Pfc. Bob Hemingway served as a light machine-gunner in the 2nd Marine Division during the 1960s. Here he’s horsing around with the .30-caliber gun for the camera. Photo provided
Bob Hemingway of Lake Suzy, near Port Charlotte, Fla. was a junior in high school in New Haven, Conn. when he dropped out of school and joined the Marine Corps. He ended up in the 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division stationed at Camp Lajeune, N.C. Read the rest of this entry »
Sgt. Lawrence Gilbert stateside with the National Guard during summer maneuvers. Photo provided by Lawrence Gilbert
Sgt. Lawrence Gilbert of North Port, Fla. was a member of the 1st Ranger Battalion attached to the 1st Division, part of Gen. George Patton’s 7th Army that landed in Sicily on July 10, 1943 during the middle of World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
Cpl Joe Taylor, center, and two of his buddies in Vietnam with a bomb-sniffing police dog. Taylor served with Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division in the 1960s. Photo provided.
Joe Taylor was a black Marine who served three tours of duty in Vietnam. The death and devastation this grunt witnessed while serving in the Corps over there was almost too much for him to bear.
