Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Rate This Thread
Hop To
Page 1 of 27 1 2 3 26 27
#4418324 - 04/29/18 04:05 PM The Passing of The Greatest Generation.  
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 13,736
F4UDash4 Online cool
Veteran
F4UDash4  Online Cool
Veteran

Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 13,736
SC
I hope others will add to this thread.

From "The Greatest Generations Foundation" Facebook page:

AMERICA GREATEST HEROES: The last surviving member of the Maryland Chapter of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association passed away this week.

Clarence Davis, a resident of Charlotte Hall for 33 years, died on Sunday, April 22, at Spring Village of Wildewood Assisted Living at the age of 94.

Davis had been suffering from Alzheimer’s for the last five or so years, his son, Mike Davis of Leonardtown, said.

The United States was attacked at Pearl Harbor by the Japanese on Dec. 7, 1941, which marked the American start of World War II, as more than 2,400 servicemen and civilians were killed.

By 2009, Clarence Davis was the last survivor of Pearl Harbor living in St. Mary’s County. There were only 12 Pearl Harbor survivors in all of Maryland in 2011, he said then.

Davis’ service ‘bookended’ the war

Growing up in Texas, Clarence Davis joined the Navy at the age of 17 on Jan. 24, 1941, months before the Pearl Harbor bombing.

He was ordered to the USS Oglala, a mine-sweeping ship, but when he arrived at Pearl Harbor, the order was changed to the repair ship USS Medusa. Between the two vessels, “I didn’t know the difference,” Clarence Davis said in a 2009 interview.

But the Oglala was one of 18 ships to sink to the bottom of Pearl Harbor.

Clarence Davis was working in the Medusa’s kitchen on the third deck down that Sunday morning.

“All of a sudden, we saw this huge ball of fire go up,” across the water at Ford Island in the center of Pearl Harbor, he said. The USS Utah, which was tied at the spot where the Medusa usually was, had just been hit. Fifty-eight of the Utah’s crew were killed.

“That’s twice — didn’t go to the Oglala and didn’t go over to where the Utah was,” Davis said as he recalled his streak of luck at Pearl Harbor.

From his vantage point aboard the USS Medusa, “when I saw that first bomb, we didn’t know what it was.”

Of its three guns, the Medusa had two anti-aircraft guns, which the crew manned to repel fire. A Japanese plane shot up the Medusa, but the ship’s men shot down two enemy planes in return.

Next to the Medusa in the harbor was the USS Curtis, which was hit by both a bomb and a Japanese plane that crashed into it. The Curtis sank, killing 21.

Clarence Davis remained at Pearl Harbor until April 1943 repairing ships. Aboard the USS Garrard, Davis was there at Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2, 1945, when the Japanese formally surrendered.

“He was aboard one of the many ships anchored in Tokyo Bay when the peace treaty was signed, thus making him one of only a handful of Navy personnel to ‘bookend’ the war,” his obituary said.

Mike Davis said it took a long time for his father to start talking about his experience at Pearl Harbor. His father didn’t join the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association until the 1980s, but once he did, “it gave him a great deal of focus.”

The attack on Pearl Harbor “had an enormous effect because of his age. He was so young when it happened, probably less so than a soldier in a foxhole. He was in a ship, a repair ship nonetheless,” Mike Davis said.

On behalf of TGGF and its members, we salute Mr. Davis for his dedication and service to our freedom.

Attached Files Clarence Davis.jpg
Inline advert (2nd and 3rd post)

#4418326 - 04/29/18 04:07 PM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: F4UDash4]  
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 13,736
F4UDash4 Online cool
Veteran
F4UDash4  Online Cool
Veteran

Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 13,736
SC
AMERICA’S GREATEST HEROES: It’s with great sadness we share the news that TGGF member Mr. Darrell Blizzard: A Reluctant Hero of World War II has died. He was 96.

In 1927, when Darrell was five, his hero was Charles Lindbergh. The Christmas gift of a leather helmet and goggles cemented his dream. The circle of life and the power of faith can take you from the Allegheny’s of Pennsylvania to the beaches of Normandy. But with that faith he needed an olive branch. His olive branch came in the form of his superiors who were officers in the Army Air Corps, who gave him the best advice to change his course in life to become a pilot like his hero, Charles Lindbergh. These officers were his adopted brothers who didn’t snub their noses at him or dismiss him. They provided him with the foundation needed to fulfill his dream.

This dream would not come easy or without sacrifices. He had not completed college, he was drafted. He was not an officer, he was enlisted. His faith was not to be shaken. With the power of a mustard seed he dug deep and found his way into two excruciatingly pilot training courses and earned his wings. He stayed the course and accomplished what many said he wouldn’t and couldn’t. They chose him for a pilot’s job in the fledgling Army Air Corps. He listened and made it his. Lindbergh broke the barriers of distance and courage. Darrell’s adventures and journey started in the safety of his classrooms of Pennsylvania State University or Penn State. His head and heart was in the clouds he wanted to be his hero and fly.

He turned twenty-one on his voyage to England on the Queen Elizabeth, already the old man of the sea. From his humble beginnings, he acknowledged and recognized the dismissal of the black soldiers in the hold as he played craps with the white soldiers on deck. Finally, on Easter Sunday in 1945, Darrell Blizzard was able to join the fight for freedom over the skies of Europe. He wouldn’t be there long, just five missions but those experiences would last a lifetime for him. The terror of being the lone ship limping home after leaving in a wall of airplanes of more than five hundred.

Many times during World War II my Appalachian family ate potatoes as their only meal. Darrell met Prisoners of War who survived on loaves of bread made from sawdust and potatoes barely edible, black and rancid. He shared what he had with them and recognized the disparity of how American POW’s were treated as kings and the rest of the world as crap caught on the bottom of one’s shoe. In meeting these men, he realized that war, hate and anger would not be what they would write about in the history books. The truth of war would be left on the battlefields. But thankfully, Darrell Blizzard has survived nine plus decades to tell his story and I as a humble student can relay the truth to you and the world.

Not every family member would live to return to Normandy. Like many others, Darrell’s brother would be killed in a flight accident in Texas. His loss is just as real today as it was for me at the age of nine in 1969 when I first picked up my book to read about these great pilots of WWII. Like many veterans, Darrell came home a hero. No longer an orphan the world stood in awe to acknowledge his accomplishments and say thank you. Darrell and I both became commercial airline pilots. I didn’t see combat and I am grateful he chose to fight for my freedom and the freedom of every American. He faced many daunting mechanical and weather challenges that were easier than the dangers of flak and the Luftwaffe. He brought the same determination to his passengers and his career, like his determination to bring his B-17 crew back from every mission.

In 1945 they had not yet coined the term PTSD. Did he have to deal with the stress of combat upon his return? Yes, he did, he got busy with his goal to earn his degree. He didn’t isolate himself. He doesn’t have the answers to PTSD, but recognizes the challenges that each veteran faces who returns from war. He has missed his brother for the last forty plus years and continues to miss him at the age of ninety-two. His three main beliefs are God, family and country. Those beliefs have sustained him through the darkest and happiest days of his life. He is humbled that the world would give pause to recognize the heroes he left on the battlefield of Normandy to celebrate them. He is even more humbled to have lived long enough to celebrate his brothers as a true American hero.

The people of Cologne will always have a special place in his heart. He will never forget the land destroyed by bombs and the devastation created by hate. May God bless and keep all who served in the name of freedom and humanity for all. God bless Darrell Blizzard.

“Every Day is Memorial Day”
The Greatest GENERATIONS Foundation
Web: www.TGGF.org

Attached Files Darrell Blizzard.jpg
#4418327 - 04/29/18 04:08 PM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: F4UDash4]  
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 13,736
F4UDash4 Online cool
Veteran
F4UDash4  Online Cool
Veteran

Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 13,736
SC
NATION REMEMBERS - TRIBUTES have been paid to Normandy "D-Day" veteran Mr. Vernon Jones, who has died aged 94.

Members of the Oxford branch of the Royal Green Jackets Association said they were ‘devastated’ by Mr Jones’ death.

Mr Jones was brought up in South Wales but moved to Abingdon with his family in 1931. He joined the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, based at Cowley Barracks, before joining 2nd Battalion, The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment, which took part in the Normandy landings.

Following D-Day Mr Jones fought across France, Belgium and Holland and into Germany but was injured in February 1945.

On behalf of TGGF and its members, we salute Mr. Jones for his dedication and service to our freedom.

“Every Day is Memorial Day”
The Greatest GENERATIONS Foundation
Web: www.TGGF.org

Attached Files Vernon Jones.jpg
#4418342 - 04/29/18 05:48 PM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: F4UDash4]  
Joined: Jan 2000
Posts: 1,583
Lucky Offline
Old Guy
Lucky  Offline
Old Guy
Member

Joined: Jan 2000
Posts: 1,583
Upstate N.Y.
My father was a Pearl Harbor survivor. He passed away in 1984


Core i9 10900k @ 5.0GHz
Corsair H115i CPU cooler
Asus ROG Maximus XII Formula
Asus ROG Strix RTX 2080 OC 8GB DDR6
32GB Team T-Force Night Hawk DDR4 3200,
Corsair HX850i 850W PSU
TIR5 With Trackclip Pro
Win 10 x64
#4418726 - 05/02/18 01:12 AM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: F4UDash4]  
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 13,736
F4UDash4 Online cool
Veteran
F4UDash4  Online Cool
Veteran

Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 13,736
SC
OUR GREATEST AMERICAN HEROES: It is with heartfelt sorrow we learn that World War II veteran Mr. James Avery has died. He was 96.

James Avery was born December 7, 1921 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He served his country in the U.S. Air Corps and was stationed at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.

James Avery completed pilot training and commanded a B-26 bomber, surviving 44 missions over Germany.

After World War II, he attended the University of Illinois and received a B.F.A. in Industrial Design. He pursued college level teaching, and while at the University of Colorado, he explored jewelry-making techniques.

In the summer of 1954, James Avery started his jewelry business in a two-car garage with about $250 in capital. He built a small workbench, then bought a few hand tools and scraps of silver and copper. It was his desire to create jewelry that had meaning for him and his customers as well as having lasting value.

In 1957, he mailed his first Christian jewelry catalog. It was 16 pages and featured 39 items, all handmade. This was the year he also hired his first employee, Fred Garcia. "I had been doing everything myself - designing, sawing, polishing, finishing and selling. I thought 'what am I going to do? I can't saw that fast!"

The company was incorporated to James Avery Craftsman, Inc. in 1965, and two years later with the help of a modest loan from the SBA, the company headquarters was constructed on 20 acres in the heart of the Texas Hill Country in Kerrville, Texas, not too far from that original garage. In 1988 James Avery received a San Antonio Entrepreneur of the Year award.

Fifty-three years after he first founded the company, James Avery officially stepped down as CEO in May 2007 and passed the reins to his son Chris. He is still involved with the company and many days you can find him pursuing what he loves — creating new design ideas out of his office at the corporate headquarters in Kerrville.

Rest in eternal peace Warrior. Thank you for your service and many sacrifices. We as American citizens have a huge debt that we can never repay to our service members and veterans and your families who have put their lives on hold to serve our great nation, we may never know them all but we truely owe you all. God bless you Sir.

"Every Day is Memorial Day"
The Greatest GENERATIONS Foundation
Web: www.TGGF.org

Attached Files James Avery.jpg
#4418786 - 05/02/18 12:32 PM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: F4UDash4]  
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 121,384
PanzerMeyer Online centaurian
Pro-Consul of Florida
PanzerMeyer  Online Centaurian
Pro-Consul of Florida
King Crimson - SimHQ's Top Poster

Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 121,384
Miami, FL USA
I had heard of the jewelry line but I didn't know anything about the man who started the business. What a great biography!


“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4418837 - 05/02/18 05:34 PM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: F4UDash4]  
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 13,736
F4UDash4 Online cool
Veteran
F4UDash4  Online Cool
Veteran

Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 13,736
SC
OUR GREATEST HEROES: Its with great sadness we learn that one of the last remaining Burma World War II veteran Mr. John Skene has died. He was 99.

John Skene survived malaria, dengue fever and a close shave involving a 600lb shell exploding close to his head during his time in active service.

He served in France with the British Expeditionary Force, before being driven back across the channel by Hitler's forces.

After a short time serving on the Yorkshire coastal defences, with the Royal Welch Fusiliers, Mr Skene found himself sailing out to the war in the Far East - leaving behind his wife Muriel and two-week-old daughter.

The hardest fighting came in 1944, when Field Marshall Bill Slim's troops were taking Kohima back from the Japanese.

Mr Skene's luck finally ran out when a 600lb shell exploded close to his head - he survived, but received head injuries caused him to suffer regular headaches more than seven decades on.

While convalescing in a field hospital he contracted malaria and dengue fever, and was transferred to administrative duties.

Mr Skene was finally sent home in December 1945, and officially de-mobbed in February 1946 where he returned to civilian life.

Mr Skene was born in Kingswood in 1919. His father was an engineer and his mother worked in a shoe factory.

Aged just a few months old he moved to Cardiff with his family. Sadly his mother passed away when he was just five and due to his father being busy with work, he moved back to Kingswood where he was cared for by his grandparents.

He moved back with his father and his new family when he was 11 and left school at 14, where he worked in his dad's bicycle and radio shop with his brother Billie for pocket money.

In his later years he enjoyed holidaying in the Mediterranean, dancing, driving, day trips, listening to jazz, photography and charity work.

He spent a lot of his time at car boot sales and selling items through auctions to help raise money for a fishing for the disabled scheme set up by his wife.

He also travelled to India and Burma to visit the graves of his fallen war comrades where he presented a plaque in their memory in a local cathedral.

Rest in eternal peace Warrior. Thank you for your service and many sacrifices. We as American citizens have a huge debt to you and your brothers that we can never repay to our service members and veterans and your families who have put their lives on hold to serve our great nation, we may never know them all but we truely owe you all. God bless you Sir.

"Every Day is Memorial Day"
The Greatest GENERATIONS Foundation
Web: www.TGGF.org

Attached Files John Skene.jpg
#4418916 - 05/03/18 03:38 AM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: F4UDash4]  
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 13,736
F4UDash4 Online cool
Veteran
F4UDash4  Online Cool
Veteran

Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 13,736
SC
WE REMEMBER A TRUE WORLD WAR II HERO: It is with a heavy heart that we learn the news that BATTLE OF THE CORAL SEA veteran, Mr. GORDON JOHNSON has died. He was 96.

Mr. Johnson was a telegrapher aboard the light cruiser HMAS Hobart during the famous battle of the Coral Sea, which saw ships from the United States and Australian fleets take on the mighty Japanese.

Many aboard the ships were just teenagers, wide-eyed and crazy-brave. They signed up to serve their respected nations, mostly for the adventure, only to find that in May 1942 they would be thrown together — from two continents — to fight the most important naval battle in World War II history.

The men who fought in the Battle of the Coral Sea may not be as well known in our history as veterans of Normandy, Kokoda or Iwo Jima, but there are few people to whom this country owes more thanks than the US and Australian sailors and airmen who, across two days that May, halted the Japanese advance south towards Australia and, in the process, helped to turn the tide of the Pacific War.

It was the first aircraft carrier battle ever fought, and the first in which the opposing ships never fired at each other - all attacks were carried out by aircraft with the US losing three ships in the battle, including the fleet carrier USS Lexington, while the Japanese lost five ships, including the light carrier Shoho.

While the Japanese claimed a tactical success, the strategic victory belonged to the Allies, who destroyed the Japanese carriers at the Battle of Midway the following month.

Mr. Johnson and the Hobart survived the battle and was present in Tokyo Bay when the Japanese instrument of surrender was signed in September 1945.

On behalf of TGGF and its members, thank you for your service and many sacrifices. We as American citizens have a huge debt that we can never repay to our veterans and the families who have put their lives on hold to serve our great nations, we may never know them all, but we truly owe it to you. Rest in eternal peace Mr. Gordon Johnson.

Lest We Forget.

"Every Day is Memorial Day"
The Greatest GENERATIONS Foundation
Web: www.TGGF.org

Attached Files GORDON JOHNSON.jpg
#4418917 - 05/03/18 03:39 AM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: F4UDash4]  
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 13,736
F4UDash4 Online cool
Veteran
F4UDash4  Online Cool
Veteran

Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 13,736
SC
OUR GREATEST AMERICAN HEROES: Its with great sadness we learn the news that World War II Navajo Code Talker Roy Hawthorne, who used his native language as an uncrackable code during World War II, died Saturday.

At 92, he was one of the last surviving Code Talkers.

Hawthorne was 17 when he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and became part of a famed group of Native Americans who encoded hundreds of messages in the Navajo language to keep them safe from the Japanese. Hawthorne served in the 1st Marine Division in the Pacific Theatre and was promoted to corporal.

The code was never broken.

“The longer we live, the more we realize the importance of what we did, but we’re still not heroes — not in my mind,” Roy Hawthorne said in 2015.

But Hawthorne's son, Regan Hawthorne, said Monday his father leaves a proud legacy.

"They went in out of a sense of duty and a spirit of responsibility to their country," Regan Hawthorne said, adding he didn't know about his father's military service until he was in his 20s.

"I grew up not knowing my dad was a Code Talker. He never talked about it, didn't see the need to talk about it," he said.

The Code Talkers believed they were just doing their job, he said, and shied away from receiving accolades for their service.

"When we read about the effect the Navajo Code had on shortening the war because of its effectiveness, we think about the guys who did that," Regan Hawthorne said. "(But) they're simply humble men who performed what they sensed to be a duty to protect all they cherished."

He said his father and other Code Talkers returned home from the war and "simply came back to work and went back to making a life."

On behalf of TGGF and its members, thank you for your service and many sacrifices made to this great nation. We as American citizens have a huge debt that we can never repay our veterans and the families who have put their lives on hold to serve our great nations, we may never know them all, but we truly owe it to you.

Rest in eternal peace Mr. Hawthorne.

"Every Day is Memorial Day"
The Greatest GENERATIONS Foundation
Web: www.TGGF.org

Attached Files Roy Hawthorne.jpg
#4419042 - 05/04/18 01:54 AM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: F4UDash4]  
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 4,353
HitchHikingFlatlander Offline
Senior Member
HitchHikingFlatlander  Offline
Senior Member

Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 4,353
California
My Grandfather a veteran of the pacific theater and US Army is still here at 93, but looking older every month now instead of year. It will be a sad day when these fine people are no longer with us at all. Now my dad, a Vietnam Vet is the Grandpa but really at 70 hes old enough to be a great grandpa. Time sure does go by fast.

Last edited by HitchHikingFlatlander; 05/04/18 01:55 AM.

I've got a bad feeling about this.....
#4419044 - 05/04/18 02:07 AM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: F4UDash4]  
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 2,042
cichlidfan Offline
Member
cichlidfan  Offline
Member

Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 2,042
Woodbridge, VA, USA
I respect these men very much. My father served all over Europe during WWII, in Intel. Were he still alive, he would be 99. One of my best friends is 88 and spent most of his career, in an engineering battalion, rebuilding the airfields in Europe. I visit my father's grave, in Arlington Cemetery, every year and am constantly reminded (looking at the other headstones) that many people, both big and small, did so much for so many.

They were all great men and we own them a debt that can never be repaid.


ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Hero, i7-6700K, Noctua NH-D14 Cooler, Crucial 32GB DDR4 2133, Samsung 950 Pro NVMe 256GB, Samsung EVO 250GB & 500GB SSD, 2TB Caviar Black, Zotac GTX 1080 AMP! Extreme 8GB, Corsair HX1000i, Phillips BDM4065UC 40" 4k monitor, VX2258 TouchScreen, TIR 5 w/ProClip, TM Warthog, VKB Gladiator Pro, Saitek X56, et. al., MFG Crosswind Pedals #1199, VolairSim Pit, Rift CV1
#4419046 - 05/04/18 02:13 AM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: F4UDash4]  
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 7,444
Mad Max Offline
survivor
Mad Max  Offline
survivor
Hotshot

Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 7,444
NSW, Australia
My father was RAF ground crew based in the Pacific and Indian Oceans mainly. Used to service B-24s bombing the Japanese in the (then) Dutch East Indies. He died in 2003.


"You'll never take me alive" said he,
And his ghost may be heard if you pass by that billabong
"Who'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me?"



#4419060 - 05/04/18 07:35 AM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: F4UDash4]  
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 3,586
kaa Offline
Senior Member
kaa  Offline
Senior Member

Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 3,586
France
And my father , who is 98 , is now in bad shape , weakening day after day , family believe he would not pass the month, hoping he can regain some strength.

He saw action on the Italian theater in spring/summer 44', then in the battle of Provence and was WIA on august, the 22th 1944 in suburbs of Marseilles, as an infantry corporal (Tirailleur=Rifleman) in the 3rd Algerian Infantry Division (colonial troops).



7th RTA/ 3ème DIA.


"Anyone can shoot you down if you don't see him coming but it takes a wonderfully good Hun to bag a Camel if you're expecting him."
Tom Cundall.
#4419862 - 05/09/18 07:27 PM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: F4UDash4]  
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 13,736
F4UDash4 Online cool
Veteran
F4UDash4  Online Cool
Veteran

Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 13,736
SC
AMERICA’S GREATEST HEROES: The last Pearl Harbor survivor from Nebraska, Mr. Ludwig "Lou" Radil. Has died, he was 98.

In Ludwig "Lou" Radil's six eventful years as a Navy yeoman, he witnessed both the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the earliest post-World War II nuclear tests in the South Pacific.

"He enjoyed being in the Navy. He had seen so much," said his son, Larry Radil of Papillion.

Lou Radil, an Omaha native, was one of the last remaining Pearl Harbor survivors in Nebraska, having escaped from the battleship USS California after it was torpedoed in the Japanese attack.

Radil grew up in the Brown Park neighborhood, and attended Omaha South High School, one of six children. Before World War II, he worked in a meat-packing plant and for a soft-drink bottler.

In 1941, Radil, 22, joined the Navy and arrived at Pearl Harbor in August. He became the ship's librarian aboard the California.

The morning of Dec. 7, he and two other sailors were setting up deck chairs for church services when the first Japanese planes flew over, Radil told a World-Herald reporter in 2001. Then bombs began to fall on nearby Ford Island.

"We got a torpedo hit, and then another, and then a bomb hit," Radil said in an account reprinted in a 2011 World-Herald book about Nebraskans in World War II. "We started listing to one side. We got word that the ship was sinking and might capsize. So the captain ordered a call to abandon ship."

He jumped into the water, dodging a burning oil slick. Radil swam about 200 yards to Ford Island, soaked with oil but unharmed. The next day, he helped remove the bodies of the nearly 100 sailors who were killed.

"Even thinking about it gets tears in my eyes," Radil said in 2001.

Radil remained at Pearl Harbor, but his son said he knows little about Lou Radil's service during the rest of the war. But after World War II ended, he was assigned to the USS Cumberland Sound, a seaplane tender. The ship traveled to the Bikini Atoll in the spring of 1946, where the crew observed the first two postwar tests of nuclear weapons.

Radil left the Navy in 1947 and returned to the meat-packing industry. Later he became a federal food inspector. He married in 1949 and had two sons. His wife died in the mid-1960s.

Larry said his father enjoyed fishing, camping and playing baseball.

"He was very friendly, enjoyed life," Larry Radil said. "He'd make friends with anybody."

"Every Day is Memorial Day"
The Greatest GENERATIONS Foundation
Web: www.TGGF.org

Attached Files Lou Radil.jpg
#4419947 - 05/10/18 01:40 AM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: F4UDash4]  
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 17,301
Nixer Offline
Scaliwag and Survivor
Nixer  Offline
Scaliwag and Survivor
Veteran

Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 17,301
Living with the Trees
Honestly...

The BEST memorial we could leave for theses folks is to make sure their kids do not have to do it again.


Censored

Look for me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or Tic Toc...or anywhere you may frequent, besides SimHq, on the Global Scam Net. Aka, the internet.
I am not there, never have been or ever will be, but the fruitless search may be more gratifying then the "content" you might otherwise be exposed to.

"There's a sucker born every minute."
Phineas Taylor Barnum

#4420819 - 05/14/18 10:19 PM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: F4UDash4]  
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 13,736
F4UDash4 Online cool
Veteran
F4UDash4  Online Cool
Veteran

Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 13,736
SC
OUR GREATEST AMERICAN HEROES: Battle of Iwo Jima veteran Mr. Robert Lee. Mell III has died. He was 93.

Born on July 13, 1924 in McConnelsville, Ohio, Mr. Mell enlisted in the Marines at age 16 with his mother’s permission. He served in the Marine Corps and Marine Corps Reserves for 31 years and also fought in the Korean War, and served in the Navy and Naval Reserves for six years.

Robert Lee Mell III could recall exactly where he was and what was happening the day the United States raised its flag on Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II.

A sergeant in the Marines, Mr. Mell recounted the uncomfortable and unnerving experience of navigating Iwo Jima’s Pacific beaches in an excerpt he wrote as part of Veterans History Project with the Library of Congress:

The sand was deep black in color and very hot. You wrapped into a pancho at night and become soaking wet. You could bury a can of water in the sand it came out very hot.

On February 23rd the flag was raised on Mt. Suribachi. Ships in the harbor blew horns and whistles and all the men cheered. It was quite the occasion.

In civilian life, he worked for U.S. Steel’s wheel and axle division in McKees Rocks for 35 years up until his retirement. He also owned and operated a bar and restaurant with his wife and brother-in-law for 18 years, the Jackman Inn in Avalon.

On behalf of TGGF and its members, those who served, and those who continue to serve in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard took an oath to uphold and protect the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic, and we can never forget the importance of their commitment to our Nation. RIP Mr. Robert Lee. Mell III

"Every Day is Memorial Day"
The Greatest GENERATIONS Foundation
Web: www.TGGF.org

Attached Files RobertLee.jpg
#4420913 - 05/15/18 03:41 PM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: kaa]  
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 3,586
kaa Offline
Senior Member
kaa  Offline
Senior Member

Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 3,586
France
Originally Posted by kaa
And my father , who is 98 , is now in bad shape , weakening day after day , family believe he would not pass the month, hoping he can regain some strength.

He saw action on the Italian theater in spring/summer 44', then in the battle of Provence and was WIA on august, the 22th 1944 in suburbs of Marseilles, as an infantry corporal (Tirailleur=Rifleman) in the 3rd Algerian Infantry Division (colonial troops).



7th RTA/ 3ème DIA.


My dad passed away last week . He had been awarded the Legion d'Honneur, Croix de Guerre, Médaille Militaire, Volunteer Cross, Italy, France and WW2 campaigns medals, WIA red star medal. About the action he has been wounded in, he told me last year:" I even did not hesitate, no time for hesitation nor fear, I did it automatically and I would do it again now if necessary without any problem." PTSD anyone ?


"Anyone can shoot you down if you don't see him coming but it takes a wonderfully good Hun to bag a Camel if you're expecting him."
Tom Cundall.
#4420916 - 05/15/18 03:46 PM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: F4UDash4]  
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 5,751
rwatson Offline
Hotshot
rwatson  Offline
Hotshot

Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 5,751
New Concord, Ohio
I Salute your Dad KAA,,And that's not PTSD quite a few Vets would feel the same We went for own reasons and beliefs..I took and oath to Defend my country and nobody has released me from that..


Russ
Semper Fi
#4420917 - 05/15/18 03:48 PM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: F4UDash4]  
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 121,384
PanzerMeyer Online centaurian
Pro-Consul of Florida
PanzerMeyer  Online Centaurian
Pro-Consul of Florida
King Crimson - SimHQ's Top Poster

Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 121,384
Miami, FL USA
I’m very sorry for your loss kaa. RIP to your gallant father.


“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4420944 - 05/15/18 07:22 PM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: PanzerMeyer]  
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 9,619
CyBerkut Offline
Administrator
CyBerkut  Offline
Administrator
Hotshot

Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 9,619
Florida
Originally Posted by PanzerMeyer
I’m very sorry for your loss kaa. RIP to your gallant father.


+1

Page 1 of 27 1 2 3 26 27

Moderated by  RacerGT 

Quick Search
Recent Articles
Support SimHQ

If you shop on Amazon use this Amazon link to support SimHQ
.
Social


Recent Topics
CD WOFF
by Britisheh. 03/28/24 08:05 PM
Carnival Cruise Ship Fire....... Again
by F4UDash4. 03/26/24 05:58 PM
Baltimore Bridge Collapse
by F4UDash4. 03/26/24 05:51 PM
The Oldest WWII Veterans
by F4UDash4. 03/24/24 09:21 PM
They got fired after this.
by Wigean. 03/20/24 08:19 PM
Grown ups joke time
by NoFlyBoy. 03/18/24 10:34 PM
Anyone Heard from Nimits?
by F4UDash4. 03/18/24 10:01 PM
RIP Gemini/Apollo astronaut Tom Stafford
by semmern. 03/18/24 02:14 PM
Copyright 1997-2016, SimHQ Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.6.0