http://donmooreswartales.com "Tell it like it is..." Wed, 22 May 2013 06:40:32 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ http://s2.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.png http://donmooreswartales.com http://donmooreswartales.com/2013/05/22/philip-merrill/ http://donmooreswartales.com/2013/05/22/philip-merrill/#comments Wed, 22 May 2013 06:38:53 +0000 Don Moore http://donmooreswartales.com/?p=14220 ]]> http://donmooreswartales.com/2013/05/22/philip-merrill/feed/ 0 Don Moore Cmdr. Philip Merrill is pictured in his summer dress uniform. He served in the U.S. Navy and the Reserves from 1943 until 1976. Photo provided Merrill, right, presents an award to a young lieutenant. He was a captain and the commander of the Ship Activation., Maintenance and Repair Program while serving in the Naval Reserve in Philadelphia. Photo provided It was Feb.17, 1951 and Lt. j.g. Merrill and Martha, his wife, had just gotten hitched. Photo provided This is Merrill at 87 at his home in Punta Gorda. Sun photo by Don Moore http://donmooreswartales.com/2013/05/20/frank-hochstetter/ http://donmooreswartales.com/2013/05/20/frank-hochstetter/#comments Mon, 20 May 2013 06:38:20 +0000 Don Moore http://donmooreswartales.com/?p=9878 ]]> http://donmooreswartales.com/2013/05/20/frank-hochstetter/feed/ 0 Don Moore Frank Hochstetter, of Englewood, Fla. holds a newspaper story showing him and his grandfather Franz Baumann, a Civil War veteran. Photo provided by Frank Hochesteter Frank Hochestetter of Englewood, Fla. the little boy in the back, is pictured with is grandfather, Franz Baumann, a Civil War veteran, on Declaration Day 1913. At the far left is Hochestetter's mother and his older sister, Anna, holding an American flag. Photo providied by Frank Hochestetter This is a line drawing of the April 1862 battle of the ironclads - USS Monitor and the CSS Merrimack - in Hampton Roads, VA that Franz Baumann witnessed as a young Union soldier. Photo from the Naval Historical Center archives http://donmooreswartales.com/2013/05/17/ron-york/ http://donmooreswartales.com/2013/05/17/ron-york/#comments Fri, 17 May 2013 06:38:29 +0000 Don Moore http://donmooreswartales.com/?p=14188 ]]> http://donmooreswartales.com/2013/05/17/ron-york/feed/ 2 Don Moore Sgt. Ron York stands in front of his hooch at the 34th Combat Engineers base camp at Puloy, Vietnam about 65 miles from Saigon. He was in 'Nam in 1969-70. Photo provided York is part of the DeSoto County Honor Guard that participates in local veteran's activities. He is walking down the middle of Oak Street in Arcadia after a recent Veteran's Day parade. Photo provided York tells his war tale while wearing his Vietnam ball cap. Sun photo by Don Moore http://donmooreswartales.com/2013/05/15/cornel-dolana/ http://donmooreswartales.com/2013/05/15/cornel-dolana/#comments Wed, 15 May 2013 12:38:19 +0000 Don Moore http://donmooreswartales.com/?p=14180 ]]> http://donmooreswartales.com/2013/05/15/cornel-dolana/feed/ 1 Don Moore 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 This was the Orthodox Church in Dolana's home town of Riusanesti, Romania. Photo provided Dolana was a skinny young man when he arrived in the U.S.A. He was about 25 when this photo was taken. Photo provided \ http://donmooreswartales.com/2013/05/13/alex-haak/ http://donmooreswartales.com/2013/05/13/alex-haak/#comments Mon, 13 May 2013 11:58:34 +0000 Don Moore http://donmooreswartales.com/?p=14093 ]]> http://donmooreswartales.com/2013/05/13/alex-haak/feed/ 0 Don Moore Pvt. Alex Haak is shown in the foreground painting murals for the 43rd Infantry Division's mess hall in Germany in 1953 when he served in headquarter's company. Photo provided This is he Holland-American Line's "Edam" that Haak's worked as seaman aboard when he jumped ship at 19 in Hoboken, N.J. in 1951. Photo provided This plaque on a city office building notes he was mayor of Toms River, N.J. in 1975. Sun Photo by Don Moore This is Hanks at 81 at his Port Charlotte Home. Sun photo by Don Moore http://donmooreswartales.com/2013/05/09/bruno-virgili/ http://donmooreswartales.com/2013/05/09/bruno-virgili/#comments Thu, 09 May 2013 06:38:07 +0000 Don Moore http://donmooreswartales.com/?p=14164 ]]> http://donmooreswartales.com/2013/05/09/bruno-virgili/feed/ 0 Don Moore Like thousands of other young couples, Lulubelle Gaehner and Lt. Bruno Virgili were married weeks before he flew off during World War II. He didn't see his new bride for three long years, until war's end. Photo provided This was 2nd Lt. Virgili shortly after he graduated from Aviation Cadet Training. Photo provided This Roman bath in Tusenia, North Africa built 2000 years ago provided hot water bathing for American troops fighting Rommel's forces in the desert during World War II. Photo provided French soldiers in front of P-38 somewhere in North Africa. Photo provided Bruno Virgili today at 95 at home in Placida. Sun photo by Don Moore http://donmooreswartales.com/2013/05/06/hal-johnson/ http://donmooreswartales.com/2013/05/06/hal-johnson/#comments Mon, 06 May 2013 06:38:52 +0000 Don Moore http://donmooreswartales.com/?p=11748 ]]> http://donmooreswartales.com/2013/05/06/hal-johnson/feed/ 2 Don Moore 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 Hal Johnson was flying the F-94 all-weather interceptor in the foreground. He provided cover for B-29 bombers and flew fighter interceptor missions in all kinds of weather during the Korean War in one of these jets. Photo provided Col. Hal Johnson, who lives in southwest Florida, holds a model of an A-1 attack bomber like the one he flew in Vietnam. Sun photo by Don Moore http://donmooreswartales.com/2013/05/03/robin-gulikers/ http://donmooreswartales.com/2013/05/03/robin-gulikers/#comments Fri, 03 May 2013 06:38:37 +0000 Don Moore http://donmooreswartales.com/?p=14138 ]]> http://donmooreswartales.com/2013/05/03/robin-gulikers/feed/ 2 Don Moore 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 has put flowers of the graves of American servicemen killed liberating their country during World War II. Photo provided Pfc. Robert Ramsdell, the older brother of Don Ramsdell who lives in Harbor Cove mobile home park in North Port, is shown training in the U.S. in 1943 for the war in Europe. Photo provided This is Gulikers at 23 and a college student in the Netherlands. He was here in the U.S. recently visiting Don and Norma Ramsdell. Sun photo by Don Moore Don Ramsdell remembers his older brother, Bob, as "someone special." Sun photo by Don Moore http://donmooreswartales.com/2013/05/01/robert-robb/ http://donmooreswartales.com/2013/05/01/robert-robb/#comments Wed, 01 May 2013 06:38:29 +0000 Don Moore http://donmooreswartales.com/?p=14127 ]]> http://donmooreswartales.com/2013/05/01/robert-robb/feed/ 2 Don Moore Cpl. Robert Robb receives the Purple Heart from his platoon commander, Lt. Bernie Adams, at a ceremony in Korea during the war. Photo provided Pfc. Thomas Joseph Bourg, Robert Robb's sniper buddy in Korea, lounges in front of a pup tent in a rest area. The young sharpshooter was killed by an enemy mortar on New Year's Eve 1952. Photo provided Robb holds a cartoon drawing on the back of his old fatigue shirt, drawn by an unknown artist in his company. It shows a fox in Marine uniform depicting "Fox Company," his unit. Robert Robb at 80 at his North Port home. Sun photo by Don Moore http://donmooreswartales.com/2013/04/29/george-sutherland/ http://donmooreswartales.com/2013/04/29/george-sutherland/#comments Mon, 29 Apr 2013 06:38:03 +0000 Don Moore http://donmooreswartales.com/?p=11738 ]]> http://donmooreswartales.com/2013/04/29/george-sutherland/feed/ 0 Don Moore Sgt. George Sutherland is pictured with one of the 5 light tanks in his squad that spearheaded General George Patton's 3rd Army advance across Europe during World War II. His tank squad was part of the 10th Armored Division attached to Patton's army. Photo provided George Sutherland of Rotonda holds a shadowbox containing his Silver Star, two Bronze Stars for valor, a World War II Victory Medal and a Good Conduct Medal he received while serving as a tank commander in the 10th Armored Division in Europe during WWII. Sun photo by Don Moore