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 »
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 »
Command Sgt. Maj. John Gay was third in line to be named Sergeant-Major of the Armies. He served his country in three wars: World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. Photo provided
When Melitta Gay of Venice called me a while back and said she was going through all her late husband’s stuff from a 31-year military career that spanned World War II, Korea and Vietnam and wanted me to come check it out for possible inclusion in the Sun, I was perplexed. He had already gone on to Valhalla 18 years ago like all good warriors, so what did she want me to do?
“Come see me,” she said. “I have more than enough information to make a long story about my husband for your newspaper.” Read the rest of this entry »
This was Pvt. Bill Price of Port Charlotte, Fla. about the time he graduated from boot camp at 20 in 1942. Photo provided by Bill Price
Bill Price, who lives in Oxford House, Port Charlotte, was driving a 2 1/2-ton Army truck onto the beach at Normandy, France, D-Day, 60 years ago in June. Read the rest of this entry »
Sgt. Andy Pace of Port Charlotte, Fla. is pictured at 19 in 1943 after graduating from boot camp at Fort Polk, La. He served with the 58th Armored Infantry Battalion, part of Gen. George Patton’s 3rd Army in World War II. Photo provided
Andy Pace of Port Charlotte, Fla. served as a member of Gen. George Patton’s 3rd Army in World War II. He was a battalion radio operator for Headquarters Company, 58th Armored Infantry Battalion, 8th Armored Division. Read the rest of this entry »
This badly damaged picture of Pfc. Bill Waits of Nocatee, Fla. is his only service picture. He served in the Army’s 26th Division with Gen. George Patton’s 3rd Army in France and spent seven months in a German POW camp before he was liberated along with another 110,000 other Allied prisoners. Photo.provided
The steel-plated gold cover on the outside of Bill Waits’ “Heart Shield Bible” he carried in his breast pocket while a rifleman in the 26th Infantry Division during the Allied invasion of France in the closing months of World War II was inscribed in flowing script: “May this keep you from harm.” Read the rest of this entry »
At 23 2nd Lt. Bill Wells sits in the cockpit of his P-47 Thunderbolt fighter plane somewhere in Europe during World War II. He flew 50 combat missions providing air support for ground troops during the war. Photo provided
For their support of Gen. George Patton ‘s 3rd Army that stopped the German offense in World War II at Bastogne, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge , 2nd Lt. Bill Wells’ P-47 Thunderbolt squadron received a Presidential Unit Citation. 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 »
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.
Richard Smith of Port Charlotte, Fla. looks at a guide-on in a place of honor on his office wall. He was presented the battalion guide-on by his regimental commander for being the unit's outstanding soldier. Sun photo by Don Moore
Richard Smith of Port Charlotte, Fla. served in the 500th Port Battalion, an all black unit in World War II, that kept front line troops supplied with ammunition and equipment. 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.
Doc Lawrence Schaeferle waa a small town doctor from Garwin, Iowa who joined the 16th Infantry Division. Aa a captain he patched up wounded soldiers on Omaha Beach during the height of the Normandy Invasion on D-Day, June 6, 1944. The doctor served the entire war in Europe. Photo provided by Chuck Blaine
The citation accompanying his Bronze Star Medal reads:
“LAWRENCE G. SCHAEFERLE, CAPTAIN, Medical Detachment, 32nd Field Artillery Battalion. For heroic achievement in connection with military operations against the enemy in the vicinity of St. Laurent-sur-Mer, Normandy, France, 6 June, 1944. Although subjected to heavy enemy fire, Capt. Schaeferle remained on exposed beach, administering first aid and assisting in evacuation of the seriously wounded. His heroic devotion to duty saved many lives. Entitled to wear six bronze battle participation stars on European Theatre Ribbon for campaigns in Sicily, Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes, and Central Europe. Awarded the Bronze Star Medal for combat service in France and Bronze Service Arrowhead for Normandy Invasion.”
Sgt. Ed Erving of Port Charlotte, Fla. is pictured at the wheel of his ambulance somewhere in Germany during World War II. Photo provided
He landed on Utah Beach on D-Day plus 6, took part in the breakout at St. Lo, the Battle of the Bulge, Hurtgen Forest, Remagen and stopped at the Elbe River near Berlin at war’s end.
Edwin Erving of Port Charlotte, Fla. was trained as an ambulance driver and medic attached to the 5th Armored Division in World War II. He landed at Utah Beach in Normandy, France on D-Day plus 6 with the 5th Armored.
Sgt. John Beck at 24 when he served as the commander of a tank destroyer in the 3rd Army during World War II.
It was the day after Christmas 1944 when the 704th Tank Battalion, 4th Armored Division of Gen. George S. Patton’s 3rd Army broke through the German lines at Bastogne to rescue the 101st Airborne Division, dug in and holding back the enemy onslaught at the Battle of the Bulge.
Former Sgt. John Beck Jr. of Punta Gorda Isles, Fla. and the other four soldiers in his tank destroyer were in the thick of it. Read the rest of this entry »
Pvt. Mike Clemente is pictured at the time he got out of boot camp in 1944. He was 19
The red, white and black Nazi flag was in as good condition, swastika and all, as the day Mike Clemente pulled it off a flag pole that stood in a tiny public square in Remagen, Germany almost 60 years ago.
Sgt. Charles McLaughlin of North Port, Fla. is all smiles when this picture was taken a lifetime ago during World War II.
They were supposed to fly their final bombing mission, their 35th, over Cologne, Germany on Friday 13th, 1944. They didn’t do it. That was a big mistake. Read the rest of this entry »
