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 »
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 »
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.
Ed McFadden (left) and a buddy are obviously pleased about being on shore leave in Honolulu, Hawaii during the Second World War. Photo provided by Ed McFadden
The toughest day of World War II for 17-year-old Seaman Ed McFadden was partway through the battle of Okinawa in March 1945.
That day, he was not at his normal battle station in the foretop lookout 150 feet above the deck of the World War I battleship USS Colorado. That day he was on a small deck one level below and behind the bridge. Read the rest of this entry »
Bob Werner is pictured as a 20-something U.S. airman who served in the Pacific on Okinawa as part of the occupational forces in 1947-48 after World War II was over. Photo provided
A Canadian resident with an American father who met his mother while living in the Montreal area, Bob Werner of Bay Indies Mobile Home Park was drafted into the U.S. Army Air Force in 1946. He ended up in Sheppard Field, near Wichita Falls, Texas for basic which was the beginning of a series of educational experiences for the 20-year-old. Read the rest of this entry »
This is the B-24 crew Chuck Rauch flew with all the time while serving in the 5th Air Force, 43rd Bomb Group, 63 Squadron in the Pacific. He is second from the left standing. Photo provided by Chuck Rauch
Two days before VJ-Day, Japan’s surrender ending World War II, former Lt. Chuck Rauch, of Punta Gorda, Fla. was flying as navigator in an all black B-24 “Liberator” bomber. He was on a night mission to attack shipping at the north end of Ie Shima Island, part of the Japanese home islands. Read the rest of this entry »
Louie Wilson is pictured with his dog, Buddy in Norfolk, Va. shortly after he got out of boot camp. He was about to ship out to war in the Pacific during the closing months of World War II. Photo provided
Before Louie Wilson of Port Charlotte, Fla. joined the Navy in May 1943 he and his late wife, Bea, had a roller skating act on stage in Vaudeville call The Wilson Duo. After boot camp and preliminary naval gunnery training he went aboard a destroyer escort, the USS Barr (DE-576), headed for battle in the Pacific. Read the rest of this entry »
This was Ted Sivyer at 17 when he graduated from boot camp in 1941. He served as an antiaircraft gunner aboard the USS Butler and the USS Hamilton during World War II. Photo provided
Ted Sivyer of Country Club Estates in Venice manned a 20 mm antiaircraft gun on two destroyers, one during the Invasion of Sicily and North Africa and the other at Iwo Jima and Okinawa in World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
Stan Hardy looks at a daily bulletin passed out to the ship’s crew while serving aboard the carrier USS Shangri-La in World War II. The one the 83-year old Punta Gorda, Fla. resident is looking at tells about dropping the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Sun photo by Don Moore
The carrier USS Shangri-La sailed out of Pearl Harbor in early April 1945, headed for the war zone. Read the rest of this entry »
Robert Johnson holds a picture of himself and his four brothers who all served in World War II or the Korean War. The picture was taken in 1948 at Robert’s wedding. Sun photo by Don Moore
D-Day was June 15, 1944. It was the baptism of fire for the crew of the new attack transport USS Comet (APA-166) off Saipan Island in the Pacific’s Marshall Islands chain during World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
Seaman Ken Rivers of Port Charlotte, Fla. is pictured in 1944 after graduating from boot camp at 17. He served aboard the destroyer, USS Mansfield (DD-728) in the Pacific during World War II. Photo provided
By the time Ken Rivers of Port Charlotte, Fla. was 20 he had taken part in seven major engagements in the Pacific in World War II aboard the destroyer USS Mansfield (DD-728), participated in the first naval battle of the war in Tokyo Bay and attended the Surrender Ceremony on Sept. 2, 1945 when the Japanese officially called it quits. Read the rest of this entry »
Ed Blissick of Port Charlotte, Fla. is pictured as a 19-year old Navy deep water diver assigned to diving school at Pier 88 in New York City in 1943. Photo provided
Just like Mr. Roberts, who served aboard the USS Reluctant, Seaman 1st Class Ed Blissick of Gardens of Gulf Cove near Port Charlotte, Fla. served on a similar attack transport, the USS Montague, AKA-98, during the final months of World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
Don Fowler of Rotonda, Fla. holds a Japanese Army rifle and a flag he got in Tokyo while serving aboard the carrier USS Bennington during World War II. Sun photo by Don Moore
Don Fowler was born in Arcadia, Florida in 1925.
“I was going to graduate from DeSoto County High School in 1943, but I joined the Navy to see the world that March,” Fowler, who lives in Rotonda, Fla. said more than six decades later. Read the rest of this entry »
Seaman 2/C John Wisse is pictured at 20 in his Navy dress uniform. Photo provided
It wasn’t the bombing of the carrier USS Franklin off the coast of Japan on March 19, 1945, or the attack by 31 Kamikazes on the four destroyers leading the Franklin’s task force off Okinawa on April 14, 1945, that John Wisse of Rotonda, Fla. considers his worst day in World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
Former Lt. j.g. Don Lumsden of Boca Royale, Englewood, Fla. is pictured off Borneo in the South Pacific during World War II. He was a “Frogman” returning from a reconnoiter of the Japanese-held island. Photo provided
At 90 Don Lumsden of Boca Royale subdivision in Englewood, Fla. has the distinction of being the oldest living “Frogman” in the United States of America. He learned about this honor a few days ago from Mike Howard, Director of the Seal Museum in Fort Pierce, Fla. Read the rest of this entry »
John Callahan of P.G.I. holds a picture of the USS St. Mary’s that he served aboard during World War II. Callahan was a Higgins Boat driver who took part in the Battle of Okinawa. Photo provided
John Callahan , of Punta Gorda Isles, Fla., was the coxswain of a Higgins Boat, a plywood and steel landing craft built in the New Orleans area. He and his wooden boat played a part in the Battle of Okinawa, the biggest battle in the Pacific during the Second World War. Read the rest of this entry »
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 »
Quartermaster II Albert Reale presents Capt. Hilmal Grimm with a piece of the pendant from LST-1122 he skippered in the Pacific at the close of World War II. Photo provided
What Albert Reale of Port Charlotte, Fla. remembers most about World War II are not the battles, but the typhoon that ravaged Okinawa during the final weeks of the war. Read the rest of this entry »
Clyde Leininger was a 19-year old sailor when he married Marjorie in a courthouse ceremony in Long Beach, Calif. four days before his ship sailed to the Pacific late in World War II. Photo provided
Right out of high school Clyde Leininger, who lives in Alligator Mobile Home Park south of Punta Gorda, Fla. joined the Naval Aviation Cadet Program to become a pilot. Before he got his wings the program was canceled in October 1944 because the Navy had too many pilots.
Seaman 1st Class Martin Warnke is pictured in his hometown newspaper with an accompanying story that notes he had taken part in five invasions at that point in World War II. Photo provided.
Martin Warnke of Port Charlotte, Fla. was a spotter on a 20 millimeter anti-aircraft gun aboard landing craft (LST-66) that brought troops ashore at 15 major invasion beaches in the Pacific during World War II.
Thomas McLean is pictured beside an American flag kept in a place of honor on the wall of his Harbor Heights, Fla. home. The flag flew from the stern of Sub Chaser 664, one of the ships he served on during World War II. Sun photo by Don Moore
Electrician’s Mate 1st Class Thomas McLean’s war in the Pacific lasted a little over three months. He sailed aboard the USS Tollberg, APD-103, for Pearl Harbor arriving April 22, 1945.
Supreme Commander Gen. Douglas MacArthur signs the surrender declaration for the Allied Powers aboard the Battleship Missouri on Sept. 2, 1945 ending World War II. Standing behind him is Lt. Gen. Jonathan Wainwright left behind by MacArthur in Corregidor to surrender to the Japanese early in the war. Courtesy photo
Jerry Hemphill served aboard the USS Missouri as a Japanese intercept operator. He was the first American to intercept the official code from Tokyo that the emperor was calling it quits. World War II was almost over.
Read the rest of this entry »
Richard Berry is pictured in his 20s when he graduated from Navy bootcamp during World War II. Photo provided
Electronics Technician 2nd Class Richard Berry of Venice served aboard the USS Hudson (DD-470), on picket duty off Iwo Jima and Okinawa during the closing months of World War II.
It's been togetherness for Rudy Ricci (left) and Jack Callahan these past several months after Rudy saw Jack's war story in the Sun newspaper. Neither had seen anyone from their World War II ship, the attack transport USS St. Mary's, since they got off the boat 65 years ago. Sun photo by Don Moore
The headline on the story in the Sun read: ‘Jack Callahan served aboard USS St. Mary’s at Okinawa.’ Rudy Ricci of Windmill Village mobile home park in Punta Gorda, Fla. couldn’t believe his eyes.
This was Rudy Ricci at 17 when he got out of boot camp in 1944 and headed for the biggest battle in the Pacific during the Second World War. Photo provided
World War II was over. The Japanese had signed the surrender aboard the Battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay a few weeks earlier when Shipfitter 2nd-Class Rudy Ricci of Windmill Village, Punta Gorda, Fla. stepped into the limelight. He served aboard the USS St. Mary’s off Okinawa Island during a typhoon in Buckner Bay that nearly put the transport on the beach.
Lt. Ted Hutchins of Port Charlotte, Fla. climbs out of his Kingfisher spotter-plane after coming back aboard the Battleship South Dakota off Okinawa in World War II. Ensign Stark, in the back cockpit, had just been rescued after his Hellcat fighter plane was shot down. (Photo provided)
It was Jan. 22, 1945 and Americans forces were already making air strikes on Okinawa. The captain of the battleship USS South Dakota got word a carrier plane had crashed into the sea off the Pacific island.
Julius Hirsch returned from fighting the Japanese in the Aleutian Islands on a 30-day leave before shipping out to fight on Okinawa, and married Anna. This picture was taken in 1944. Photo provided.
Julius Hirsch grew up in the Bronx and went to war almost a year before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. He was a member of the 862nd Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion sent to the Aleutians when the Japanese invaded the barren islands off the Alaskan coast in 1942.
This was Pvt. Charlie Householder after he graduated from Jump School at Fort Benning, Ga. in 1953. He was just graduated from high school and was 18 years old. Photo provided
Charlie Householder served in Vietnam in 1969 as a Platoon Sergeant. with the 82nd Airborne Division at first and end up in the 25th Infantry Division in ‘Nam. He retired a decade later as a 1st Sergeant with the 82nd at Fort Bragg, N.C.
This was Willard Chamberlin at 17 when he graduated from cooks and bakers school in the Marines and joined the 1st Marine Division in the Pacific during World War II. Photo provided
Willard Chamberlin was a Marine mess sergeant and rifleman who saw action at Okinawa, the biggest battle in the Pacific during the closing days of World War II.
He quit high school in 1943, when he was just a 17-year-old, and joined the Marines with his parents’ permission. Before the war was over he had three brothers who also served in the Army, Navy and Air Corps.
Gunners Mate Mike Stata of Venice Isles mobile home park in Venice, Fla. is pictured when he graduated from boot camp at 19 in 1943. Photo provided
Mike Stata was a “hot shell man” on a 5-inch gun aboard the destroyer USS Harding 1500 yards off Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944 during the Normandy Invasion. He also served aboard the Harding off Okinawa on April 16, 1945 when his ship was hit by a kamikaze and 22 sailors aboard the destroyer were killed.
Joe Northrup of Kingston, R.I.; Herb Wild of Syracuse, N.Y. and Paul Newman of Ridgewood, N.J. are pictured standing in front of a PBM seaplane while in the Pacific during WW II.
Herb Wild of Port Charlotte, Fla. joined the Navy in 1942 during World War II as an 18 –year-old electronics assistant’s mate. His job was to repair the newfangled electronic equipment on airplanes flown by Navy pilots in the Pacific Theatre of Operations.
Bill Toledo, (right) was a Navajo Code Talker, who served in the 3rd Marine Division during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. Frank Willetton, was a Navajo Indian who served as an infantryman with the 2nd Marine Division at Okinawa. Sun photo by Don Moore
Bill Toledo, a Navajo Code Talker with the 3rd Marine Division in World War II, was in the area talking to several organizations and school groups, along with Frank Willetton, another Navajo who fought with the 2nd Marine Division at Okinawa.
The Rotary Club of Englewood, Fla. brought them to town to speak at their 7 a.m. weekly meeting Thursday, March 25, 2010. While here they also talked to the general public at a two hour session held at Lemon Bay High School in Englewood on Thursday evening. A full house of 1st Marine Division Assn. member listened to the two Marines at the association’s monthly meeting held at the Old World Restaurant in North Port at noon Wednesday.
This was Neil Kennedy in his 20s shortly after he took his first flight in a jet fighter in 1958. He was flying an F-80 Shooting Star.
Capt. Neil Kennedy flew a KC-135 jet tanker in Vietnam War and continued to pilot the same flying gas station for the Strategic Air Command after the Southeast Asian war. He retired in 1991 as a brigadier general after 32 years of service in the U.S. Air Force and the Air Force National Guard and moved to Calusa Lakes subdivision in Nokomis, Fla.
Al Trombi is pictured shortly after completing basic training.
Like a Biblical plague of locusts, the kamikazes swept across the Allied fleet in the Southwest Pacific during the closing months of World War II. The Japanese called them the “Divine Wind.” The sailors in Adm. “Bull” Halsey’s Task Force 38 called them “hell.”
The Imperial Navy’s suicide pilots sunk or damaged 232 ships in that battle alone. Some 3,500 kamikazes were shot down in this attack. Before they went down in flames, the Japanese aviators sent 30 Allied ships to the bottom.
Thousands of Japanese pilots went to their fiery deaths crashing headlong into 122 destroyers, 19 aircraft carriers, 10 battleships, 12 cruisers and 69 auxiliary ships during the 82-days it took to defeat enemy forces on Okinawa.
Then 19-year-old Harold Tayler, far left kneeling in the front row, is pictured on Guadalcanal with a bunch of his buddies in Company C, 1st Battalion, 29th Marine Regiment, 6th Marine Division.
Okinawa was the end of the line in the Pacific for the Japanese Imperial Army.
The island invasion included 548,000 Allied forces and 1,200 ships. The initial assault force totaled 182,000 men – 75,000 more than landed on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, a year earlier. They were facing 100,000 entrenched Japanese. Read the rest of this entry »
Andy Knef of Port Charlotte, Fla. is pictured at 20 straddling the tail of a Martin Mariner, twin-engine sea plane in the Pacific during World War II. He was the tail-gunner on the plane during numerous combat missions in the Atlantic and Pacific.
Andy Knef joined the Navy in 1942 at 17 with his parent’s permission. Trained as an aviation machinist mate, he spent most of his time as a tail-gunner on a Martin Mariner (PBM) twin-engine seaplane flying combat missions in the Atlantic and Pacific. Read the rest of this entry »
