It is with a heavy heart, we learn the news that Iwo Jima Survivor DELBERT (DEL) LITTRELL USMC completed his earthly deployment to be with our heavenly Commander in Chief. He was 95.
Hailing from rural Arkansas, DELBERT (DEL) LITTRELL joined the Corps in 1943 when he was 18. By the end of the year, the private had been deployed to the Pacific's Marshall Islands. He wouldn't return stateside until his discharge at the end of 1945.
"We went straight from boot camp to the Marshalls," he says. "That battle only lasted about three days, but some of us stayed another two months cleaning up a bunch of the little islands."
LITTRELL's primary job was to serve as a cannoneer for a 155mm howitzer, but like all Marines, he also was a rifleman, carrying a carbine. He also served as a forward observer whose job was to report the success of rounds being fired by the howitzer.
"You tried to find the highest point you could and get up there," he says. "You see any troop movement or anything like that, and you called in the artillery.
"We used mass artillery. When we saw any troops getting ready to attack, we called in every gun we could on them."
By the spring of 1944, his unit was deployed to Saipan, then on to nearby Tinian. A photograph of Littrell and four buddies on Saipan in June 1944 shows him wearing a Japanese helmet. His four buddies are wearing Japanese soft hats.
"We had sniper fire from some trees, so we went out around and came in behind," he says by way of explaining how they acquired the enemy headgear.
LITTRELL was dubbed "Lucky" on Saipan. The monicker came from an incident in which he dove under a vehicle when his unit was being shelled.
"After the shelling was over, I crawled out and looked in the vehicle — it was loaded with hand grenades," he says. "The guys said, 'You are one lucky son of a b——.' "
LITTRELL needed all the luck he could summon on Iwo Jima. Before bringing in the big 155mm, his unit had to go in and secure an area where they would set up the cannon.
"On Iwo, there was 25 of us that started and only 12 of us that made it to the place we set it up," he says of that first day.
Littrell says the Japanese commander had very skillfully prepared his troops, so they had the entire island covered by their weapons.
"He was a genius," he says.
LITTRELL did not witness the famous flag-raising on Mount Suribachi on Feb. 23, although he did see Old Glory once it was raised.
"I was on Iwo Jima for 29 days," he says. "We didn't have a hot meal anytime we were there. By the end of it, you were rummy. You didn't get any sleep. You fired artillery 24 hours a day."
Adding to the hellish conditions was the smell of Sulphur bubbling up from the volcanic island mixed with the stench of thousands of dead comrades-in-arms laid out on the beach and covered with ponchos.
After the battle, the exhausted Marine was sent to a hospital in Guam for two weeks. A medical doctor told him he was sending him back to the states to recuperate. Instead, LITTRELL was ordered to Okinawa to participate in that battle in November 1945, his final island of the campaign.
After the war, LITTRELL met the beautiful Gloria May Goodale at an Eagles Dance in Coos Bay, Oregon. They married in 1954 and resided in Sumner, Oregon, where they raised their two sons, Vernon and Kenn.
LITTRELL worked at Georgia Pacific for 25 years until the mill closed, and then they moved to Delta Junction, Alaska, where he worked in Civil Service and retired in 1987 from the Fort Greely Army Base.
"For years, I never thought about it," he says. "But you really can't forget. You try, but you can't. The VA said you would need to see a shrink who will help you forget. But what does the VA know...They haven't spent days and nights and weeks under fire. A shrink doesn't know how it was."
LITTRELL enjoyed many years of traveling, fishing, and hunting in the 33 years he was retired. He especially liked camping with his many friends, whom they called "The Old Wrinkle Face Club."
LITTRELL is survived by his wife Gloria of 66 years; his son Vernon and Fiance', Shelley Henslee; granddaughter, Stephanie Summey and her husband, Kyle; niece, Margie Nelson; cousin, Janice Ball; and many friends.
He was preceded in death by his son, Kenn; mother, Martha, and father, John; brothers, Claude, JT, and Marion; and sisters, Lily and Daisy. LITTRELL will be laid to rest this spring at the Eagle Point National Cemetery with full military honors.

It is with a heavy heart; we learn the news that Leland Lewis, a veteran of the fighting 41st Infantry Division. He was 100.
Leland “Bud” Lewis was born August 8, 1920, Leland “Bud” Lewis is a U.S. veteran of World War II, a Portland police officer and commander, a nonprofit leader, and at 100 years of age, still a humble inspiration to others.
Lewis’ own words say it all: “If you show interest in, respect for, and kindness toward people, it will always be the right thing to do.”
Lewis was born near Mayton in Alberta, Canada, on Aug. 8, 1920, to a family who’d moved there from the United States to farm and find a better life. Facing hardship, they headed back south — only to run out of money in Portland. This was to be Lewis’ good fortune.
As a student at Benson High School, Lewis, like other patriotic boys of his day, sought adventure by joining the pre-war military. Only 16, he was not of legal age, but at 6-foot-3, he easily passed for 18.
After graduating, Lewis was appointed to the Portland Police Bureau as a patrolman. Although he admits applying for the job for the money ($186 a month), Lewis believes the work changed him for the better.
“I grew into the job. I realized there is something good about everyone and that’s why I treated everyone with dignity,” said Lewis.
But before that happened, Pearl Harbor intervened, and Lewis was assigned to the 186th Regiment of the 41st Infantry (“Sunset”) Division, so-named because of its setting-sun insignia.
At first, it was assigned to patrol the Oregon beaches from their base at Camp Clatsop (now Rilea). But then, as an already-trained unit, the 41st — also known as “Jungleers” — the was picked as America’s first to be sent overseas, fighting on New Guinea, in battles at Buna, Hollandia and the island of Biak.
Lewis commanded the supply of small arms ammunition to front-line troops, often escaping serious injury by seconds or inches.
On Biak, Lewis’ ongoing cases of malaria and hepatitis caught up with him. He was ordered home and returned to the states aboard the transport USS Republic. But after serving in harm’s way, Lewis’ life of public service was just beginning.
After returning to Portland, Lewis resumed his police career and married Janet, his longtime love. Together they raised their two children, Diane and Doug, in a Southwest Portland home where Lewis still lives.
Lewis’ always-positive outlook and integrity resulted in his assignment to the Portland Police Bureau’s Safety Education Unit. Many Portlanders still remember warm and kind “Sgt. Lewis” teaching them how to drive. But perhaps the most remarkable aspect of Lewis’ duties was his role as the commander of the famed Sunshine Division, which provides food to the needy, a position he held from 1963 until his retirement in 1973.
After retiring, Lewis worked as head of corporate security for the former Northwest Portland-based ESCO Corporation for 10 years. He is most proud of minimizing violence and property destruction during its first strike thanks to the good relations he’d established with workers.
“I talked to every one of them, and said I was also a union member, a member of the Portland Police Association,” said Lewis.
Decades after his retirement, Lewis still tirelessly contributes to his cherished Sunshine Division. This past summer, just before his 100th birthday, Lewis raised more than $125,000 in contributions by traversing many miles on the Duniway Track.
Lewis’ overwhelming kindness has helped him smooth over any bad feelings remaining from WWII. He long-ago buried any hatchet that may have existed and now works to return Yosegaki Hinomaru (good-luck national flags carried by Japanese troops into battle) to their original families. This effort resulted in a 2015 interview on CBS’ Sunday Morning program.
But perhaps Lewis’ greatest service is to the thousands of friends he has gained over a century, all of whom feel very close to him. His ready grin, infectious laugh, crushing handshake and enduring wisdom have endeared him to everyone he meets. To meet Lewis is to like him.

Longtime Merokean, storied World War II veteran, dies at 101.
Andrew Conlin, a World War II veteran, former New York City police officer and longtime Merrick resident, maintained his jovial, fun-loving attitude into his later years, family members said — and his personality was on full display when the Herald interviewed him in his Merrick home for his 100th birthday in 2019.
Memories from Conlin’s childhood included just as much detail. He recalled his mother, sweating under the Bronx summer sun as she wore a bandana, beckoning to a man selling ice below their fire escape. Fifteen cents provided enough ice until the next visit, he said.
“There was never a lack of kids!” Conlin exclaimed, throwing his arms up emphatically. They often occupied local parades that featured Spanish-American War and Civil War veterans or the local streets, where stickball was the game of choice. Other childhood memories —of fisticuffs and laughter — were shared with abundant detail.
Conlin prided himself on his bilingualism. At Clinton High School in the Bronx, he “zipped right though the four years” of French, he said, and would regularly read the language from newspapers on a stand in Times Square. He was also fluent in Irish Gaelic, and was well versed in Spanish and Italian.
“Wherever we were, my dad could speak or understand the language,” recalled Conlin’s daughter, Eileen.
Conlin met Peggy Lynch in 1937, and the two married four years later. But “war was in the air,” Conlin said. He joined the National Guard in 1940 and served at the 258th Armory in the Bronx.
In 1942, he and thousands of other National Guard members were drafted into the Army. In his carefully written notes, Conlin recounted his shipment to Iceland, which involved a close call with a German submarine.
“Looking off to the horizon,” he wrote, “I saw message lights from a destroyer, signaling ‘Periscope sighted 400 yards astern!’” — a warning of a German submarine sighting. “Two destroyers picked up steam, the smoke billowing from their stacks, and they U-turned backwards to attack the German submarines.”
In Iceland, Conlin served with men from across the United States and beyond. He worked as a radio operator and intercepted messages, which he handed to a sergeant to be passed along to the “big brains” in Washington, he said.
Conlin’s service also brought him to training camps in South Carolina, Arkansas and Georgia, and his wife, whom he affectionately referred to as “Dear Peggy,” always moved with him. They gave birth to their first son, Andrew, in 1944, and their second, James, in 1945.
After being discharged that year, Conlin joined the New York City Police Department. After 19 years on patrol and several attempts at the sergeant’s test, he eventually earned that promotion, and went on to become a lieutenant. He served for a total of 35 years in the 114th Precinct in Astoria.
Conlin followed in his father’s footsteps by becoming an officer. The career was how Andrew Conlin Sr. supported his family coming out of the Great Depression. Andrew Jr.’s first two sons, Andrew III and James, did the same.
After he and Peggy settled into their Merrick home in 1952, they had three more children, Eileen, Kevin and Dennis. Many of Conlin’s eight grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren attended Old Mill Road Elementary School and Sanford H. Calhoun High School.
Conlin was predeceased by Peggy. The two are buried together at Holy Rood Cemetery in Westbury, and the family plans to hold private commemoration ceremonies.

It is with great sadness; we learn the passing of Robert Cowles - a veteran who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor, dies at age 98.
He was stationed with the U.S. Marines in Hawaii. He was on the Marine Corps swim team. And, Cowles only had to work the switchboard at nights and on weekends occasionally.
Plus, with a retroactive pay raise, the check the 19-year-old picked up on Dec. 5, 1941, was pretty nice. That's why Cowles and buddies went to Honolulu for Christmas shopping on Dec. 6. That wasn't all Cowles did, he said recently as he rolled up his left sleeve.
He also got a "Pearl Harbor" tattoo. As it turned out, though, this wasn't the reason Cowles will never forget that weekend.
Arriving at the barracks an hour or two after midnight, Cowles went up to the third floor and went to bed. Within a few hours, the Japanese attack was underway.
Cowles grew up in Kansas City, Mo., and has lived much of his life in Spencer; recalled his life just before, during, and soon after the attack on Dec. 7, 1941.
On a December morning, Cowles arrived in Hawaii in February 1941; the Japanese launched their surprise attack. He remembers "running out of the barracks in my underwear and barefoot. I had my rifle with me, and I was shooting at the planes. They were bombing Hickam Field."
The Marine said they were convinced the Japanese would follow the attack with an invasion, so the survivors dug in on the beaches and stayed awake through the night.
"We were afraid they poisoned the water, and we were afraid to drink the water that day. And it was a hard, hard day," Cowles said.
Cowles went on to fight at Guadalcanal, surviving the war. A tattoo he got a day before the attack served as a permanent reminder.

It is with great sadness; VIRGIL LEE WARD, a Pearl Harbor veteran who lived in San Antonio, dies at 102
On the morning on December 07, WARD, an Army private, was at the Post Exchange before dawn to collect newspapers he delivered on his sideline job, but the papers were more than an hour late. Just before 8 a.m., he saw the fighters.
“They were flying in a formation when they first came in, and then they split up, of course, and they were diving in the air where I was at, and I was pretty close,” he recalled in a 2018 interview.
Dumbfounded, he instinctively took a longer route off the main highway to get to his duty station so that his car would draw less interest from the Japanese planes.
He reached his station, a phone exchange he helped run as a Signal Corps soldier on Diamond Head, a volcanic height above Honolulu. “They were strafing and bombing,” he said. “And I was close enough to see all the planes up there.”
Ward was a communications specialist assigned to the 16th Coast Artillery and had just been trained on what they were called “self-dialing” telephones. The new rotary devices had not been installed in his office, so he took a steady stream of calls the old way, from soldiers — including some commanders — speaking into a mouthpiece and asking an operator to connect them manually, with wires and plugs.
The callers were trying to make sense of the chaos, but “I couldn't tell them much more than they were being attacked,” Ward said.
The son of a moonshiner who preached on the side, Ward was 15 when he joined the Army out of a small town in Tennessee. He thought he was 17 because that's what his dad had told him. He had worked the family farm starting in fifth grade.
A friend who suggested they join the Army in 1935 flunked the entrance exam, but WARD was sent to New York and made a muleskinner because of his experience.
“I told them I wanted to go overseas, and you know where they sent me?” WARD said, chuckling. “Hawaii.” He stayed there the next 13 years.
WARD retired as a major in 1965 after a 30-year Army career, but not before close calls in the Korean War, where he got a battlefield promotion and saw a nearby soldier get killed by a mortar shell close enough to spray him with shrapnel, and Vietnam, where the Saigon hotel he stayed in was blown up while he was out.

It is with a heavy heart, we share the news that World War II Paratrooper and global Superstar Mr. JOHN COATES has passed at the age of 96.
SHORT BIOGRAPHY: Born January 4, 1925, in Virginia he was the son of the late John Richard Coates, Sr. and Louise Thompson Coates. He was the loving husband of Mildred Ripley Coates, his wife of 75 years.
JOHN R. COATES, Jr of Ellicott City, Maryland, served as a combat medic and paratrooper with the famed 508th parachute infantry, 82nd Airborne during World War II. He joined the unit after D-Day but jumped as part of Operation Market Garden and later fought in the Battle of the Bulge.
COATES played a significant role in the Battle of the Bulge in late December 1944, during which they screened the withdrawal of some 20,000 troops from St. Vith and defended their positions against the German Panzer divisions.
COATES also participated in the assault led by the 2nd Ranger Battalion to capture (successfully) Hill 400. On May 2, 1945, the 82nd Airborne Division overran Wöbbelin, a subcamp of the Neuengamme Concentration Camp. At its height, Wöbbelin held some 5,000 inmates, many of whom were suffering from starvation and disease. Living conditions in the camp when the 8th Infantry and the 82nd Airborne arrived were deplorable. When the divisions arrived there, they found about one thousand inmates dead in the camp. In the aftermath, the US Army ordered the townspeople in Ludwigslust to visit the camp and bury the dead.
COATES was later seriously wounded under artillery attack while helping care for the injured. COATES was discharged in Dec. 1945, earned a degree from Virginia Tech under the GI Bill, and worked on radar systems with Westinghouse until retirement. COATES remains married to his wife, Mildred, for more than 70+ years.
It’s a sad loss for our nation, more importantly, everyone at The Greatest GENERATIONS Foundation as COATES spent the last eight years traveling the world speaking with the youth about his wartime experiences. Please join us in celebrating the life of a true American Hero, Mr. John COATES.

It is with a heavy heart; we learn the news that Australia’s last remaining veteran of the Kokoda Track campaign, Mr. ALAN MOORE, has died. MOORE was 100.
He faced Japanese soldiers wielding samurai swords on the infamous Kokoda Track and later introduced canned baby food into Australia.
Mr. Moore was the sole surviving officer of the 39th Battalion, which fought in Papua New Guinea to prevent Japanese forces from capturing Port Moresby during World War II.
Norman Stockdale, former president of the 39th Australian Infantry Battalion Association, said Mr. Moore was “one of the old blokes” when he joined the fighting as a 21-year-old lieutenant.
“The average age of the 39th was less than 18,” he said. “They were all young men sent to do a bloody silly job with bodgy equipment, not enough food and wrong clothing.”
Mr. Stockdale said there were just seven members of the 39th Battalion left alive.
On the 70th anniversary of the Kokoda battle, Mr Moore believed the campaign had stopped mainland Australia from being invaded by Japan. “The conditions were terrible, it was mud and slush, we had incorrect uniforms, we were very poorly equipped, we had the leftovers of First World War weapons,” he said.
In interviews with the UNSW Australians at War Film Archive, Mr Moore said he and his fellow troops were not prepared for the difficult conditions in Papua New Guinea, where he was struck down with malaria and dysentery.
“It finished up we all packed tennis rackets and things like that in our bags, nothing was more remote from the truth,” he said. “We thought we would be going to some sort of tropical paradise where we would be doing parades and this that and the other, and that would be a great opportunity to fill in time until we were able to do something more constructive and get to a war.”
In the same interview, Mr Moore said he never face a bayonet charge from the Japanese, instead coming up against someone wielding a samurai sword.
“In later days down at Gona I did face one fellow coming at me waving his samurai sword above his head,” he said.
“He was only 20 feet from me, coming straight at me with his samurai sword, but that was as far as he got.”
Born in 1920, Mr Moore grew up in Camberwell. After the war ended, he married his wife Joan and had two daughters. He found a job working at Heinz, rising to become manager of the baby food division. He helped introduce canned baby food to Australia from America.
“Initially [they were sold] in pharmacies, they didn’t sell very many,” he told the ABC in 2016.
“We got into a few of the supermarkets. All of a sudden everyone in Australia was using Heinz canned baby foods.”
Mr Moore was also involved in various community groups, including the Rotary Club of Frankston and, for 40 years, as a volunteer at Mount Eliza Op Shop.
“He was a great man, very, very community-minded,” said fellow Rotarian Margot Kimpton, whose father also served in the 39th Battalion.
“They are of a type of people, certainly you don’t give up.”
Mr Moore often spoke to schoolchildren at the 1000 Steps walk, a memorial to the Kokoda Track, about his experiences during the war.
“One of the things he said to all the kids right at the beginning was, ‘Do you know anyone who is 18? Think of them when I talk about these fellas,’ ” said Mr Stockdale. “Alan was very friendly, very approachable, very willing to talk about the Kokoda Track — not about what we did but what others did.”

It is with a heavy heart, we learn the news that Normandy WWII veteran Mr. Eugene Raymond Weidenbach, of Scotland, South Dakota, passed away peacefully at the Royal C. Johnson Veterans Memorial Hospital in Sioux Falls, surrounded by his wife and children. He was 100.
Living a long, full life, Eugene was born on December 17, 1920, to Herbert and Lea (Auch) Weidenbach in a small farmhouse in Odessa Township in Yankton County. He was baptized January 30, 1921, at the Odessa Reform Church in Yankton County and confirmed July 6, 1935, at Bethany Reformed Church. Eugene attended Odessa School District 24 through the 8th grade and then served in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) from the fall of 1937 through the spring of 1938.
In September 1942, Eugene was drafted into the U.S. Army at the age of 21 and served as a tank mechanic in the 533rd Ordnance Heavy Maintenance Company. “The army had many vehicles,” he said. “They needed mechanics, and they decided I should be a mechanic, so they sent me to school at Bloomington, Illinois.” He would also go to Flint, Michigan, for further mechanical training and complete basic training before being sent to England in February 1944. “It took us ten days to cross the Atlantic, and we had a convoy of 600 ships all going to England,” he said. It would only be a matter of months before Weidenbach would be making his way across the English Channel onto the shores of continental Europe.
Weidenbach was on duty as D-Day began to unfold. “I was on guard that night when the 101st and 82nd Airborne flew in on June 5 at 11 that night,” he said. He was also one of 10 soldiers from his company put on detached service from ordinance to an engineering company to build two bridges over the Rhine River, and he maintained a tank that had a searchlight on it to keep watch for German sabotage attempts. Weidenbach said that a newspaper could be read with ease by the light of their searchlight a mile away.
Eugene Weidenbach served 22 months overseas in Europe––receiving the French Jubilee of Liberty Medal for his service in the Battle of Normandy, American Theater Service Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Theater Service Medal, and Good Conduct Medal 44. He was discharged and returned home on December 12, 1945.
After the war, Eugene met the beautiful Lorene (Behl) and was married on September 8, 1946, at the Methodist Church in Scotland, South Dakota. Eugene proudly owned the original farmland that was homesteaded by his great-grandfather in 1873, and Eugene and Lorene spent many of their years on the farm.

It is with a heavy heart, we share the news that Normandy Paratrooper Kenneth “Rock” Merritt, a beloved and decorated veteran who served in both World War II and the Vietnam War, has died at the age of 97 at his home in North Carolina.
Merritt served with the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, during crucial World War II battles and was the 18th Airborne Corps’ first command sergeant major. Rock is the only man to have served two tours as CSM of the XVIII Airborne Corps. Moreover, he is one of the very few soldiers selected to serve thirty-five years in the Army.
Merritt was born in Warner, Muskogee County, Oklahoma, on the 10th of August 1923, which meant that much of his childhood was shaped by the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. When he was seventeen, Merritt joined the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) to support his family. During those two years in CCC, he met his future wife, Sally, got his first taste of barracks life, and earned the nickname “Hard Rock” for his tough attitude.
Shortly after Pearl Harbor was bombed and the US went to war, the CCC was shut down. In early 1942, Merritt decided to enlist rather than wait to be drafted as he wanted to join the Marines. On his way to enlist with the Marines, he passed by the Army Airborne recruiters, and the prospect of jumping out of airplanes and $50 a month jump pay appealed to him, so he joined the Airborne instead.
After enlisting, he was sent to training with the1st Battalion 508th Parachute Infantry in Fort Blanding, Florida, and from there to jump school in Fort Bennings, Georgia. After being deployed to Ireland with the 508th’s parent unit, the 82nd Airborne Division, Merritt and his unit received additional training to prepare them for D-Day, including officer’s training which would ultimately be very important because so many officers in the 508th were killed within the first 24 hours of D-Day.
Even though Merritt started June 6th, 1944, as a corporal, by the end of the day, he was a buck sergeant. Nor was this the only time that Merritt had to take command after his superiors were killed or incapacitated. He took over command of his platoon during the later stages of the Battle of the Bulge after both commissioned officers were wounded.
As part of the 82nd Airborne Division, Merritt also fought in Operation Market Garden. After the Battle of the Bulge, he was lucky enough to go home on leave, returning to Europe a few days before the Germans surrendered.
After the war, Merritt decided to remain in the Army and ended up serving a total of thirty-six years, fourteen of them, abroad, eventually being promoted to Command Sergeant Major.
Although he spent most of the time in and around Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where he still lives, he also spent fourteen years overseas: Germany, Korea, Vietnam, and Panama. During this time, his commanding officer, Hank Emerson, shortened his nickname to “Rock” after the nickname of one of the finest officers under whom Emerson had served.
Even though Merritt retired over 40 years ago, he continues to give regular speeches on leadership to 82nd Airborne and other units. He is still very involved with the training programs going on at Fort Bragg. Rock Merritt is an exceptionally outstanding example of the “Greatest of the Greatest Generation."

(MAR 12, 2021) FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS – It is with a heavy heart, we learn the news that Normandy WWII veteran Mr. Eugene Raymond Weidenbach, of Scotland, South Dakota, passed away peacefully at the Royal C. Johnson Veterans Memorial Hospital in Sioux Falls, surrounded by his wife and children. He was 100.
Living a long, full life, Eugene was born on December 17, 1920, to Herbert and Lea (Auch) Weidenbach in a small farmhouse in Odessa Township in Yankton County. He was baptized January 30, 1921, at the Odessa Reform Church in Yankton County and confirmed July 6, 1935, at Bethany Reformed Church. Eugene attended Odessa School District 24 through the 8th grade and then served in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) from the fall of 1937 through the spring of 1938.
In September 1942, Eugene was drafted into the U.S. Army at the age of 21 and served as a tank mechanic in the 533rd Ordnance Heavy Maintenance Company. “The army had many vehicles,” he said. “They needed mechanics, and they decided I should be a mechanic, so they sent me to school at Bloomington, Illinois.” He would also go to Flint, Michigan, for further mechanical training and complete basic training before being sent to England in February 1944. “It took us ten days to cross the Atlantic, and we had a convoy of 600 ships all going to England,” he said. It would only be a matter of months before Weidenbach would be making his way across the English Channel onto the shores of continental Europe.
Weidenbach was on duty as D-Day began to unfold. “I was on guard that night when the 101st and 82nd Airborne flew in on June 5 at 11 that night,” he said. He was also one of 10 soldiers from his company put on detached service from ordinance to an engineering company to build two bridges over the Rhine River, and he maintained a tank that had a searchlight on it to keep watch for German sabotage attempts. Weidenbach said that a newspaper could be read with ease by the light of their searchlight a mile away.
Eugene Weidenbach served 22 months overseas in Europe––receiving the French Jubilee of Liberty Medal for his service in the Battle of Normandy, American Theater Service Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Theater Service Medal, and Good Conduct Medal 44. He was discharged and returned home on December 12, 1945.
After the war, Eugene met the beautiful Lorene (Behl) and was married on September 8, 1946, at the Methodist Church in Scotland, South Dakota. Eugene proudly owned the original farmland that was homesteaded by his great-grandfather in 1873, and Eugene and Lorene spent many of their years on the farm.

(MAR 17, 2021): FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS – It is with a heavy heart, we share the news that Pearl Harbor survivor and World War II superstar Col. SAMUEL CROWLER has died. He was 101.
Samuel Crowler was born on August 10, 1919, in Paducah, Texas, working on his family farm and then at a creamery. His hard work was identified and rewarded with being sent to college for business. Growing tired of that life, he decided to join the United States Army, where he was assigned to the 19th Infantry at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
Before the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941, rumors were afloat that Japanese submarines had been spotted in the waters off Pearl Harbor. Reacting to that possible threat, Samuel’s unit was assigned watch near Wheeler Field, on a reservoir overlooking the area. Before the attack, his company had just finished breakfast and was getting back in position when several aircraft were spotted. Samuel’s first thought was that it was American Navy, and he spent a moment reflecting that the pilots would be playing golf soon while he was stuck on the reservoir. When the bombs began to fall, he realized he had been mistaken.
The men watched as the airfield was attacked, helpless to join in the defense. They watched as the enemy aircraft struck ship after ship, seeing the flames spread to the water. Making their way back to the barracks, Samuel realized that this was the start of the war and an event that would set in motion the next few years of his life. He had planned on taking leave, but permission for such was canceled, and he spent the next few days with his unit guarding the nearby shore, on the lookout for attackers.
Samuel would serve in different Pacific battles before gaining his commission in the Army Air Corps, where he would serve until he retires from the Military. After the war, Samuel worked at Folsom State Prison. He witnessed Johnny Cash put on two live performances at the prison on January 13, 1968.
For the past 15 years, Samuel traveled with The Greatest GENERATIONS Foundation sharing his wartime experiences with today's youth. It’s a significant loss for our nation. RIP SAMUEL CROWLER

(MAR 18, 2021) FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS – It is with great sadness; we share the news that WWII veteran and Music legend Mr. Meredith “Jay” Bruischat has died, days after celebrating 98th birthday.
Meredith “Jay” Bruischat celebrated his birthday Friday, March 12, at Holland Hospital — the same place he was born — before being discharged that afternoon.
Jay Bruischat grew up in Holland before being drafted into the United States Army in 1943 at age 20. He went through training in Texas before being deployed to New Guinea where he served as a supply sergeant.
As Bruischat clambered over the side of a transport ship near Milne Bay, New Guinea, and began climbing down a rope ladder into a waiting amphibious vehicle, he felt his grip on his guitar case weakening.
Loosening at first and then quickly devolving into a full-fledged slip that could have led to a plummet to the deck below, Bruischat tossed his guitar into oblivion, figuring he’d never see it again, and regained a firm grasp of the rope ladder dangling over the side of the transport.
“I thought it was gone,” said Bruischat, a lifelong Holland-area resident.
When Bruischat, landed on New Guinea in late 1943, he was attached to a U.S. Army 171st Ordinance Field Depot, charged with providing spare parts to artillery units that provided fire support for Allied forces pushing Japanese combatants across the island.
“They put me in artillery parts; I had to learn all about artillery parts and then they shipped me over to New Guinea,” he said.
When Bruischat left for the Pacific in late 1943, he carried his guitar with him. Unbeknownst to Bruischat, somebody caught his guitar and returned it to him.
“I got ashore, and some guy named Devereaux, from Massachusetts, said, ‘Hey buddy, here’s your guitar,’” Bruischat said, brimming from ear to ear with a smile.
After conducting landings at various locations during the New Guinea campaign, Bruischat would leave his guitar with an Army quartermaster who would return it to him once things had calmed down.
“When everything was quiet I’d play my guitar,” he said.
The morning after he landed at Milne Bay, he heard someone shout something that required his undivided attention.
“Is anybody here from Holland, Michigan?” the voice asked.
“There were six of us,” Bruischat said. “I never once after that ever met anybody from Holland, Michigan or even West Michigan after that.”
Bruischat returned to the U.S. in late 1946, was discharged from Fort Sheridan, Illinois, and returned home on Jan. 6, 1947.
Shortly after, he married his wife, Dottie, and the two were together for 74 years.
Bruischat learned to play guitar at age 12, and never really stopped. “That was a big part of his life,” Mike said of his dad’s musical talents.
“A little story about him and my mom — back in those days you couldn’t date unless there was a chaperone. He lived over on M-40 by 196, she lived on 16th Street. He would take his guitar and walk down there and that’s how they would date.
“He would play his guitar and sing songs. He said he had about 300 songs he could call up and play.”
He showed during his birthday Friday that he can still pluck the strings as he played for the staff at Holland Hospital.
After the war, Jay used the GI Bill to get an education, studying refrigeration at Ferris State University and eventually started Bruischat Refrigeration Inc.
Jay also worked as a square dance caller for about 40 years, Mike said, and even did so while wintering in Arizona following his retirement. After a few years going to Arizona, Jay and Dottie began spending winters in southern Texas.
Jay Bruischat was preceded in death by his beloved wife Dottie, who died Feb. 5, 2020. He is survived by his four sons, Daryl, Marc, John and Mike, and their families, including six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

(MARCH 22) FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS – It is with great sadness; we learn the news that World War II veteran Mr. John Edward O'Hara has died days before reaching 100.
John was born March 20, 1921 in Reddish, Stockport, England, the son of John O’Hara and Clara “Worthington” O’Hara. The family immigrated to America when John was 2 years old, moving to Riverside, RI before settling in North Providence, Rhode Island.
As a child, John lived through The Great Depression. During John’s teenage years, he became a graduate of La Salle Academy before joining the Civilian Conservation Corps (the CCC), Unit- S 51, Charlestown, RI at Burlingame’s road building crew.
In 1942, John enlisted in the U.S. Navy immediately after the Pearl Harbor attack leading to WWII. John bravely served in the three major theatres of WWII: the European Theatre, the Pacific Theatre, and the Mediterranean- African & Middle East Theatre. It was during “Operation Torch”, the invasion of North Africa; that he served with the Western Task Force (Battle of Casablanca) under commanders, Major General George S. Patton, and Rear Admiral Henry Kent Hewitt.
On November 12, 1942 - while below deck on the USS Hugh L. Scott (AP-43), a German submarine, U-130 torpedoed the Hugh L. Scott, hitting the starboard side which burst into flames. Wounded and fighting for his life, John was able to get out before the ship floundered, awarding him a purple heart.
After recovery John was assigned as a member of the crew of the USS Alabama (BB60) Battleship where he served until the end of the war. John served as Gun Captain of the 40 MM anti-aircraft guns and crew. During his tour of duty on board the Alabama, John was engaged in many furious naval battles!
In 1943, the Alabama was involved in the Invasion of Sicily, Operation Zitronella, and Operation Governor, against the German naval force. August 1943, the USS Alabama left the Atlantic for the Pacific for operations against Japan. The Alabama joined the Fast Carrier Task Force (T38 3rd Fleet & T58 5th fleet) under Admirals Raymond "Quiet Warrior" Spruance, William "Bull" Halsey and John "Slew" McCain Sr. John soon rose to the rank of Gun Captain of the 40 MM anti-aircraft guns.
In late 1943, the Alabama took part in Operation Galvanic—Tarawa and Makin Islands and participated in Operation "Forager during the spring of 1944. The Alabama saw heavy action at the Battles of the Philippine Sea, and the battles at Okinawa, Luzon, Kwajalein and Surigao Strait. During a major Battle of Leyte Gulf and specifically the Battle off Cape Engaño, the American fleet destroyed four Japanese carriers and damaged two battleships in what is known as the Liberation of the Philippines. In December 1944, the Alabama encountered the fierce typhoon “Cobra” that sank three American destroyers and caused the Alabama to roll more than 30 degrees.
In May of 1945 off the Japanese home island of Kyushu, the American fleet came under intense aerial attack. The USS Alabama’s Gun Captain John O’Hara expertly commanded his 40 MM anti-aircraft gun crew who successfully shot down two Japanese aircraft and helped to destroy two others. One kamikaze nevertheless penetrated the fleet's anti-aircraft defenses and struck the USS Enterprise (CV-6) carrier.
The Alabama nicknamed “The Might A” led the U.S. fleet into Tokyo Bay after the formal surrender, and documents were signed on September 2, 1945. As a crew member, John often referred to being part of a proud moment in U.S. history.
During Johns’ military career he had engaged in thirteen major battles. He is the recipient of the Purple Heart, thirteen Battle Stars, and two Silver and three Bronze Stars along with numerous other medals & ribbons. John ended his tour of duty in November of 1945.
After the war, John moved to NYC to work at The New York Journal-American daily newspaper. Before returning to Rhode Island, he was hired at the United States Postal service and enjoyed a 34-year career rising to the position of Postmaster before retiring.
In 1961, John met with President John F. Kennedy. The momentous occasion was documented by a photograph of both men discussing a US Postal bill.
In his senior years, John dedicated his time to touring the local schools of Rhode Island, New London Counties of Connecticut and Bristol Counties of Massachusetts delivering lectures to children and young adults on his experience during WWII. Throughout this time, John was able to meet and have a positive impact on many wonderful young men & women before their journey into adulthood.
John was a proud parishioner of Saint Peters by the Sea Episcopal Church, Narragansett, RI.
John was the husband of the late Shirley Elizabeth (Johnson) who was the love of his life. On April 23, 1949, the two were married and moved to Seekonk, Ma. Since 1955 John and Shirley summered in Breakwater Village, Point Judith, Narragansett where they finally settled during their sunset years. On January 4, 2004 after 55 years of marriage, Shirley went home to God. John has now rejoined Shirley and they will be together for eternity.

(MARCH 22) FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS – It is with great sadness; one of the last living legends: Ohio Buffalo Soldier Mr. John B. Williams dies at 98.
He wore a Buffalo Soldier hat. He had the emblem of his all-African American cavalry regiment emblazoned on his T-shirts. And when John B. Williams introduced himself to you — because that is always how he said it — his historic service to his country during World War II inevitably came up.
But Williams never bragged. He had no bluster, no puffed-out-chest blow. And he always asked about you first. The pride he had for all that he had done was clear. Williams was a public servant. A patriot. A history-maker. A civil rights fighter.
So, when asked, he would indeed talk about what he'd done.
Williams, whose family says he was last surviving Buffalo Soldier in Ohio — it is difficult to find out how many are left in all — died on Friday at the age of 98, just six weeks after losing his wife of more than 70 years, Geraldine.
"His health had been failing, but until Geraldine passed he was managing. He was strong. I had visited not long ago and had a wonderful day," said lifelong friend Charlene Watkins, the minister of Christian education at Mount Olivet Baptist Church on the East Side. "They had been married 72 years, And the two become one. And he just kind of never recovered after his wife died."
Williams was drafted into the Army in 1943 and, when assigned to the 28th Horse-Ridden Cavalry Regiment, he became a Buffalo Soldier, the storied all-Black unit that dated back to service on the Western frontier after the American Civil War.
In an interview with The Dispatch in 2008, Williams reflected on his service, saying with a laugh that he still remembered the neck brand of the horse he was given: 6U75. He named him Peanut.
"They plucked me from the streets of Columbus and next thing I know, I'm looking at a mountain with legs," Williams said. "But I'm as proud of my spurs as the Tuskegee Airmen are of their wings."
Williams' regiment was located at Camp Lockett, California, where they provided defense as the country prepared for war. Eventually, Williams' unit deployed to the European Theater in WWII and was redesignated as a pontoon company. He served in combat with the 7th Army in North Africa, Italy, France, Germany and Belgium.
His military awards included the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with Silver Star; WWII Victory Medal with Bronze Star; American Campaign Medal; Good Conduct Medal; and Knight of the Legion of Honor Medal – French Republic.
He was so proud of his service, but being a family man and a man of God really is where Williams found life's greatest joys, said his daughter, Carla Bailey.
"His foundation was family," said Bailey, 60, of the Far East Side. "Daddy has left a phenomenal legacy and that gave him peace, knowing that we would keep the foundation that he built. 'I want you to carry on what me and Mom always talked about. Take care of family.' And we will."
Williams and his younger brother, John, were orphaned as children after their parents died within a few months of one another. The two lived at the Franklin County Children's Home for years until a family friend adopted the boys.
It was that humble upbringing that forged her father's belief in fighting for others and standing up to right wrongs, Bailey said.
After his military service, Williams graduated from Ohio State University and later went to work for the U.S. Postal Service. Among his many honors were inductions into both the Ohio Civil Rights Hall of Fame and the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame.

(MARCH 25) FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS - Donald Quigley, decorated World War II veteran, dies at 101
Donald Quigley was a humble and friendly man, who never had any conflicts with his neighbors or family and friends.
Quigley was born on Dec. 28, 1919 in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania to John and Lillian Quigley. When he was a child, his family moved to Marion, Kolarik said. In 1937, Quigley graduated from Harding High School and went to work at the Marion Power Shovel Company.
Quigley enlisted in the Army Air Corps in March 1941 and reported for training to Sikeston, Missouri. While at Randolph Field in San Antonio, Texas, he got engaged to Irene Klingel, who was born in Waldo. They married Sept. 30, 1942.
While in the Army, Quigley flew a Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighter, which he named "Rene the Queen" in honor of his wife. He served as a fighter pilot and commanding officer with the Flying Tigers 23rd Fighter Group/75th Fighter Squadron stationed in Hengyang, China, during the war.
"I figured most of those guys were just like me; they got into it to fight," Quigley recalls.
He was promoted to major while leading several missions a day, even though the Japanese continued to advance.
Quigley eventually shot down five Japanese aircraft on the way to earning a Silver Star, a Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, and an Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster while flying bombing and strafing missions against invading Japanese troops moving south to occupy the Hunan province in southeastern China.
However, the end of the war would take a dark turn. On Aug. 10, 1944, Quigley was shot down in China. He eventually was moved to Japan where he was a POW for 13 months. His fellow prisoners called themselves "The Diddled Dozen" and were not released until the end of the war. When discharged, he earned the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
Quigley was able to come back home in the fall of 1945. However, he and his brother would soon head off to West Virginia to do strip coal mining, said his other daughter, Kay Kulics. The job was short lived, and Quigley then moved to Pittsburgh for engraving school.
Quigley began his second career as a self-employed hand engraver, engraving items for jewelry stores in Marion, such as Carroll's Jewelers and the now-closed Lords Jewelers and May's Jewelry Store. He also worked with jewelry stores in Delaware and Columbus.
Quigley stayed in the hand engraving business for 60 years. In the late 1980s, he self-published book called "Quig" in which he described his military history and ordeal as a prisoner of war. The book was only made for family members, Kolarik said.
As a veteran, Quigley was a member of the 14th Air Force Association and VFW Post #7201 in Marion. He was also a member of the Disabled American Veterans organization and the American Fighter Aces Association.

(MAR 29, 2021) – FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS – It is with a heavy heart, we learn the news that George Sizemore, a World War II veteran who was inspired by father born into slavery, dies at 101 years old.
The Sizemore family’s history is deep and rich, descending from the Yoruba people of West Africa, they also have deep roots in rural Virginia, Part of their story is chronicled through the pages of a book called Uncle George and Me: Two Southern Families Confront a Shared Legacy of Slavery, written by Bill Sizemore.
Sizemore grew up on a farm outside of Clarksville, where he still lives today. He has a profound appreciation for nature and “country life.”
“I love country life, it is a beautiful life--it is the congregation of people--of how they come together to love each other and serve each other,” he explained.
He eventually joined the military, and four days after D-Day, a part of an all-Black platoon, Sizemore landed in Normandy. He spent the rest of World War II fighting in France. After coming home from the war, he worked as a contractor and “married a country girl” named Laura Mae. “She was the most beautiful woman in the world,” Sizemore said of his wife, who passed away in 2007.
Living through deep racism and segregation, Sizemore says he held on to faith over fear.
“When I was a teenager, lynching was at its best, from Mississippi and Alabama to Virginia, it was a miserable life,” he said. “You just don’t go around hating people--because of what they are doing.”
Mr. Sizemore, who retired from his construction job at the age of 93, credited his longevity to hard work, strong faith and good genes.
Mr. Sizemore's family and friends gathered for his funeral on Saturday. His father, Benjamin Sizemore, was a mountain of a man, who could lift anything, Sizemore recalled.
"He was 6 feet 6 inches tall and 290 pounds," he said. But Benjamin made quite an impression. Not just because of his stature, but his story: Mr. Sizemore's father was born into bondage in 1858.
“He couldn’t read or write,” Sizemore said. Big Ben found freedom from slavery at the end of the Civil War when his son was seven years old.
As an adult, Benjamin married, farmed, and bought land. His son entered the world when Big Ben was 61. “Most people wonder why people my age that my dad could be a slave,” Sizemore said.
Growing up he admired his father for never a holding grudge.
“He never spoke of it,” Sizemore said.
Benjamin passed away in 1931 when George was 13 years old. Ninety years later his dad remained an inspiration.
“[I] wanted to be like him but I didn’t see how I could be that good,” Sizemore said.
The historical significance of being one of the nation’s last living children of a slave was not lost on the centenarian. “Oftentimes I thought about how he overcame something like that,” Sizemore said.

(MARCH 30, 2021): FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS – With a heavy heart, we learn the news that one of the last living survivors of “Death Railway” World War II HERO Mr. Robert Hucklesby, who endured torture and beatings, dies at 100.
Lance Corporal Robert Hucklesby survived the 'Death hut' and went on to live to 100 despite enduring horrors that killed 12,000 Allied POWs - a plight immortalized in the classic 1957 film The Bridge On The River Kwai.
Hucklesby endured torture and beatings at the hands of his brutal guards after being captured at the Fall of Singapore in 1942.
At first, the 21-year-old was imprisoned at the infamous Changi POW, where hundreds of British soldiers died from their captors' ill-treatment.
Later, Hucklesby was forced to march through the jungle to Burma and spent three years constructing the 250-mile railway between Thailand and Burma. It became known as the Death Railway as the conditions were so horrific that over 12,000 Allied POWs used as forced labor died from starvation and disease.
Hucklesby of the Royal Engineers and his comrades were subjected to repeated beatings by their inhumane Japanese captors. He had to carry on toiling through an illness like dysentery and malaria to show he could work; otherwise, he would have been killed.
At one point, his condition was so grave he was put into a 'death hut' with other dying men. He forced himself to stay awake by having comrades make him a back brace from bamboo, which kept him bolt upright and stopped him from falling asleep. By the following day, 20 men around him had died in the night, and he was the only survivor.
By the time Hucklesby was liberated in August 1945, he was just 'skin and bones. He spent many weeks convalescing in Burma and India, then caught a boat back to Southampton.
Recounting his return to Britain, he said: "I shall never forget it. The people of Southampton could never know what that welcome meant."
Hucklesby worked as a baker in later life and a council planning department in Poole, Dorset.
After the war, he married his wife Ada in 1947, and they were together until she died in 2003. They had two children, Robert and Stephen, two grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

MARCH 30, 2021): FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS – With great sadness; we learn the news that World War II veteran Howard Traenkner has died. He was 100.
Howard Traenkner of Harrison was born at the end of one pandemic and died in the midst of another one. A World War II Navy veteran, he was born as the Spanish flu pandemic was trailing off.
Traenkner and his brothers’ names are engraved at the newly refurbished Harrison Honor Roll memorial, an honor he told the Tribune-­Review meant the world to him. His and his brothers’ names — George, who was in the Army, and Robert, a pilot in the Army Air Corps — and their years of service are etched on a bench nearby.
During World War II, Traenkner spent 12 months on the USS Chiwawa (AO-68), a refueling tanker. He said of his time in the Navy: “I am glad it was a part of my life and I was able to contribute something.”
Traenkner became teary-eyed when he recalled being on board a ship in the middle of a typhoon in Okinawa, Japan. He said he thought the ship was going to crack in half because of the horrendous 75-foot waves.
Traenkner got both covid-19 vaccine doses, his niece said, because he didn’t want to get anyone sick. Traenkner had been treated with radiation for cancer last year. He wasn’t one to give up easily, his niece said. Always the first one to share a joke, he retained his sense of humor, she said.
He married Frances Rauscher in 1943, a year before he was drafted. The couple communicated via letters during the war. She died in 2008.
After the war, Traenkner earned a bachelor’s degree, assisted by the GI Bill, in mechanical engineering from University of Pittsburgh and went on to receive a master’s in mechanical engineering from Pitt. He retired from Alcoa in 1982 after working there for 40 years. He and fellow retirees started a Thursday breakfast club. They would meet at Massart’s and then The Hometown in Tarentum. His 99th birthday party was at The Hometown. The breakfast club is where he met Lee Ann Jendrejeski of Lower Burrell. She came with her neighbor Bob Ramser of Lower Burrell, who worked with Traenkner.
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MARCH 30, 2021): FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS – With great sadness, we learn the news that World War II veteran Howard Traenkner has died. He was 100.
Howard Traenkner of Harrison was born at the end of one pandemic and died amid another one. A World War II Navy veteran, he was born as the Spanish flu pandemic was trailing off.
Traenkner and his brothers’ names are engraved at the newly refurbished Harrison Honor Roll memorial, an honor he told the Tribune-­Review meant the world to him. His and his brothers’ names — George, who was in the Army, and Robert, a pilot in the Army Air Corps — and their years of service are etched on a bench nearby.
During World War II, Traenkner spent 12 months on the USS Chiwawa (AO-68), a refueling tanker. He said of his time in the Navy: “I am glad it was a part of my life and I was able to contribute something.”
Traenkner became teary-eyed when he recalled being on board a ship in the middle of a typhoon in Okinawa, Japan. He said he thought the ship was going to crack in half because of the horrendous 75-foot waves.
Traenkner got both covid-19 vaccine doses, his niece said, because he didn’t want to get anyone sick. Traenkner had been treated with radiation for cancer last year. He wasn’t one to give up easily, his niece said. Always the first one to share a joke, he retained his sense of humor, she said.
He married Frances Rauscher in 1943, a year before he was drafted. The couple communicated via letters during the war. She died in 2008.
After the war, Traenkner earned a bachelor’s degree, assisted by the GI Bill, in mechanical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh, and received a master’s in mechanical engineering from Pitt. He retired from Alcoa in 1982 after working there for 40 years. He and fellow retirees started a Thursday breakfast club. They would meet at Massart’s and then The Hometown in Tarentum. His 99th birthday party was at The Hometown. The breakfast club is where he met Lee Ann Jendrejeski of Lower Burrell. She came with her neighbor Bob Ramser of Lower Burrell, who worked with Traenkner.

April 9, 2021 HRH the Prince Philip

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, 10 June 1921- 9 April 2021) was a member of the British royal family as the husband of Queen Elizabeth II.

Philip was born into the Greek and Danish royal families. He was born in Greece, but his family was exiled from the country when he was eighteen months old. After being educated in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, he joined the Royal Navy in 1939

He graduated from Dartmouth navl college in 1939 as the best cadet in his class. During the Second World War, he continued to serve in RN , while two of his brothers-in-law, Prince Christoph of Hesse and Berthold, Margrave of Baden, fought for Germany. Philip was appointed as a midshipman in January 1940. He spent four months on the battleship HMS Ramillies, protecting convoys of the Australian Expeditionary Force in the Indian Ocean, followed by shorter postings on HMS Kent, on HMS Shropshire, and in Ceylon. After the invasion of Greece by Italy in October 1940, he was transferred from the Indian Ocean to the battleship HMS Valiant in the Mediterranean Fleet.

On 1 February 1941,he was commissioned as a sub-lieutenant after a series of courses at Portsmouth, Among other engagements, he was involved in the battle of Crete, and was mentioned in dispatches for his service during the battle of Cape Matapan, in which he controlled the battleship's searchlights. He was also awarded the Greek War Cross.In June 1942, he was appointed to the V and W-class destroyer and flotilla leader HMS Wallace, which was involved in convoy escort tasks on the east coast of Britain, as well as the Allied invasion of Sicily.

Promotion to lieutenant followed on 16 July 1942.In October of the same year, he became first lieutenant of HMS Wallace, at 21 years old one of the youngest first lieutenants in the Royal Navy. During the invasion of Sicily, in July 1943, as second in command of Wallace, he saved his ship from a night bomber attack. He devised a plan to launch a raft with smoke floats that successfully distracted the bombers, allowing the ship to slip away unnoticed.In 1944, he moved on to the new destroyer, HMS Whelp, where he saw service with the British Pacific Fleet in the 27th Destroyer Flotilla. He was present in Tokyo Bay when the instrument of Japanese surrender was signed. Philip returned to the United Kingdom on the Whelp in January 1946, and was posted as an instructor at HMS Royal Arthur, the Petty Officers' School in Corsham, Wiltshire.

He met his future wife in 1939 and they were married in 1946.

(MARCH 30, 2021): FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS – With a heavy heart, we learn the news that one of the last living survivors of “Death Railway” World War II HERO Mr. Robert Hucklesby, who endured torture and beatings, dies at 100.

Lance Corporal Robert Hucklesby survived the 'Death hut' and went on to live to 100 despite enduring horrors that killed 12,000 Allied POWs - a plight immortalized in the classic 1957 film The Bridge On The River Kwai.

Hucklesby endured torture and beatings at the hands of his brutal guards after being captured at the Fall of Singapore in 1942.

At first, the 21-year-old was imprisoned at the infamous Changi POW, where hundreds of British soldiers died from their captors' ill-treatment.

Later, Hucklesby was forced to march through the jungle to Burma and spent three years constructing the 250-mile railway between Thailand and Burma. It became known as the Death Railway as the conditions were so horrific that over 12,000 Allied POWs used as forced labor died from starvation and disease.
Hucklesby of the Royal Engineers and his comrades were subjected to repeated beatings by their inhumane Japanese captors. He had to carry on toiling through an illness like dysentery and malaria to show he could work; otherwise, he would have been killed.

At one point, his condition was so grave he was put into a 'death hut' with other dying men. He forced himself to stay awake by having comrades make him a back brace from bamboo, which kept him bolt upright and stopped him from falling asleep. By the following day, 20 men around him had died in the night, and he was the only survivor.

By the time Hucklesby was liberated in August 1945, he was just 'skin and bones. He spent many weeks convalescing in Burma and India, then caught a boat back to Southampton.

Recounting his return to Britain, he said: "I shall never forget it. The people of Southampton could never know what that welcome meant."

Hucklesby worked as a baker in later life and a council planning department in Poole, Dorset.

After the war, he married his wife Ada in 1947, and they were together until she died in 2003. They had two children, Robert and Stephen, two grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.