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#4496539 - 11/08/19 06:04 PM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: F4UDash4]  
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thanks for posting these amazing stories.


Have you seen the Arrow? WWW
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#4496545 - 11/08/19 06:15 PM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: F4UDash4]  
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+1 Coasty

It's been a very sobering experience reading about the lives of these veterans.


“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.”
#4497954 - 11/22/19 04:52 PM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: F4UDash4]  
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AMERICA REMEMBERS: One of the last Massachusetts survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor has died of natural causes on Tuesday, leaving Massachusetts with one known living veteran left of the deadliest foreign attacks to ever take place on American soil.

Born on Oct. 14, 1921, George Hursey grew up with nine siblings on a farm near Durham, North Carolina. They lived in a log cabin and ate homegrown vegetables and livestock raised by their parents, he later told his children.

Hursey excelled as a high school athlete, captaining the football, basketball and baseball teams in his senior year, but failed to secure an athletic scholarship to attend college because of his lanky frame, according to Hursey's son Dennis, a star athlete in his own right.

Weighing in at 150 pounds despite being 5 feet 10 inches tall, Hursey joined the Army in 1939, after a year of struggling to find work following his graduation from high school. Hursey told The Enterprise in 2016 that the Army paid $21 a month, a high wage for someone with his background.

Hursey was eating breakfast one morning in 1941 after his deployment to Honolulu when the roar of low-flying airplanes startled him. He ran outside to find a harbor full of burning ships.

His unit scrambled to move artillery guns into place, but managed to shoot only at the last wave of Japanese bombers leaving Pearl Harbor.

Hursey went on to fight in numerous battles in the Pacific, including a stint on Guadalcanal.

"As bad as Pearl Harbor was, he said Guadalcanal was 100 times worse," Dennis Hursey recalled.

Hursey told his son that when his Army unit first arrived on the island's shore, the water had turned red with blood from Marines who'd stormed the beach earlier in the day.

Hursey passed out during a battle there after an explosion sent metal shrapnel into his arm. He woke up on an aircraft carrier, and returned to the United States by ship in 1944, passing under the Golden Gate Bridge before arriving in San Francisco.

"I'd never seen something so beautiful," he told an Enterprise reporter last year.

Upon his return, Hursey, who'd reached the rank of staff sergeant, was reassigned to an air force base on Cape Cod to train artillery men. On weekends, G.I.'s stationed at the base traveled up the South Shore to Brockton to enjoy the city's then-bustling night life.

It was there that George Hursey met Mary Gulla, a Brockton native born to Italian garment workers who would soon become his wife of 73 years.

Hursey, raised in the Protestant faith, converted to Catholicism during their two-year courtship.

Hursey made numerous career changes as they settled into a home on Kenwood Street in the city's Campello neighborhood. Initially, he found work as a custodian and maintenance man at one of the city's shoe factories. He later joined the U.S. Postal Service, from which he retired at age 58.

Hursey then drove buses for the Brockton Public Schools. When he retired at age 83, his bosses conducted a nationwide search and determined he was the oldest school bus driver in America.

During his free time, Hursey worked as a football scout for Duke University, securing scholarships to the prestigious college for numerous Brockton-area athletes.

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

Attached Files Hursey.jpg
#4497955 - 11/22/19 04:52 PM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: F4UDash4]  
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AMERICA REMEMBERS -- A DDay groom last year, survivor the bloody battle of Okinawa, HERO of World War II has died at age 93.

Kalman Adolph Leichtman, born Nov. 12, 1925, in New York City. He was a proud American, a proud Jew, and a proud United States Navy veteran of the D-Day Invasion of Normandy, the Invasion of Southern France, the pre-invasion of Okinawa, and the Invasion of Okinawa.

Kalman Leichtman joined the Navy at 17, survived the 1944 invasion of Normandy, than Southern France in August 1944, and in 1945, he experienced his last battle near the island of Okinawa.

Kalman Leichtman, then 81, talked about his harrowing experiences while he was a radio operator and part of a gun crew aboard the USS Butler. The destroyer-minesweeper was an escort involved in the invasion of Okinawa, the largest amphibious assault in the war’s Pacific Theater.

On May 25, 1945, nine men aboard the Butler died when a 500-pound bomb from a kamikaze warplane exploded under the ship’s keel. All power aboard was lost, and another U.S. ship came to the rescue.

During the intense battle, 75 Japanese planes were shot down, five by the USS Butler’s gun crews. “In that hour and a half we were in fierce combat — it seemed like many months,” Leichtman said in 2008. He described himself as “a cocky 18-year-old” at the time.

So young during World War II, Kalman Leichtman became an elderly groom last year when he married Marilyn Ogden on the 74th anniversary of D-Day.

On behalf of TGGF and its members, we salute you Kalman Leichtman for your dedication and service to our freedom.

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

Attached Files Leichtman.jpg
#4497991 - 11/22/19 09:19 PM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: F4UDash4]  
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AMERICA REMEMBERS -- The beautiful Ellan Levitsky-Orkin, a nurse during World War II has died at the age of 99.

Ellan J. Levitsky Orkin, 99, of Milford, DE, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, November 20, 2019, in her home.

She was born on December 27, 1919, in Woodstown, NJ, the daughter of the late Isidor and Fanny (Freihon) Levitsky. Ellan attended Salem High School and graduated in 1937. She attended Northeastern Hospital School of Nursing in Philadelphia, PA, and graduated in 1941.

During World War II, Ellan served in the Army Nurse Corp during the Normandy campaign and attained the rank of 1st Lieutenant. Following the war, Ellan worked at Milford Memorial Hospital for 20 years as a private nurse. Ellan was awarded the French Legion of Honor medal, which is the highest distinction for service in France.

Ellan married Benjamin Orkin on November 11, 1946. He preceded her in death in 1995. She is also preceded in death by two sisters, Molly Levitsky and Dorothy Levitsky Sinner, and her beloved cat Mademoiselle.

On behalf of TGGF and it members, we salute you for your dedication and service to our freedom.

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

Attached Files Levitsky-Orkin.jpg
#4498419 - 11/26/19 07:37 PM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: F4UDash4]  
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It is with great sadness that the Naval Historical Foundation announces the passing of Admiral James L. Holloway III, the 20th Chief of Naval Operations, a true Navy legend, son of a Four-Star Admiral, and former Chairman of the Naval Historical Foundation. The NHF is humbled to pay homage to this incredible warrior and public servant. Admiral Holloway’s life was an inspiration, full of heroic accomplishments and achievements to which many might aspire, but few achieve. Admiral Holloway’s life was one of exemplary service, dedication, sacrifice, leadership, and honor.

Admiral Holloway served as the President, and subsequently Chairman, of the Naval Historical Foundation for twenty-eight years from 1980 to 2008, for which he was presented the Distinguished Public Service Medal by the Secretary of the Navy and elected Chairman Emeritus. Admiral Holloway’s service to the Foundation followed a storied 36-year career in the United States Navy, during which he served in combat in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam and was appointed as Chief of Naval Operations. His career will forever stand as a shining example of exemplary Naval leadership, dedication, and service to others.

James Lemuel Holloway III was born in Charleston, SC, on February 23, 1922 to James L. Holloway, Jr., and Jean Gordon Hagood. His father was a member of the U.S. Naval Academy Class of 1919, and attained the rank of Admiral, distinguishing them as the only father-son pair in the history of the Navy to achieve that rank during active service.

Admiral Holloway attended Saint James School near Hagerstown, Maryland and upon graduation in 1939, entered the United States Naval Academy, graduating in 1942 as a member of the accelerated Class of 1943 (and where he was a proud member of the wrestling team). He served in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters during World War II, including North Atlantic convoy duty and in the Western Pacific at Saipan, Tinian, Palau and Leyte Gulf campaigns as gunnery officer of the destroyer USS Bennion (DD-662). During the Battle of Surigao Strait in October 1944, the Bennion was heavily engaged and helped sink the battleship Yamashiro with torpedoes, in addition to shooting down three Japanese aircraft. For his actions during the battle, Admiral Holloway received the Bronze Star Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal, and the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation.


Following World War II, Admiral Holloway reported for flight training and was designated a Naval Aviator. During the Korean War, he flew many combat sorties in the Grumman F9F-2 Panther, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross, three Air Medals and the Korean Presidential Unit Citation. Admiral Holloway was a pioneer in this early era of carrier-based jet aviation and completed two tours in the heavily contested warzone. During one particularly challenging time, the Commanding Officer of his squadron, Fighting Squadron 52, was shot down, and Admiral Holloway abruptly found himself in the leadership role as commander. Shortly after the war, he served as a technical expert in the production of the critically acclaimed movie, The Bridges at Toko-Ri, a film which generated much-needed public awareness of the conflict and the sacrifices made during it.

From 1965 to 1967, he commanded USS Enterprise (CVAN-65), the Navy’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. Admiral Holloway was the third Commanding Officer of the ship, but the first to take her into combat. He was subsequently promoted to Rear Admiral and then Vice Admiral in 1970, commanding the U.S. Seventh Fleet through the end of the Vietnam War.


Admiral Holloway served as Chief of Naval Operations from 1974 to 1978 (including periods where he was acting Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) during a particularly challenging time in the history of our nation. His accomplishments as a flag officer earned him four Navy Distinguished Service Medals and two Defense Distinguished Service Medals. Following his naval service, Admiral Holloway continued in public service and authored Aircraft Carriers at War: A Personal Retrospective of Korea, Vietnam, and the Soviet Confrontation, a testament to his passion for analyzing history in order to better understand the present and future.

Our Navy and our Nation have lost a great hero. The Naval Historical Foundation is forever indebted to Admiral Holloway for his vision, leadership, and accomplishments at the helm of NHF. Fair winds and following seas, Admiral Holloway.



Dr. Dave Winkler’s biography of Admiral Holloway published by the Naval War College

Admiral Holloway’s oral history on the Battle of Surigao Strait at Leyte Gulf in October 1944:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3sCYEVFRMI

Attached Files James_Holloway_III.jpg
#4498420 - 11/26/19 07:43 PM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: F4UDash4]  
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Wow. What an amazing military career and life.

RIP


“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.”
#4498865 - 12/01/19 04:16 PM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: F4UDash4]  
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AMERICA REMEMBERS - THE BEAUTIFUL NORMA LEWIS, VETERAN OF WORLD WAR II WOMAN WHO TRACKED GERMAN SUBS DIES AT 97.

A character of the greatest generation, with a great sense of humor, has died.

Ninety-seven-year-old Norma Lewis, a World War II veteran will be buried next week will full military honors and a 21-gun salute.

Norma joined the U.S. Navy at the age 21 joining 350,000 other women who signed up after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

At her Louisville home, Norma proudly kept her navy uniform.

In 1943, at the age of 21, she joined the Navy. She was stationed in Charleston, South Carolina as part of a mission of tracking German submarines.

After three and a half years as a Naval Intelligence Officer, Norma retired from the Navy.

She came to Louisville in the 1960s as a sign language interpreter, something she picked up around the age of 10 after having been raised by her deaf aunt and uncle in Connecticut.

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

Attached Files Lewis.jpg
#4498866 - 12/01/19 04:17 PM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: F4UDash4]  
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AMERICA REMEMBERS — It is with great sadness, we learn the news that DDAY veteran Staff Sgt. Don Jakeway, one of the last original paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division, has died.

Jakeway, who was dropped behind enemy lines just before the Normandy invasion on June 6, 1944, was part of the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division.

Jakeway made four jumps while in active combat. The worse was in September 1944, when he was severely wounded in Holland.

He eventually recovered after a hospital stay. After that, he fought in the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944, where he was shot in his lung by a German sniper.

Jakeway made his first return to Normandy in 2014. He visited key areas before saying goodbye to his friends at the American Cemetery on Omaha Beach.

Jakeway was born and raised in Johnstown and graduated from Johnstown-Monroe High School in 1942.

He's married to Roselyn, and they have four adult children, several adult grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and a great-great-grandchild.

Jakeway was a fantastic person. He lived life to the fullest and was always mindful of how lucky he was, and he always wanted to be positive, and he was always a positive light in the room.

“Every Day is Memorial Day”
The Greatest Generations Foundation
Web: www.tggf.org

Attached Files Jakeway.jpg
#4499327 - 12/06/19 01:48 PM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: F4UDash4]  
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AMERICA REMEMBERS – It is with great sadness; we learn the news that World War II veteran Mr. Irving Burgie, member of an all-black U.S. Army battalion during World War II has died. He was 95.

After World War II, Mr. Burgie used GI Bill funds to pay for music studies. Burgie studied at the Juilliard School of Music, the University of Arizona and the University of Southern California. He became a folk singer using the stage name Lord Burgess and performed the circuit between New York and Chicago, making his New York nightclub debut at the Village Vanguard in 1954.

Mr. Burgie, who helped popularize Caribbean music and co-wrote the enduring Harry Belafonte hit “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song),”

“Day-O,” written in 1952, has been ubiquitous, appearing in everything from the film and Broadway musical “Beetlejuice” to an E-Trade commercial. “Day-O” was also the wake-up call for the astronauts on two space shuttle missions in the 1990s. When a superstar list of music royalty gathered to film the “We Are the World” video in 1985, most burst into a playful version of “Day-O” in between takes. Lil’ Wayne used a sample of “Day-O” in his “6 Foot 7 Foot.”

According to the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Burgie’s songs have sold more than 100 million records throughout the world. Many were recorded by Belafonte, including eight of the 11 songs on Belafonte’s 1956 album, “Calypso,” the first album to sell more than 1 million copies in the U.S. Burgie also penned songs for the Kingston Trio (“The Seine,” “El Matador,” and “The Wanderer”) and for other groups.

His “Jamaica Farewell” has been recorded by Belafonte, Jimmy Buffett, Carly Simon and others. Others who have sung his songs include Mantovani, Miriam Makeba and Julio Iglesias. Burgie’s classic Caribbean standards include such familiar hits as “Island in The Sun,” “Angelina,” and he was co-writer of “Mary’s Boy Child.” He also wrote the 1963 off-Broadway musical “Ballad for Bimshire” that starred Ossie Davis.

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

Attached Files Burgie.jpg
#4499328 - 12/06/19 01:48 PM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: F4UDash4]  
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HERO OF THE DAY -- Hundreds of people went to the funeral of a WWII veteran after learning that he had no surviving family to attend.

James McCue, of Lawrence, died last week at a health care center in Methuen. He was 97. An obituary said he had outlived his wife and had no other living family members.

News of the serviceman's burial quickly circulated on social media this week after a veterans advocate called on Massachusetts residents to show up to the services. This prompted many veteran groups and others to attend.

“Just another guy down. We’re running out of [WWII] veterans,” said Calvin Perry, an U.S. Air Force veteran from Andover.

“This was one that landed at Normandy and has five battle stars. It’s a worthy day to show up and honor him.”

The closest person to McCue to attend his funeral was Doris Sevigny, 91, who had lived below him in an apartment complex for more than 20 years, according to Sevigny’s niece, Diane Brown.

“He was her eyes because she was legally blind, and she was his health care proxy,” said Brown. “It was nice to see them together. They had happiness together. He was a happy man.”

A few years ago, McCue fell ill and moved to Cedar View Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center in Methuen, said Brown. Sevigny visited him for several years until she too fell ill about three weeks ago and joined him at the nursing home. The two had played bingo the night before McCue died, the niece added.

During the ceremony, military officers gave Sevigny the folded flag from on top of McCue’s casket. Afterwards, Brown asked her aunt what she thought of the service.

“Wonderful, wonderful,” she cried while clutching a picture of McCue.

Many of the servicemen in attendance called McCue an American hero. Some even admired his participation in combat when others had only served stateside. McCue had enlisted in the U.S. Army shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor and fought in the five major battles, including a landing on Utah Beach on D-Day.

While many former military members were glad to still be alive, several expressed concerns that they too would be forgotten.

“Every time I go to one of these, I'm standing around holding my rifle and I do wonder, when my time comes, if there's gonna be anyone around to do it?” said Peter Tuttle, a Marine Corps veteran who served on the rifle guard for the ceremony.

After the service, David Webster, an Army veteran from New Hampshire, lingered to pay his respects to his two uncles who were also veterans buried in the same cemetery.

Webster said his uncles were lucky to make it home; many of their comrades were less fortunate. However, he also said that many returning military members have little to fall back on when they return home, hoping that the funeral inspired people to support veterans.

“A lot of them come back and have nothing, whether it be finances, loss of family, or whatever it might be,” said Webster. “They deserve our support for putting their lives on the line, so it shouldn't be too much to offer them some support.

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

Attached Files McCue.jpg
#4499329 - 12/06/19 01:49 PM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: F4UDash4]  
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AMERICA REMEMBERS — BELOVED D-DAY VETERAN CLINTON RIDDLE PASSES AWAY PEACEFULLY IN SWEETWATER AT 98

Clinton Riddle, a veteran of the D-Day invasion and combat-wounded East Tennessee soldier who served with the 82nd Airborne during World War II died peacefully on the evening of December 3 in his hometown of Sweetwater, Tennessee.

After being drafted at 21, the Loudon County native was assigned to the 325th Glider Infantry with the newly formed 82nd Airborne Division soon and sent to Casa Blanca, Morocco, for the Army's North Africa campaign.

His unit invaded Italy, liberating parts of Naples and helping the people re-establish a local government. But the men were soon loaded on ships and sent to the United Kingdom for a much larger invasion -- D-Day.

The massive assault in 1944 combined paratroopers, beach landings and scores of gliders towed into the sky by large transport planes and then set loose to crash down behind enemy lines and help move the invasion forward.

His made the Normandy landing in a British-made glider that held 33 men and nearly came to pieces on landing.

For most of the trip gliders floated high enough to be out of range of small arms fire and were pointed toward spots just out of the fighting, so soldiers could exit the aircraft and regroup before patrolling on foot to attack the enemy.

After fighting 33 days and nights, liberating French villages and losing more than a third of the unit's soldiers, the men were sent back to England for an assault on German-occupied Holland. This time the ride was somewhat more comfortable in a smaller American-made glider that held 13 soldiers.

Riddle co-piloted that flight and tore off a piece of the hull upon landing, later writing on it the name of each man aboard. The artifact is framed in his home.

Shortly after the Holland battles wound down Riddle remembers sitting in his foxhole there, reading his New Testament and praying.

"I told the Lord if he let me get home then I'd do what he wanted me to do," Riddle said. "Of course I had to go through the Battle of the Bulge after that."

Like many of his generation, he seldom talked about his war experience until he was asked to return to Europe in 2012. Since then he has spoken to many school groups as he can. He will be missed by so many.

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

Attached Files Riddle.jpg
#4501485 - 12/25/19 01:55 AM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: F4UDash4]  
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AMERICA REMEMBERS - It is with great sadness, we share the news that 101st Airborne, 502nd PIR veteran of World War II, Capt. Emmett D. Nolan, known as "Rosy," has passed away. He was 94.

Born Emmett Duane Nolan, the youngest of 12 children, Nolan grew up on a farm in Wauhilla, west of Stilwell, Oklahoma. Shortly after his birth, his father was killed in a car accident.

The family grew up with no running water, no electricity, no heating or air conditioning, and very little money. The farm had to be self-sufficient. Nolan and his older brothers learned many different skills and became expert shots with a rifle because food for the table depended on their ability to kill a rabbit, squirrel, or some other wild game. They learn how to be survivors. This kind of education was perfect for them and other soldiers' surviving during World War II.

On July 1944, Rosy arrived into Europe as a replacement soldier assigned to the 101st Airborne Division. After two months of training, he was ready for combat.

During Operation Market Garden, Rosy along with the 101st AB division mission was to secure the fifteen miles of Hell's Highway stretching from Eindhoven north to Veghel.

On December 16, 1944, the Germans launched a major offensive west through the Ardennes Forest, Rosy, and the 101st was ordered to the vitally important town of Bastogne, the central road junction in the Ardennes. The 101st was jammed into trucks for an overnight rush to Bastogne in Belgium on December 18 holding positions on the north and northwest portion of the besieged city.

The winter was harsh, a dozen men of Rosy's squad survived and were cold and hungry, and that is when Rosy found a chicken yard with an old rooster and six hens.

Being a farm boy that had many skills, he stepped forward with the razor-sharp switchblade that he always carried to cut himself out of a parachute and skinned the old rooster and six hens. This was the first step in the making of a good hot meal. Once he cleaned out the sand and snow from his helmet and milked some cows. Every soldier had a warm cup of milk, and that was their Christmas dinner in 1944. He was always scrounging because he knew how.

After the Bulge, the 101st moved to Alsace, France, that is were Rosy ran into high school friend Dale Bean who was in the 82nd Airborne. They made a pack that after the war, they would return to Stilwell, Oklahoma and go to Northeastern State College. Dale Bean was killed shortly after in Belgium, and Rosy was the last person from home to see him alive.

Rosy completed the pack, played football, and graduated from Northeastern State College University in 1949. Rosy became a history teacher and football coach.

The Korean War once again made Rosy a soldier, where he served as Captain in the 45th Division National Guard he saw duty during the Korea War. They joined the United Nations troops on the front lines during the stalemate of the second half of the war, with constant, low-level fighting and trench warfare against the People's Volunteer Army of China that produced little gain for either side. Rosy and the division remained on the front lines in such engagements as Old Baldy Hill and Hill Eerie until the end of the war, returning to the U.S. in 1954.

After the Korean War, he enrolled at the University of Oklahoma to work on a master's degree. Nolan was assigned to Coach Bud Wilkerson as an assistant coach. A big honor since Bud Wilkerson only had six assistants. He made himself a name as a history teacher and coach.

Coach Rosy left Oklahoma for California in 1965 with his family, and they made California their home. He is now a retired educator and reached 94 years of age on 9/11/2019.

The old home place and land near Stilwell, Oklahoma is still in operation and owned by Rosy. A caretaker continues to look after the cattle and upkeep of the ranching operation for Rosy. Both military and sports organizations look to him for speaking engagements and June 2019 was his last engagement with the Youth Leadership at Cal Lutheran University.

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

Attached Files Nolan.jpg
#4501486 - 12/25/19 01:56 AM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: F4UDash4]  
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AMERICA REMEMBERS -- On the eve of Christmas, it is with great sadness; we learn the news that Coast Guardsman Mr. George Larsen, who witnessed the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor has died. He was 101.

Mr. Larsen (George) was a radio operator for the U.S. Coast Guard stationed at the Diamond Head Lighthouse when he saw the infamous events of Dec. 7, 1941, that propelled the U.S. into World War II.

On that Sunday morning 78 years ago, George looked toward the sky to see the red circle of the Rising Sun of Japan on the wings of bombers overhead.

“The first thing I saw was three planes flying about 500 feet above me,” George said during a recent interview.

As bombs rained down on the ships in Pearl Harbor and vast plumes of black smoke rose, George held his post. Messages poured in, and it was his job to sift through them, determine which were real and which were bogus, and send the legitimate ones on to officials.

After the bombs dropped, fears mounted that the Japanese were about to invade Hawaii, George said in the same interview.

“I was put on patrol around the lighthouse. I walked around the water’s edge with my .45 revolver cocked and loaded,” George recalls.

“I was expecting to see a landing barge with Japanese soldiers armed to the teeth getting ready to take over the island.”

The invasion didn’t materialize, but 2,403 U.S. personnel were killed.

George was honorably discharged from the service as radioman first class in 1945, after six years of service.

George, who was born in San Francisco and raised in Mill Valley and Fairfax, returned to Marin after the war. He moved to Portland, Ore., a few years before returning to Marin again, and finally making Novato his home for 47 years.

He married Patricia Waterhouse, a former model in the U.S. Women’s Army Corps, and had two children, Tracy Brooks, and Jonathan Larsen.

When he was 92, the Coast Guard promoted him to an honorary chief petty officer for his years of public speaking at Coast Guard units and events, sharing his stories about the attack and the war.

“I share my stories because it is important to help people understand and remember the events and people of Pearl Harbor,” George said.

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

Attached Files Larsen.jpg
#4501487 - 12/25/19 01:57 AM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: F4UDash4]  
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AMERICA REMEMBERS -- It is with great sadness, we learn the news that Normandy DDAY veteran John Jenkins has died. He was 100.

John Jenkins served as a Platoon Sergeant in the Royal Pioneer Corps and took part in a secret reconnaissance mission to look at the beaches of Normandy for the Allied forces.

Mr. Jenkins landed on Gold Beach at Arromanches – among five D-Day landing points around the French shore – and had been tasked with transferring ammunition ahead from the beach to the front.

The lifelong Portsmouth FC enthusiast also took the Olympic flame from the club Fratton Park floor during training for 2012's summer games in London.

He'd worked as a boardroom steward in his beloved football team, rubbing shoulders with former chairman Milan Mandaric and also the company tycoon's close buddy, footballing legend George Best.

On behalf of TGGF and its members, we salute you, Mr. Jenkins, for your devotion and service to our freedom.

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

Attached Files Jenkins.jpg
#4501489 - 12/25/19 01:57 AM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: F4UDash4]  
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AMERICA REMEMBERS – On this Christmas Eve: It is with a heavy heart; we announce the passing of American Patriot and combat veteran PAUL K. KRINER who served 517 days of combat over five campaigns in Europe during World War II.

One of his last wishes was to meet a living President of the United States. PAUL K. KRINER was 103.

Born in the generation of President Woodrow Wilson, PAUL K. KRINER grew up on his parent's farm in Williamson, Pennsylvania, the middle child in a family of seven. KRINER father died when he was 15, and he stayed home to help his mother and siblings run the farm but had worked at a Chevrolet garage in Greencastle for a while before enlisting in the National Guard in January 1941 at the age of 24 when the war that would become World War II had its beginnings in Europe.

He had barely started his Guard training at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, when his unit was federalized and became part of the Army. In November 1941, KRINER was sent to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, for advanced training in vehicle maintenance. The next month the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.

Over the next year, as the country organized for war, KRINER continues to train until his unit was combat-ready, and in late 1942, his group shipped out to North Africa. After the North African campaign, they were sent to Naples, Italy, then moved north to engage Axis forces, through Rome and as far north as Florence. Before being redeployed to North-Western France, where they would see combat in Northern France, Ardennes, and central European Pocket until the end of the war.

When KRINER came home after the war in Europe, he went back to work on the family farm with his brother, who had taken over the farm's operation. He bought a lot on Stouffer Avenue in Chambersburg and began building a house of his own, then in July 1946 went to work at Letterkenny Army Depot.

"At the time, I wasn't married... I didn't even have a girlfriend," he said. Then he met Geraldine Carr, a Chambersburg native, and fell in love. They were married in November 1947.

His house wasn't finished yet, so the couple lived with Geraldine's parents for nine months until KRINER was able to complete the construction. KRINER still lives in that home today.

After the North Korean invasion of South Korea in June 1950, KRINER joined the National Guard, 28th Division, one of two National Guard divisions that were deployed to Ulm, Germany, in December 1951. KRINER served a total of eleven years in the National Guard and attained the rank of Warrant Officer.

Back home after his release from the Army, KRINER joined the active reserves in Chambersburg, and he and Geraldine settled in to raise their two young daughters, Karen and Kris. KRINER worked at Letterkenny Army Depot for several years, retiring in 1978 as a Quality Control Supervisor. In 1980, he retired from Letterkenny, and the KRINER's began to travel in a motor home they had bought, taking trips to places like the Grand Canyon, Florida and other U.S. destinations.

In early 2019, President of The Greatest GENERATIONS Foundation Timothy DAVIS became aware of PAUL KRINER, and his military service and devotion to our nation.

This information was passed over to the office of the President, and PAUL KRINER wish was granted and he was invited to the Oval Office to be recognized for his military service.

"Regardless of your political opinions, you must always respect the Office of our President," said KRINER.

"I have seen and lived through eighteen Presidents, and now I would like to honor my generation with a visit to the White House." said KRINER.

KRINER was a proud member of the First United Methodist Church in Chambersburg, George Washington Lodge #143, the Waynesboro Shrine Club, Pen Mar Chapter Sojourners, Heroes of 76, the Norland Cemetery Board, and a lifetime member of the VFW Post 1599, the American Legion Post 46, and the VFW Post 1599 Honor Guard. KRINER enjoyed restoring antique automobiles and gardening. Notably, his cars have been sold all over the world.

On behalf of The Greatest GENERATIONS Foundation and its members, we salute Mr. PAUL K. KRINER for his dedication and service to our FREEDOM.

NOTE: Please keep your political opinions off our facebook page.

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

Attached Files KRINER.jpg
#4502790 - 01/06/20 01:56 AM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: F4UDash4]  
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AMERICA REMEMBERS -- One of the last known surviving DESERT RATS of World War II Mr. Robert Heath has died just weeks before his 99th birthday.

Mr. Robert Heath served with the 7th Armored Division and saw active combat during World War II, where its exploits in the Western Desert Campaign gained it the Desert Rats nickname.

Heath fought in most significant battles during the Western Desert Campaign in Egypt and Palestine, and later the fight in the Italian Campaign during the early stages of the invasion of Italy. After being combat wounded, Heath, along with the 7th Armored Division, withdrew to the United Kingdom, where it prepared to fight in North-Western Europe. 7th Armored Division began landing in Normandy during the afternoon of D-Day, 6 June 1944, and fought its way across Europe, ending the war in Kiel and Hamburg, Germany.

“The demise of Robert (never Bob, or Bobby), has left an enormous void in wife Gwendolen’s heart and has taken a piece of each of his children, Jacqueline and Martyn.

“The loss of his humor and gentle ways will be felt by the three grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, and all five of the assorted spouses. But more than the obvious loss to the family, and of course to people who knew and liked Robert, his passing is a collective loss to all who love freedom.”

Mr. Heath was one of the last surviving Desert Rats, and Minster village stalwart along with Gwen, his wife of 77 years.

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

Attached Files Heath.jpg
#4504165 - 01/18/20 01:40 PM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: F4UDash4]  
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AMERICA REMEMBERS — It is with great sadness, we share the news that 100-year-old Pearl Harbor survivor and US Marine of WWII and Korea Mr. Joe Walsh has died.

Back in 1987, veteran Joe Walsh co-founded the north San Diego County chapter of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Assn. because he believed the men he served with on that fateful day of Dec. 7, 1941, “deserved to be remembered.”

Now, respects are being paid to Walsh, who died Dec. 21 after a brief illness at the Pacifica Senior Living complex in Vista. He was 100 years old.

Then a Marine in the 3rd Defense Battalion, Walsh was at a color guard ceremony in the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard when the Japanese attack began at 7:55 a.m. He and his fellow Marines manned three anti-aircraft guns, trying to shoot down the invading planes before they could sink the American battleships near the harbor’s entrance.

“I didn’t have time to get scared,” he recalled. “You don’t think about it. You did what you were told to do. You manned your gun and tried to get anyone you could.”

A few weeks after the attack, Walsh was shipped to the desolate Johnston Atoll in the South Pacific to build air defenses. Then, after a brief stint in Navy flight school, he spent the rest of the war in the Marine Corps’ VMO-8 observation squadron.

Walsh served nine years in the Marines, retiring at the rank of gunnery sergeant. During the Korean War, he was called back to active duty to serve as a drill sergeant major at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro.

Although he was proud to have served his country, Walsh never glamorized his military experiences, and he was grateful that his sons never had to fight in a war. He found those years challenging and often harsh, especially the severe deprivation he suffered on Johnston Atoll.

“It was pretty rough,” he said last spring. “All I could think of was how to get the hell out.”

A native of East Orange, N.J., Walsh joined the Marines in 1938 not for the adventure but for the steady income it would provide. It was the Great Depression, and jobs were scarce. Walsh earned $19 a week in the Marines and sent $10 from every paycheck home to his mom, who raised him and his siblings alone after his father abandoned the family when Joe Walsh was 5.

Joe Walsh met his future wife, LaVonne “Bea” Phaneuf, at the wedding of a fellow Marine in 1945. That marriage didn’t last, but the Walshes’ union, sealed in 1946, endured for 73 years and produced six children. Bea was also a Marine veteran, having served in the Aviation Women’s Reserve Squadron 21 at Brown Field in Quantico, Va. She was one of just 23,000 women who enlisted during World War II.

The Greatest GENERATIONS Foundation

Attached Files Walsh.jpg
#4504166 - 01/18/20 01:41 PM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: F4UDash4]  
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WORLD REMEMBERS — A heroic D-Day veteran honoured for helping to liberate French families in the Second World War has died.

Daniel Lyons, who was one of the last surviving Normandy landing veterans, passed away at the age of 94.

He trained with the 6th Airborne Division and landed in Ranville, Normandy – the first French village to be liberated by Allied forces on June 6, 1944.

The great grandfather-of-two, from the Isle of Wight, was praised for his bravery during the invasion and later honoured with the freedom of the community of Ranville.

He remained in the army until 1950 before working as a peacekeeper in the British Mandate for Palestine.

Returning home to the UK, he was stationed in Birmingham where he trained the next generation of army recruits.

London-born Mr Lyons, who joined the Home Guard aged 15 and the army aged 18, retired to the Isle of Wight in 1990 with wife Mary.

Mary died of cancer in 2007 after 62 years of marriage.

Veteran Mr Lyons became a popular member of the Caledonian Scottish Dancers, Medina Mariners and Catholic charity Apostleship of the Sea.

Attached Files Lyons.jpg
#4504167 - 01/18/20 01:41 PM Re: The Passing of The Greatest Generation. [Re: F4UDash4]  
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AMERICA REMEMBERS – It is with a heavy heart, we announce the passing of Mr. Charlie Baker, who helped guard flag planted at Iwo Jima, dies at 93.

Charlie Baker, one of the men who helped guard the flag the Marines planted on Iwo Jima, the South Pacific island in the legendary 1945 battle, has died, according to family.

The Kettering, Ohio, man touched many hearts when he participated in Kettering’s Holiday at Home Parade in 2018, according to Edward Koehnen, chairman of the parade, who was saddened upon learning of Baker’s death on Friday as family shared the news with local veterans and community members.

“Charlie received a standing ovation from the crowd when they saw him in the parade,” Koehnen said. “It was an honor to have him in the parade. We owe such a debt of gratitude to Charlie and those who serve our country. They have given so much.”

Baker, 93, grew up on a farm in Jefferson Twp., and said he never dreamed he would end up being a part of F Company at Iwo Jima.

In 1945, U.S. Marines invaded Iwo Jima and engaged enemy forces for nearly a month before the fighting ended and the Pacific island was considered secured. Nearly 7,000 Marines were killed and 20,000 wounded.

Iwo Jima was being used by the Japanese to launch air attacks on American bombers. After capturing it, the U.S. used the island as an emergency landing site for B-29s, which eventually made 2,900 emergency landings there that are estimated to have saved the lives of 24,000 airmen who would have otherwise had to crash at sea.

Baker was a junior in high school in 1943 when he learned that upon turning 18 the next year, he and the rest of his male classmates would be drafted to serve in World War II. In 1944, he found himself on a bus from Cincinnati to Parris Island, S.C., for boot camp.

“You think that they’re probably the meanest men there was,” Baker not-so-fondly recalled of his drill instructors, as he shared his experience in a prior interview. “But after you complete your training, you realize that they have taught you everything you need to know to protect yourself and you think a lot of them.”

He graduated basic training as a .30-caliber machine gunner. Soon after, he was sent to Camp Tawana, Hawaii, where the 5th Division was being formed for the invasion of Iwo Jima. In December 1944, Baker and 256 other Marines departed for the South Pacific.

Baker and F Company landed on the black sands of Iwo Jima on Feb. 19, 1945. For the next 36 days, the Marines fought the Japanese in some of the bloodiest battles of World War II.

Baker and other Marines made their way atop Mount Suribachi that day when six of the Marines hoisted the American flag in victory. The famous photo was captured by Joe Rosenthal of the Associated Press and had lived on as an iconic reminder of the battle.

While fighting on Iwo Jima, 230 of the 257 men in Baker’s division lost their lives. After the war, he returned home and worked at Standard Register in Dayton for 40 years and was as married to his late wife, Lois, for 67 years. Baker has two sons and a daughter.

“You do what you have to do to survive,” Baker said of his service to his country. “I would do it again for the people, the country, and for everyone.”

Attached Files Baker.jpg
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