided
Before flying off to war in North African in the spring of 1942 during World War II, Bruno Virgili married Lulubelle Gaehner. It wasn’t easy. He was a lieutenant in the Army Air Corps stationed in Long Beach, Calif. She was working in a munitions plant in Connecticut. Read the rest of this entry »
7th Air Force, 81st Fighter Group of the 94th Squadron, B-24 Liberator, F-80 Shooting Star, Kirkland Air Force Base, P-47, Selfridge Air Force Base, Suwon Base K-13, Tyndall Air Force Base
In Army Air Corps, Korean War, Vietnam War, World War II on May 6, 2013 at 2:38 am
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 »
"Fallen Not Forgotten", American Military Cemetery, Maastricht, Netherlands
In U. S. Army, World War II on May 3, 2013 at 2:38 am
Robin Gulikers of Maastricht, the Netherlands was 15-years-old when this picture was taken of him placing flowers on the grave of Pfc. Robert Ramsdell in the American Military Cemetery in Holland. He is part of a Dutch group that puts flowers on the graves of American servicemen killed liberating their country during World War II. Photo provided
Since he was 13, almost a decade ago, Robin Gulikers of the Netherlands has placed flowers on the grave of Pfc. Robert Ramsdell buried in the American Military Cemetery at Margraten, Netherlands. It’s become a monthly ritual for the teenager, part of the Dutch “Fallen Not Forgotten” program honoring American servicemen killed in action whiled liberating Holland from the Germans in World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
10th Armored Division, Metz, Patton
In U. S. Army, World War II on April 29, 2013 at 2:38 am
Sgt. George Sutherland is pictured with one of his 5 light tanks with a Nazi flag draped over the front. His platoon spearheaded Gen. George Patton’s 3rd Army advance across Europe during World War II. Sutherland’s tank squad was part of the 10th Armored Division. Photo provided
George Sutherland of Port Charlotte, Fla. was in the vanguard of Gen. George Patton’s 3rd Army atop his light tank fighting his way into Germany during the closing months of World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
Guam, Invasion of Tarawa, Kwajalein, Leyte, Philippines and Okinawa, Saipan, USS Sheridan
In U.S. Navy, World War II on April 24, 2013 at 2:38 am
By the time this picture was taken, Harold Tyson who lives in River Walk mobile home park North Port, Fla., was a quartermaster 2nd class with three years at sea at the helm of Attack Transport-51, the USS Sheridan. He saw action during many of the major battles in the Pacific in the Second World War. He was 20 years old, home from the war at the time of this picture was taken. Photo provided
Harold Tyson was a teenage quartermaster 2nd class at the helm of the USS Sheridan (APA-51), an attack transport, in seven major Pacific battles during World War II. He and his ship took part in the Invasion of Tarawa, Kwajalein, Saipan, Guam, Leyte, Philippines and Okinawa, the largest island engagement during the Second World War.
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458th Bomb Group, 755th Squadron, B-24 Liberator, Horsham Air Base
In Army Air Corps, World War II on April 19, 2013 at 2:38 am
Wes Belleson is pictured in England during World War II when he flew from Horsham Air Base near Norwich as the tail gunner on a B-24 “Liberator” bomber in the 8th Air Force . Photo provided
The American 8th Air Force saved the English from being invaded and defeated by Germany during World War II, according to Wes Belleson, who served as a tail gunner in a B-24 “Liberator” flying from a field near Norwich, England during the Second World War.
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Dukws, Iwo Jima, LST-121, Okinawa, Peleliu, Saipan, Suribachi
In U.S. Navy, World War II on April 17, 2013 at 2:38 am
Lt. Earl Swillum is pictured in his Navy dress uniform during World War II. Photo provided
The hand-written note on the back of the framed 8 X 10-inch black and white photo on the wall of Earl Swillum’s Port Charlotte, Fla. home reads: “Iwo Jima, Day 3.” On the flip side it shows LST-121 on the beach with its bow in the island’s black volcanic sand two days before the Marines put an American flag atop Mount Suribachi. Read the rest of this entry »
306th Bomb Group - 8th Air Force, B-17 "Fightin'-Bitin", Berlin
In U.S. Air Force, World War II on April 15, 2013 at 2:38 am
Lt. Fred Hocker of Englewood, Fla. holds one of the blades of a B-17 bomber’s engine called “Fightin’-Bitin’” on which he served as navigator during World War II. He was in the 306th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force in Europe. Photo provided
The six missions Lt. Fred Hocker flew over Berlin with the crew of a B-17 bomber called “Fightin’-Bitin” were the very worst of the 23 combat missions he made as a navigator in the 306 Bomb Group, 8th Air Force during World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
8th Air Force, Attenborough, B-24 Liberator, Bomber Nose Art, Cologne - Germany, D-Day, Normandy
In Army Air Corps, World War II on April 12, 2013 at 2:38 am
“Never Mrs.” was a shapely lass who adored the nose of Matt Williams’ “Liberator” four-engine bomber during the Second World War. Photo provided
1st Lt. Matt Williams of Englewood, Fla. flew his first combat mission piloting a B-24 “Liberator,” four-engine bomber over Nazi-occupied France during the D-Day Invasion, June 6, 1944, along the beaches of Normandy in World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
15th Air Force, 456 Bomb Group, 745th Squadron, B-24 Liberator, Fredrickshafen, Ploiesti
In U.S. Army Air Corps, World War II on April 10, 2013 at 2:38 am
2nd Lt. Rex Wilkinson had just received his wings when this picture was taken. He went on to fly 51 combat missions as the pilot of a B-24 “Liberator” bomber in World War II. Photo provided
1st Lt. Rex Wilkinson flew a shiny, silver B-24 “Liberator” bomber he named “Alberta K,” for his wife, from a base at Stornara, Italy on 51 combat missions in 1944 as part of the 745th Squadron, 456 Bomb Group, 15th Air Force.
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Guadalcanal, Admiral "Bull" Halsey, USS Walke, USS Meade, USS Benham
In U.S. Navy, World War II on April 8, 2013 at 2:38 am
At 18, James Friel was on liberty in Honolulu with the rest of the fleet during World War II. Photo provided
It was pitch dark 64 years ago this past week, when Seaman 1st Class James Friel of south Punta Gorda, Fla. jumped from the fantail of the USS Walke (DD-416) into Iron Bottom Sound at Guadalcanal after his destroyer was hit by a Japanese torpedo. Read the rest of this entry »
C-47, Carlstrom Field, Langley Air Force Base, Myitkyina, The Hump
In Army Air Corps, World War II on April 3, 2013 at 2:38 am
Bill Lightfoot of Quail Run is pictured at 21 about the time he began teaching British cadets how to fly Stearman PT-17 biplanes at Carlstrom Field in Arcadia, Fla. in 1941. Photo provided
Bill Lightfoot was in his fourth year in a small Presbyterian liberal arts college in South Carolina in 1941 when he got his civilian pilots license. He decided to quit school and become an aviation instructor for he United States Government. Read the rest of this entry »
1st Marine Division, 6th Marine Division, Cemetery Ridge, Okinawa, Sugar Loaf Hill
In U.S. Marine Corps, World War II on April 1, 2013 at 4:18 am
Pfc. Harold Tyler’s unit checks out the remains of Sugar Loaf Hill, the deadliest Japanese fortification on Okinawa. It resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Marines and soldiers who tried to capture it. Photo provided
Pfc. Harold Tyler of Crystal Bay Condominiums, Lake Suzy, Fla. was in Charley Company, 1st Battalion, 29th Regiment, 6th Marine Division on Palm Sunday morning, April 1, 1945, when his unit charged ashore on Okinawa, the biggest Pacific island battle of World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
393rd Infantry Regiment, 99th Division, Battle of the Bulge, Company B, General Omar Bradley, Remagen Bridge, Siegfried Line
In U. S. Army, World War II on March 29, 2013 at 3:38 am
The war for Sgt. Clyde Housel of Reverwood subdivision in Port Charlotte, Fla. is over when this picture of the 20-year-old soldier was taken in Reams, France in 1945. Note he’s wearing the Combat Infantryman’s Badge on his chest. Photo provided
Former Sgt. Clyde Housel of Port Charlotte, Fla. found himself in the snow and cold huddled in a foxhole along the Siegfried Line searching for Germans to shoot with his 1903 Springfield sniper rifle and scope on Dec. 16, 1944. He was a 1st Army sniper. Read the rest of this entry »
Battle of the Coral Sea, Midway, USS Bennington, USS Yorktown
In U.S. Navy, World War II on March 25, 2013 at 4:38 am
This was Wilbur Kinney at 17 when he went aboard the carrier Yorktown at Portsmouth, Va., right out of boot camp in 1942. Photo by PhoM2/C Bill Roy
Wilbur Kinney of Port Charlotte, Fla. was aboard the carrier USS Yorktown when it was sunk by a Japanese submarine during the decisive Battle of Midway that began June 4, 1942. Read the rest of this entry »
Admiralty Islands, B-24 Liberator, Biak Island, Holandia, Jap Zeroes, New Britain Island, New Guinea, Nose art, Rabaul
In U.S. Air Force, World War II on March 22, 2013 at 2:38 am
Carl Driver of Alligator Mobile Home Park south of Punta Gorda, Fla. was a tailgunner on a B-24 “Liberator” in World War II, stands beside the nose art on his bomber “Passionate Witch.” He flew in the 13th Air Force in the Pacific. Photo provided
Carl Driver of Alligator Mobile Home Park on Taylor Road south of Punta Gorda, Fla. was the tail gunner in a B-24 “Liberator” four-engine, heavy bomber dubbed “Passionate Witch.” They were part of the 13 Air Force, 50th Bomb Group, 23 Bomb Squadron that flew from captured island air bases built by the Japanese in the Pacific during World War II.
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"Hotfoot Two", 333rd Squadron, 8th Air Force, 944th Bomb Group, B-17 Flying Fortress, Bury St. Edmonds, Le Mans, Stuggart
In Distinguished Flying Cross, U.S. Air Force, World War II on March 17, 2013 at 2:38 am
Clayton Raynes of La Casa mobile home park in North Port, Fla. is pictured as a 22-year-old second lieutenant when he graduated from flight school in 1943 during World War II. Photo provided
On an overcast April night in 1943 a lone B-17 bomber dubbed “Hotfoot Two” flew from Newfoundland to Greenland on its way to Scotland, Ireland, England and the war zone in Europe. The “Flying Fortress” was destined for the 8th Air Force to became one of the thousands of American, four-engine, heavy bombers to wield Hitler a knockout punch.
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"Silver Chief", 753rd Squadron, B-24 Liberator, Battle of the Bulge
In U.S. Air Force, World War II on March 15, 2013 at 4:38 am
This is the crew of “Silver Chief,” a B-24 in the 458th Bomb Group, 753rd Squadron, 8th Air Force during World War II. Port Charlotte, Fla. resident 1st Lt. Ed Sealy, the pilot, is second from the left in the back row. Photo provided
Their target: A road intersection near Schonberg, Germany, at the close of the Battle of the Bulge. It was Hitler’s last and largest offensive on the western front during World War II, aimed at blunting the allied advance into the “Fatherland.” Read the rest of this entry »
Aberdeen Proving Ground, Red River Ordnance Depot
In WACS, World War II on March 11, 2013 at 4:38 am
One Easter Sunday, during World War II, Winifred Leiser was singled out as the “Best Dressed Woman in Uniform” and presented with an orchid while walking on the boardwalk in Atlantic City, N.J. Photo provided
When Winifred Leiser joined the Women’s Army Corps during the early part of World War II, it never occurred to her that by the war’s end, she would have become a poster girl for the corps. Read the rest of this entry »
B-24 Liberator, B-29 Superfortress, PT-13 Caydet, Pt-19
In US Navy, World War II on March 8, 2013 at 1:38 am
Lt. Tom Rebel is pictured at his parents’ Chicago home during World War II. Photo provided
Tom Rebel of Burnt Store Isles, south of Punta Gorda, Fla. said, “I wanted to be a bomber pilot. I wanted to fly the biggest thing they had.” He ended up piloting a four-engine B-29 “Superfortress,” the largest bomber mass-produced in the United States during World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
66th "Black Panther Division", English Channel, HMS Brilliant, S.S. Cheshire, S.S. Leopoldville
In World War II on March 4, 2013 at 4:38 am
Val Peterson of Port Charlotte, Fla. looks at his 66th Infantry Division book about the “Black Panther Division’s” exploits during World War II. Covering the table in front of him are pictures from his WW II scrapbook. Sun photo by Don Moore
It was Christmas Eve 1944 when Staff Sgt. Val Peterson and the 66th “Black Panther Division” got their marching orders.
“We had been stationed in Dorchester, England, since mid-October when orders swept the camp to be ready to get out in two hours. We were taken to Southampton by truck,” the 84-year-old Port Charlotte, Fla. man recalled more than 60 years later. “The whole division was lined up on the dock in the cold in the dark with all our stuff. Read the rest of this entry »
15th Air Force, 464 Bomb Group, 779 Bomb Squadron, B-24 Liberator, Distinguished Flying Cross, Ploesti
In Distinguished Flying Cross, U.S. Air Force, World War II on March 1, 2013 at 4:38 am
Almost 63 years after a bombing raid in a B-24 “Liberator” over German oil refineries in Romania, former Tech. Sgt. Jay T. Fish of Englewood, Fla. received the Distinguished Flying Cross in an elaborate award ceremony in Washington, D.C. on April 24, 2007 along with the other eight members of the bomber’s crew. Read the rest of this entry »
ComSubPac, Java Sea, Majuro Island, Shokaku, SS Luriline, USS Cavalla (SS-244)
In U.S. Navy, World War II on February 25, 2013 at 4:38 am
Louis Roybal of Village of Holiday Lakes in Englewood, Fla. holds an honorary “Plank Owner’s” certificate given to sailors who served aboard ship when it was commissioned.
The USS Cavalla (SS-244) was considered by some to be the luckiest ship in the submarine service.
She sank the Japanese carrier Shokaku that participated in the Pearl Harbor attack, made 570 dives and sank 34,180 tons of enemy shipping near the end of World War II without sustaining any serious injuries to the crew. Read the rest of this entry »
House Judiciary Subcommittee, Mike Wallace "60 Minutes", mustard gas, Porter Goss, Veterans Administration
In U.S. Navy, World War II on February 25, 2013 at 2:05 am
At 17, Glenn Jenkins was the typical teenage serviceman who sailed off to war during World War II. Hardly old enough to shave, Jenkins was homesick for Venice, Fla. and volunteered to take part in a secret assignment to get 11 days leave to come home. After signing up, he learned the secret duty was to be a guinea pig in a Navy gas chamber. Photo provided
Glenn Jenkins is dead. In 1945 he was a 17-year-old sailor who grew up in Nokomis, Fla. and joined the Navy near the end of World War II. After graduation from boot camp in Bainbridge, Md. he volunteered for a secret Naval mustard gas experiment that made him the focal point of a headline-grabbing Congressional investigation in Washington on military’s misconduct more than half a century later. Read the rest of this entry »
11th Airborne Division, Leyte Campaign, Los Banos Internment Camp, Luzon, POW
In U.S. Army Airborne, World War II on February 22, 2013 at 3:38 am
Al Bond is the soldier squatting at the left, holding onto a pint-sized kid. Photo provided
Their objective: Los Banos Internment Camp, a prisoner-of-war stockade on the island of Luzon in the Philippines, where 2,147 Allied POWs were languishing.
The 1st Cavalry Division and the 37th Infantry Division were fighting to take the northern part of the island. A couple of dozen 11th Airborne troops jumped behind enemy lines into the heart of the camp to free the prisoners, while the rest of the airborne division advanced from the southern end of the island northward. Read the rest of this entry »
Ardennes Forest, Battery A-258th Field Artillery Battalion, Battle of the Bulge, General George Patton, Hurtgen Forest, Siegfried Line
In U. S. Army, World War II on February 20, 2013 at 4:38 am
This was Pfc. Louis Basso shortly after graduating from Army boot camp in 1940. He was 19-years-old. Photo provided
Louis Basso of Venice, Fla. was a 155 mm gunner who served in Battery A, 258th Field Artillery Battalion attached to Gen. George Patton’s 3rd Army that fought the Germans across France and into the “Fatherland” during World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
Iwo Jima, Suribachi
In U.S. Merchant Marines, World War II on February 18, 2013 at 4:38 am
Former Marine Cpl. Walter O’Malley, at the left, is the only surviving member of the group who had their photo taken while in Hawaii during World War II. In the foreground is the company corpsman whose name he can no longer recall. Beside him is Tom Coughlin and Milo Urdeich, two Marine buddies who survived the war. Photo provided
Cpl. Walter O’Malley was a 19-year-old Browning Automatic Rifleman in the first wave of Marines who came ashore on Iwo Jima on Feb. 19, 1945. His war ended six days later when he was struck in the leg and arm by two pieces of shrapnel from an enemy mortar. Read the rest of this entry »
Higgins Boat, Iwo Jima, Mount Suribachi, Red Beach, USS Rutland (APA 192)
In Army, U.S. Marine Corps, World War II on February 15, 2013 at 4:38 am
Milt Alligood, on the right, of Englewood, Fla. is pictured with two of his friends aboard the USS Rutland, an attack transport he served on during the second World War. He can’t remember what his buddies’ names are because it’s been so long. Photo provided
Enemy artillery rounds and small-arms fire rained down in the water all around them as they came ashore on “Red Beach,” near the base of Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima, with U.S. Marines. Seaman/3rd Milt Alligood manned the steel ramp in the bow of the plywood Higgins Boat. He lowered it as the “Leathernecks” charged from their landing craft into the mouth of hell. Read the rest of this entry »
Benika - Russell Islands, British Samoa, Bronze Star with V, Guadalcana, NATO Task Force, Navy Commendation, New Caledonia, Presidential Unit Citation
In Korean War, U.S. Marine Corps, Vietnam War, World War II on February 11, 2013 at 4:38 am
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 »
1st Marine Division, Guadalcanal, Honiara, Solomon Islands
In U.S. Marine Corps, World War II on February 8, 2013 at 4:38 am
Ken Budd looks at a scrapbook of photos taken during his four trips to Guadalcanal since 1985 searching for his brother, Robert. Sun photo by Don Moore
Ken Budd has an obsession.
For 25 years he’s been trying to locate the remains of his older brother who was killed on Guadalcanal during World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
B-24 Liberator, Berlin, Brown Knoser, Distinguished Flying Cross, Jimmy Stewart, ME-109s
In Distinguished Flying Cross, U.S. Air Force, World War II on February 4, 2013 at 4:38 am
Vincent Durand of Port Charlotte, Fla. holds a copy of the local newspaper that says it all: “SURRENDER SIGNED!” This picture was taken at an air base near Madison, Wis., after he returned from his tour with the 8th Air Force in England during World War II. Photo provided
Buried in a box of old pictures and military records tucked away in a chest of drawers in Vincent Durand’s Port Charlotte, Fla. home is a medal from long ago.
The bronze medal with its four-bladed airplane propeller was attached to a red, white and blue ribbon — The Distinguished Flying Cross. Read the rest of this entry »
182nd Regiment, Americal Division, Bougainvillea Island, Bronze Star with V, Cebu Island, Company H, Leyte Gulf, New Caledonia
In National Guard, World War II on February 1, 2013 at 4:38 am
- Vincent Carvalho, second soldier from the left, is wearing a Smoky the Bear hat. The picture was taken in New Caledonia when the Americal Division first arrived in the Pacific in January 1942. Photo provided
A year before the war started, in 1940, Cpl. Vincent Carvalho and the rest of the Massachusetts National Guard went to war, but they didn’t know it at the time. Read the rest of this entry »
Carlstrom Field, Emery-Riddle Flight School, Maxwell Air Force Base, Stearman PT-17
In Army Air Corps, World War II on January 30, 2013 at 4:38 am
Wearing his leather flying cap, goggles and a leather flight jacket, Don Bunger of Port Charlotte, Fla. looks like the quintessential World War II Aviation Cadet. He learned to fly pursuit planes at Carlstrom Field in Arcadia, Fla. in 1944. Photo provided
Don Bunger was in “Class 45-B,” the last class of pursuit pilots to graduate from Carlstrom Field in Arcadia, Fla. at the end of World War II. He soloed and got his wings flying a Stearman PT-17 two cockpit biplane just days before the program closed for good.
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Battle of Leyte Gulf, Iwo Jima, Kamikaze, Palau Islands, USS Intrepid
In U.S. Navy, World War II on January 28, 2013 at 4:38 am
Dick Brown is the sailor at the left smiling from a PBY “flying boat” with his two buddies, Manuel Rodriguez from Texas and Art Loveland of Pennsylvania on Saipan Island during World War II. Photo provided
Dick Brown thought he was going to be an 18-year-old naval aviator in 1944. He quickly found out the military had more young flyboys than it needed. Read the rest of this entry »
'Angel of Death', 'Righteous Gentile', Auschwitz, Camp B2B, Holocaust Memorial Museum, Josef Mengele, Schwartz Heiden, Terezin Czechoslovakia
In World War II on January 25, 2013 at 4:38 am
William Schick of Venice, Fla. holds a picture of the semi-pro soccer team of which he was a member in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in 1939 when he was 19. This was before the Germans invaded his country. He’s the tallest player in the center of the picture. Sun photo by Don Moore
The faded, blue tattooed numbers on the old man’s left forearm bear witness to the hell on earth he endured as a young man during World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
347th Regiment, 87th Infantry Division, Bastogne, Battle of the Bulge, Company G, Patton's 3rd Army, USS Constitution
In U. S. Army, World War II on January 18, 2013 at 4:38 am
George Phillips of North Port, Fla. is pictured with a shadow box full of his World War II medals and his sergeant stripes. He served in Gen. George Patton’s 3rd Army. Sun photo by Don Moore
George Phillips of North Port, Fla. was an 18-year-old soldier serving in Company G, 347th Regiment, 87th Infantry Division, part of Gen. George Patton’s 3rd Army in Europe during World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
85th Infantry Division, Camp Shelby, European Theater, Gen. Mark Clark's 5th Army, Monte Casino
In U. S. Army, World War II on January 16, 2013 at 4:38 am
Pvt. Bob Balch of Venice, Fla. is pictured shortly after he graduated from boot camp at Camp Shelby, Miss. in 1943. He served in Gen. Mark Clark’s 5th Army in Europe as a member of the 85th Division. Photo provided
It was Pfc. Bob Balch’s job to retrieve the spent brass shells as they ejected from the breach of a 105 millimeter Howitzer. He was a cannonier, a hot shell man, and a member of a six-man crew that serviced a cannon in the 85th Infantry Division, part of Gen. Mark Clark’s 5th Army fighting in Italy during World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
Army Logistics School, B-26 "Marauder", B-26 "Widowmaker", Fort Mead - VA, OCS
In U.S. Air Force, World War II on January 14, 2013 at 4:37 am
Second Lt. Art Folaros of Port Charlotte, Fla. talks to a beautiful Russian army doctor outside a bar in Plzen, Czechoslovakia, near the end of the war in Europe during World War II. Photo provided
Second Lt. Art Folaros of Port Charlotte, Fla. went to Europe in 1944 and trained to fly a B-26 twin-engine Marauder attack-bomber nicknamed the “Widowmaker” to provide tactical air support for Gen. George Patton’s 3rd Army. Read the rest of this entry »
1st Marine Division, 3rd Battalion - 7th Regiment, Bethesda Naval Medical Hospital, Guadalcanal, Leatherneck, Lt. Col. "Chesty" Puller, Matanikau River, New Briton
In U.S. Marine Corps, World War II on January 7, 2013 at 4:38 am
Lt. j.g. Vernon Martens served in Marine legend “Chesty” Puller’s battalion during the battles for Guadalcanal and New Briton in the Pacific during World War II. Sun photo by Don Moore
Lt. j.g. Vernon Martens United States Marine Corps was in the first wave of “Leathernecks” on the beach at Guadalcanal on Aug. 7, 1942. A doctor in the 3rd Battalion, 7th Regiment, 1st Marine Division, he came ashore with his 1906 Springfield rifle in one hand and his medical supplies in the other. Read the rest of this entry »
Berlin Air Lift, Carlstrom Field - Arcadia, Mitchell B-25, Stearman PT-17
In Cuban Missle Crisis, Korean War, U.S. Air Force, World War II on January 2, 2013 at 4:38 am
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 »
160th Regiment, 40th Infantry Division, E-Company, Guadalcanal, Lingane Gulf, National Guard
In World War II on December 31, 2012 at 4:38 am
This was Hugo Filizetti about the time he was shipped overseas. He was 21 at the time this picture was taken. Photo provided
Pfc. Hugo Filizetti was an “expert marksman” in World War II. That was his undoing.
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446 Bomb Group, 8th Air Force, B-24 Liberator, Battle of the Bulge
In Distinguished Flying Cross, U.S. Air Force, World War II on December 28, 2012 at 4:38 am
Lt. Adam Kubinciak is presented the Distinguished Flying Cross by Lt. Col. William D. Kyle during a ceremony late in the war. He received the commendation for saving his crew when his B-25 caught fire shortly after takeoff from England. Photo provided
First Lt. Adam Kubinciak was the pilot of a B-24 “Liberator” bomber named “Miss Liberty,” part of the 706th Bomb Squadron, 446 Bomb Group, 8th Air Force stationed at Bungay, in southwestern England, during World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
Emergency Defense Training Program, Military Air Lift Command
In U.S. Air Force, World War II on December 26, 2012 at 4:38 am
Joe McKenney of Arcadia, Fla. was a 19-year-old warrant officer working on the flight line for the Air Traffic Command in Casablanca, Morocco in 1945 when this picture was taken. Photo provided
Joe McKenney of Arcadia, Fla. had just graduated from aviation training at Manhattan High School in New York City in 1943 when he enrolled in the Emergency Defense Training Program to become an aviation mechanic. Read the rest of this entry »
283rd Ordinance and Ballistic Technical Service Detachment, Patton's 3rd Army, WACS
In U. S. Army, World War II on December 24, 2012 at 4:38 am
Don and Jan Smally of Sarasota, Fla. are pictured in their Army uniforms shortly after they got married during World War II. Photo provided
Don Smally was a sergeant in the 283rd Ordinance and Ballistic Technical Service Detachment, fighting in Gen. George Patton’s 3rd Army in Europe during World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
38th Fleet, Air Group VT-6, Iwo Jima, Kure Bay, Ofuna Prison Camp, Okinawa, TBM Avenger, USS Hancock
In U.S. Naval Aviation, World War II on December 19, 2012 at 4:38 am
UPI–Former Japanese guards at the Ofuna prison camp, 16 miles from Yokohama, described as one of the worst in the area, bow low in the old polite manner as Luther P. Johnson (foreground), Portland, Me., and John Chapman, Los Angeles, Calif., prisoners until Japan capitulated, carry their bags from the camp to freedom. Photo provided by Nancy Poe
Gunner’s Mate 2/C Luther Johnson was shot down in his TBM torpedo bomber during an attack on the Japanese fleet bottled up in Kure Bay, Japan in late July 1945. He was the back seat gunner on a ring-mounted .50-caliber machine-gun in an “Avenger,” part of Air Group VT-6 that flew from the deck of the carrier USS Hancock, in Adm. “Bull” Halsey’s 38th Fleet.
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"Blood Chit", 846th Air Force Base Unit, Dum-Dum Air Base, Merrill's Marauders, Myitkina, The Hump
In U.S. Air Force, World War II on December 17, 2012 at 4:38 am
Sgt. Pete Chisholm of Port Charlotte, Fla. with his spotted leopard. He got the cat while serving near Calcutta, India, during World War II. Photo provided by Pete Chisholm
It wasn’t the brightest move on his part, former Sgt. Pete Chisholm admitted more than 60 years later in the comfort of his Southwest Fla. apartment.
“I volunteered to help some of Merrill’s Marauders out. At the time I was an engineer on a C-47 (twin-engine transport) flying out of Dum-Dum Air Base just outside Calcutta. On most of the 47 combat missions I flew with the 846th Air Force Base Unit, we brought in soldiers and medical supplies,” the 85-year-old resident of Essex House said.
This flight was different. Read the rest of this entry »
20th Air Force, 313th Bomb Wing, 484th Squadron, 505th Bomb Group, B-29 Superfortress, General Curtis Lemay, Iwo Jima, Tinian
In U.S. Air Force, World War II on December 10, 2012 at 4:38 am
Guice Johnson graduated from the Aviation Cadet Program during World War II. He was a bombardier flying raids over Japan in a B-29 “Superfortress.” Photo provided
1st. Lt. Guice Johnson was the bombardier on the 12-man crew of the first B-29 to land on Tinian Island during the closing months of World War II.
In fact, when Capt. Walter Schroder put down the wheels, the Seabees were still working to build the runway. Read the rest of this entry »
Battleship Row, Ford Island, Kamikaze, Pearl Harbor, USS Dobbin
In US Navy, World War II on December 7, 2012 at 4:38 am
A Navy whale boat picks up a sailor swimming in Pearl Harbor in front of the battleship USS West Virginia badly damaged and smoking in the background on Dec. 7, 1941 shortly after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. U.S. Government photo
Seventy-one years ago today, at 8 a.m. on a Sunday, Seaman Joe Kleiss was aboard the USS Dobbin, an auxiliary destroyer docked in Hawaii, writing a letter home to his mother. Read the rest of this entry »
B-24 Liberator, B-29 Superfortress, Baka Bomb, Distinguished Flying Cross, Pine Castle Army Air Base
In U.S. Air Force, World War II on November 30, 2012 at 4:38 am
Bob Althoff of River Haven Mobile Home Park, south of Punta Gorda, Fla. holds on to “Duke V,” his 109-pound pet Doberman. The octogenarian piloted a B-29 “Superfortress” bomber on 35 missions over Japan during the closing months of World War II. Sun photo by Don Moore
Old “Iron Pants” decreed that the B-29 bombers would fly firebomb raids over Tokyo at 7,000 feet after taking command of the 20th Air Force. The “Superfortress” crews had been flying raids at 25,000 feet, Bob Althoff, pilot of one of the bombers, recalled decades later. Read the rest of this entry »
