From The Telegraph: Victims of HMT Lancastria sinking honoured with memorial
HMT Lancastria, which was built on the River Clyde, was attacked by a German bomber on June 17, 1940, receiving three direct hits.
It sunk off the coast of France in less than 20 minutes, taking up to 6,500 people with it, making it the largest single loss of life for British forces throughout the whole of the Second World War.
Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond is to unveil a memorial on Saturday on the banks of the Clyde, at the site of what was the William Beardmore and Sons shipbuilding yard where HMT Lancastria was constructed.
The memorial is a bronze sculpture, set on a granite block with a commemorative text, and was created by Fife artist Marion Smith. The bronze represents the early steel sheet construction of the Lancastria.
Jacqueline Tanner, 73, from Worcester, who is the youngest known survivor of the disaster, will also attend the unveiling.
She was aged just two when the ship sank, and her parents are said to have held her up out of the water for over two hours before they were rescued.
Mrs Tanner, formerly Jacqueline Tillyer, had to be revived and still has the sailor's jersey she was wrapped in by her rescuer.
It is claimed that the bombing of the ship was "buried" by the government at the time due to the low morale of the country during the war, and this is said to be the reason why it has taken so long to have a memorial put in place.
Mark Hirst, whose grandfather Walter Hirst, from Dundee, survived the disaster when he was 25, is the founder of the Lancastria Association and secured the site for the memorial.
Walter Hirst was a Sapper with 663 Company, The Royal Engineers. About one-third (91) of the men in his company died when the Lancastria sank.
Mr Hirst, 42, from Jedburgh in the Borders, said: "The memorial to the victims of the Lancastria is a fitting and lasting tribute to the thousands who died in what remains Britain's worst ever maritime disaster.
"Their sacrifice was ignored for decades because successive British governments refused to formally acknowledge the loss of the Lancastria for propaganda reasons.
"The site on which the new memorial stands is where the Lancastria was constructed in 1920 and where this once great liner came to life.
"The unveiling of this memorial brings the story full circle and I am certain it will be a place of pilgrimage and remembrance in the years to come."
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
New posting schedule
Sorry for the long delay in posting - had some family issues.
The posting schedule for this blog - starting this Wednesday, Nov 23, will be Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Thanks for your patience!
The posting schedule for this blog - starting this Wednesday, Nov 23, will be Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Thanks for your patience!
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Women pilots recognized with memorial at BOHS
Orange County Register: Women pilots recognized with memorial at BOHS
Quintin Ruiz, grandson of WASP Violet Cowden, escorts Mary Lamy and Myrle Mackintosh.
A plaque and monument have been unveiled among 12 pepper trees at the edge of the Brea Olinda High School campus to pay tribute to 12 Women Airforce Service Pilots, better known as WASPs, from Orange County.
The memorial was paid for through donations and fundraisers held by the Orange District of the California Federation of Women's Clubs.
During World War II, the women pilots flew non-combat missions, making more male pilots available for combat flights. The WASPs flew most types of military aircraft including B-26 and B-29 bombers. These women weren't granted military status until 1977.
"They've been overlooked," said Ellie Rankin, member of the Placentia Round Table Women's Club.
Mary Lamy, of Seal Beach, who is one of the 12 Orange County WASPs, was present in her uniform at the dedication Nov. 10.
Along with Lamy, the women honored are Beverly L. Beesemyer, Mary Reineberg Burchard, Violet Thurn Cowden, Jeanne Perot D'Ambly, Mary Ann Dreher, Roberta Jane Fohl, Bethel Gibbons Haven, Dolores M. Lamb, Joan Whelan Lyle, Doris K. Muise and Eleanor Olson Weems.
Marilyn Bennett, president of the Orange District, initiated the idea of getting involved with recognizing the WASP legacy.
Bennett, along with district chairman Myrle Mackintosh, led the women's clubs in this effort for more than a year, Rankin said. Previously, the 12 pepper trees were planted in part of the BOHS campus that was damaged by the 2008 Freeway Complex Fire.
Women from the 23 women's clubs in the Orange District were present for the event.
WWII veteran shares memories in Portland
From Middletown Press: WWII veteran shares memories in Portland
PORTLAND — “You want to talk to this guy, my neighbor,” Ed Drzewiecki said. “You really do.”
Oh, how right Mr. Drzewiecki was.
James D. Wright sat quietly, slowly eating his dinner at the “Thank you, Veterans” dinner in Portland High school Friday night. As he finished the last of his roast pork, mashed potatoes and carrots, Drzewiecki, his tablemate, neighbor and friend looked on approvingly.
When at last he had finished his meal, Wright put down his silverware and pushed his plate out of his way. And then Wright, 92, began to tell a story about his grandfather, the Brooklyn Dodgers and Gen. George Patton.
The grandfather first.
“My grandfather was born in 1847. I used to sit on his lap. He chewed tobacco,” Wright explained. “And he fought in the Civil War.” His grandfather died in 1929, when Wright was 10.
“He used to send me to the store to get his tobacco. His brand was Liberty. They still make it. It had a picture of the Lady (Liberty) right on the cover,” Wright explained in a clear, direct voice.
And when he came back from the store, mission accomplished, Wright would climb into his grandfather’s lap.
Wright retains clear memories of his grandfather. “Oh, he was a great guy.”
Fighting for the Union, the grandfather took part in the Battle of the Wilderness in northern Virginia in May 1864.
Known today only by serious students of the Civil War, the Wilderness ended inconclusively. What little fame it has today rests on the fact it was the first battle undertaken by Ulysses Grant against Robert E. Lee.
While Grant did not win, he also did not retreat. Instead, he sidestepped sideways, pushing ever further south towards Richmond.
This sideways crab-like movement and fighting continued unabated for nearly 11 more months until, worn down and flushed from his defenses at Petersburg, Lee finally gave up and surrendered at Appomattox Court House.
Wright’s grandfather wasn’t there to see the end; he was captured in the confusion that was the Wilderness and sent south to Andersonville, the Confederate prison camp in southwest Georgia that became a synonym for hell on earth.
When William Tecumseh Sherman launched his scouring march to the sea from Atlanta in late 1864, Wright’s grandfather was moved to South Carolina. When Sherman turned his 60,000-man strong column north into the cradle of secession, Wrights’ grandfather was freed in a prisoner exchange.
Which is how he came to be sitting in a chair in a house in New Jersey in the 1920s.
His grandfather’s death coincided with the stock market crash. Suddenly jobless, Wright’s father moved the family to Brooklyn where he got a job with Sheffield Farms Dairy.
Those years in Brooklyn live on in Wright’s pronunciation. And then, Wright got a try-out with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
“Me and 15 other guys, we all got the chance to get out on the field” of the Dodgers’ fabled home, Ebbetts Field.
“They’d hit six or seven grounders to each one of us, and we’d get to throw from third to first,” Wright recalled.
But He would have to be happy with the fact he got the tryout. “I didn’t have that much of an arm; I was only 17,” he explained.
Still, he was good enough to play semi-pro ball on Long Island. That was where he was when the United States Government decided it required Mr. James Douglas Wright’s skills in the Armed Forces. It was 1941.
At first, “I played a lot of baseball,” Wright said, “until they caught up with me and sent me to France.” It was 1944.
He joined the Third Army, commanded by George S. Patton. The Allies had finally disentangled themselves from Normandy and were streaking across northern France. There was talk the war could be over by Christmas.
Wright was assigned to a mobile anti-aircraft unit; he was gunner on a quad .50, a pod that was mounted on a truck bed and which contained four .50 caliber heavy machine guns.
Designed for use against attacking airplanes, Wright said most often the guns were fired across rivers in support of ground attacks upon German positions.
With Patton in the lead, 3rd Army swept east across France and Belgium into Luxembourg. It was mid-December, 1944. And then, “we got bogged down,” Wright said off-handedly.
What caused 3rd Army to “bog down” was the Germans famous last-gasp offensive which became the Battle of the Bulge, the largest battle in history involving US troops.
It took two months of hard fighting and some 80,000 US casualties before the battle was over, and Patton could resume his drive ever eastwards. When the war finally ended in May, Wright and Patton had streaked through Germany and were in Czechoslovakia.
The rest of Wright’s abruptly left for home en masse. He alone remained behind.
“Someone had to watch the Germans – and the German women!” Wright said, prompting Drzewiecki to laugh out loud, “Not bad for 92, huh?” Drzwiecki noted.
When he finally came home, Wright went to work for Western Union and then for a trucking company. He worked until he was 75, retiring for good.
Just after he got back, “I met the most beautiful girl at an American Legion dance on Long Island.” They were married 56 years before his wife died in 2002. He moved to Portland following her death.
Wright and his wife had two children, a son and daughter. The son died within the past month, at age 62. It is a loss Wright is still coming to terms with.
His daughter, Carol Lanigan, lives in East Hampton and came with her father to the dinner Friday.
Wright and Ed and Josephine Drzewiecki live in a 55-and-older community in Portland.
A Navy veteran who served aboard the aircraft carrier USS Wasp in the early 1960s, Drzewiecki helped recover Gemini space capsules as part of the US space program.
He keeps an eye on Wright and helps out when and where he can. “The only reason I agreed to help him out was because I found out he was a World War II veteran. How can you say no to a guy who served in World War II?” Drzewiecki said.
In June, Wright traveled to Washington, DC, to see the World War II Memorial on the National Mall.
“Oh, it was great!” Wright said. All his nieces and nephews surprised Wright by showing up unannounced at the memorial.
“There I was, standing in the middle and suddenly they were all around me. I didn’t even know they were coming. It was great – and it was a freebie,” he said.
About his army career, Wright said, “It’s something you had to do. I’m not saying I enjoyed it, but when they tell you to do something – you do it."
PORTLAND — “You want to talk to this guy, my neighbor,” Ed Drzewiecki said. “You really do.”
Oh, how right Mr. Drzewiecki was.
James D. Wright sat quietly, slowly eating his dinner at the “Thank you, Veterans” dinner in Portland High school Friday night. As he finished the last of his roast pork, mashed potatoes and carrots, Drzewiecki, his tablemate, neighbor and friend looked on approvingly.
When at last he had finished his meal, Wright put down his silverware and pushed his plate out of his way. And then Wright, 92, began to tell a story about his grandfather, the Brooklyn Dodgers and Gen. George Patton.
The grandfather first.
“My grandfather was born in 1847. I used to sit on his lap. He chewed tobacco,” Wright explained. “And he fought in the Civil War.” His grandfather died in 1929, when Wright was 10.
“He used to send me to the store to get his tobacco. His brand was Liberty. They still make it. It had a picture of the Lady (Liberty) right on the cover,” Wright explained in a clear, direct voice.
And when he came back from the store, mission accomplished, Wright would climb into his grandfather’s lap.
Wright retains clear memories of his grandfather. “Oh, he was a great guy.”
Fighting for the Union, the grandfather took part in the Battle of the Wilderness in northern Virginia in May 1864.
Known today only by serious students of the Civil War, the Wilderness ended inconclusively. What little fame it has today rests on the fact it was the first battle undertaken by Ulysses Grant against Robert E. Lee.
While Grant did not win, he also did not retreat. Instead, he sidestepped sideways, pushing ever further south towards Richmond.
This sideways crab-like movement and fighting continued unabated for nearly 11 more months until, worn down and flushed from his defenses at Petersburg, Lee finally gave up and surrendered at Appomattox Court House.
Wright’s grandfather wasn’t there to see the end; he was captured in the confusion that was the Wilderness and sent south to Andersonville, the Confederate prison camp in southwest Georgia that became a synonym for hell on earth.
When William Tecumseh Sherman launched his scouring march to the sea from Atlanta in late 1864, Wright’s grandfather was moved to South Carolina. When Sherman turned his 60,000-man strong column north into the cradle of secession, Wrights’ grandfather was freed in a prisoner exchange.
Which is how he came to be sitting in a chair in a house in New Jersey in the 1920s.
His grandfather’s death coincided with the stock market crash. Suddenly jobless, Wright’s father moved the family to Brooklyn where he got a job with Sheffield Farms Dairy.
Those years in Brooklyn live on in Wright’s pronunciation. And then, Wright got a try-out with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
“Me and 15 other guys, we all got the chance to get out on the field” of the Dodgers’ fabled home, Ebbetts Field.
“They’d hit six or seven grounders to each one of us, and we’d get to throw from third to first,” Wright recalled.
But He would have to be happy with the fact he got the tryout. “I didn’t have that much of an arm; I was only 17,” he explained.
Still, he was good enough to play semi-pro ball on Long Island. That was where he was when the United States Government decided it required Mr. James Douglas Wright’s skills in the Armed Forces. It was 1941.
At first, “I played a lot of baseball,” Wright said, “until they caught up with me and sent me to France.” It was 1944.
He joined the Third Army, commanded by George S. Patton. The Allies had finally disentangled themselves from Normandy and were streaking across northern France. There was talk the war could be over by Christmas.
Wright was assigned to a mobile anti-aircraft unit; he was gunner on a quad .50, a pod that was mounted on a truck bed and which contained four .50 caliber heavy machine guns.
Designed for use against attacking airplanes, Wright said most often the guns were fired across rivers in support of ground attacks upon German positions.
With Patton in the lead, 3rd Army swept east across France and Belgium into Luxembourg. It was mid-December, 1944. And then, “we got bogged down,” Wright said off-handedly.
What caused 3rd Army to “bog down” was the Germans famous last-gasp offensive which became the Battle of the Bulge, the largest battle in history involving US troops.
It took two months of hard fighting and some 80,000 US casualties before the battle was over, and Patton could resume his drive ever eastwards. When the war finally ended in May, Wright and Patton had streaked through Germany and were in Czechoslovakia.
The rest of Wright’s abruptly left for home en masse. He alone remained behind.
“Someone had to watch the Germans – and the German women!” Wright said, prompting Drzewiecki to laugh out loud, “Not bad for 92, huh?” Drzwiecki noted.
When he finally came home, Wright went to work for Western Union and then for a trucking company. He worked until he was 75, retiring for good.
Just after he got back, “I met the most beautiful girl at an American Legion dance on Long Island.” They were married 56 years before his wife died in 2002. He moved to Portland following her death.
Wright and his wife had two children, a son and daughter. The son died within the past month, at age 62. It is a loss Wright is still coming to terms with.
His daughter, Carol Lanigan, lives in East Hampton and came with her father to the dinner Friday.
Wright and Ed and Josephine Drzewiecki live in a 55-and-older community in Portland.
A Navy veteran who served aboard the aircraft carrier USS Wasp in the early 1960s, Drzewiecki helped recover Gemini space capsules as part of the US space program.
He keeps an eye on Wright and helps out when and where he can. “The only reason I agreed to help him out was because I found out he was a World War II veteran. How can you say no to a guy who served in World War II?” Drzewiecki said.
In June, Wright traveled to Washington, DC, to see the World War II Memorial on the National Mall.
“Oh, it was great!” Wright said. All his nieces and nephews surprised Wright by showing up unannounced at the memorial.
“There I was, standing in the middle and suddenly they were all around me. I didn’t even know they were coming. It was great – and it was a freebie,” he said.
About his army career, Wright said, “It’s something you had to do. I’m not saying I enjoyed it, but when they tell you to do something – you do it."
Veterans receive salute at Issaquah ceremony
From Issaquahpresss.com: Veterans receive salute at Issaquah ceremony
A World War II Navy veteran, Paul Miller has been through his share of Veterans Day celebrations.
Not surprisingly, he still thinks those remembrances are important and worthwhile.
“We need to pay our respects and honor those who have served and … especially those who made that ultimate sacrifice,” he said following the 45-minute commemoration at the Issaquah Valley Senior Center on Veterans Day.
The ceremony ended with a 21-gun salute provided by the Issaquah High School Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps.
“Veterans do not take life for granted,” said veteran and Issaquah City Councilman Fred Butler, who presented the keynote talk during the event. “They know that duty and sacrifice are more than words.”
Butler said the country has a new breed of veterans in those returning from often multiple tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Too many veterans with real skills cannot find jobs in this economy,” he said.
He urged those listening to get to know those new veterans and help and hire them if possible.
Issaquah Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 3436, led by David Waggoner, presented the Veterans Day event. For his part, Waggoner’s talk highlighted an Issaquah vet he believes deserves more attention then she has gotten so far.
Jayne Elizabeth Erickson is one of 19 local veterans who died while in the service and who are listed on the memorial just outside the senior center.
Killed at age 22 while training to be a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots, Erickson is the only woman on the memorial.
According to Waggoner, Erickson died in April 1944 while trying to take off for what would have been her second solo flight. Her plane collided with another and Waggoner said Erickson never had a chance to eject from her plane.
After noting some big discrepancies in the treatment of female veterans at the time Erickson died, Waggoner said other WASPs actually had to take up a collection to send Erickson’s body back to Issaquah. Though she had lived in Issaquah, Erickson was buried in Seattle with no flag on her coffin and no military honors. That apparent snub rankles Waggoner, who vowed the VFW would correct that mistake.
“We gotta make that right,” he said.
On another front, as has become customary, Waggoner and the VFW intend to supply the city with new flags for municipal flagpoles. Waggoner said the city only needs to replace four of its flags this year, but promised the VFW would continue to ensure that, as long as there are U.S. military personnel serving in harm’s way, the city’s U.S. flags would “fly clean and bright.”
A World War II Navy veteran, Paul Miller has been through his share of Veterans Day celebrations.
Not surprisingly, he still thinks those remembrances are important and worthwhile.
“We need to pay our respects and honor those who have served and … especially those who made that ultimate sacrifice,” he said following the 45-minute commemoration at the Issaquah Valley Senior Center on Veterans Day.
The ceremony ended with a 21-gun salute provided by the Issaquah High School Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps.
“Veterans do not take life for granted,” said veteran and Issaquah City Councilman Fred Butler, who presented the keynote talk during the event. “They know that duty and sacrifice are more than words.”
Butler said the country has a new breed of veterans in those returning from often multiple tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Too many veterans with real skills cannot find jobs in this economy,” he said.
He urged those listening to get to know those new veterans and help and hire them if possible.
Issaquah Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 3436, led by David Waggoner, presented the Veterans Day event. For his part, Waggoner’s talk highlighted an Issaquah vet he believes deserves more attention then she has gotten so far.
Jayne Elizabeth Erickson is one of 19 local veterans who died while in the service and who are listed on the memorial just outside the senior center.
Killed at age 22 while training to be a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots, Erickson is the only woman on the memorial.
According to Waggoner, Erickson died in April 1944 while trying to take off for what would have been her second solo flight. Her plane collided with another and Waggoner said Erickson never had a chance to eject from her plane.
After noting some big discrepancies in the treatment of female veterans at the time Erickson died, Waggoner said other WASPs actually had to take up a collection to send Erickson’s body back to Issaquah. Though she had lived in Issaquah, Erickson was buried in Seattle with no flag on her coffin and no military honors. That apparent snub rankles Waggoner, who vowed the VFW would correct that mistake.
“We gotta make that right,” he said.
On another front, as has become customary, Waggoner and the VFW intend to supply the city with new flags for municipal flagpoles. Waggoner said the city only needs to replace four of its flags this year, but promised the VFW would continue to ensure that, as long as there are U.S. military personnel serving in harm’s way, the city’s U.S. flags would “fly clean and bright.”
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Anderson (SC( man talks of flying C-47s, gliders in World War II
From Independent Mail: Anderson man talks of flying C-47s, gliders in World War II
ANDERSON COUNTY — Inside a shadow box on Carl Ellison’s living room wall is an array of colorful ribbons and medals. In the middle of that box are two sets of small metal wings.
Those are wings that Ellison, 88, earned.
“I’ve always been interested in airplanes,” Ellison said. “From the time I was a kid, I’d always wanted to fly.”
World War II gave him the opportunity to do just that.
On Dec. 12, 1942, about two years after he’d finished high school in Williamston, he traveled to Spartanburg with two other buddies to sign up for the U.S. Army Air Corps, which later became the Air Force. They had to take a test. Ellison was the only one who passed. He was sworn in that day, and by Feb. 21, 1943, he was called to active duty.
For the next two years, he served the Air Corps, in the 91st Squadron. He was assigned to the 439th troop carrier, and learned how to fly every aircraft that the Air Corps had.
Two of those planes, the C-47s and the gliders, would become second-nature to him by the end of the war.
He traveled all over the South for pre-flight training. For most of his training, he and his wife, Hazel, were able to spend time together, and even live together on the bases. But by October 1944, he received orders to report to Maxton, N.C. This time, he couldn’t take Hazel, and could not tell her where he was going.
All he could say was that he had to report to North Carolina and she couldn’t come with him. They had a week together, before he had to board a bus and head north.
“When I kissed her and left her at the bus station, it was one of the most difficult days of my life,” Ellison wrote in a memoir about Hazel, after she died in 2008.
The two met in a ninth-grade study hall at Williamston High School, he said. He noticed her right away and can still remember where they were sitting in that room. By the end of the study hall, Ellison said he made it a point to meet her.
For 64 years, they were married. In that memoir, Ellison said it was the letters he received from Hazel that gave him strength in the midst of the fighting around him.
The memories of the time they shared together were the only thing he had to cling to as he flew more than 60 missions — many of them in the midst of anti-aircraft fire.
In one mission, Ellison said about half of the planes in the mission were lost as Germans shot them down.
“The Germans had closed up a corridor that we thought was open,” Ellison said. “We were trying to drop supplies in to the 101st Airborne. We took fire and in about five minutes, they put a big dent in our squadron.”
By that Christmas, he was sleeping in a four-man tent in a foot of snow, because the Germans had bombed out the barracks at their base in France, Ellison said.
In his memoir, he said this day was a bad day for him.
“I did not have to fly that day and I was sitting alone in our four-man tent with about 18 inches of snow on the ground,” he wrote. “I had nothing to do but think of the past.”
Before that day ended, something else would happen that would change his experience in the war. A plane crashed shortly after take-off, killing everybody on board, including 25 glider pilots.
For the first time during the war, Ellison was assigned to fly something else besides a C-47. He had to fly a glider as Gen. George Patton made his push across the Rhine River.
Ellison had to land behind enemy lines to try and get some artillery to the troops on the ground.
“Glider pilots were getting killed left and right,” Ellison said. “Now, they call that a suicide mission. You were scared all the time. You never did get used to flying and getting shot at.”
As he landed behind enemy lines, Ellison was just a few feet from a German 88-mm, an anti-tank gun.
“It just so happened that I landed 10 or 12 steps too far to the left,” Ellison said. “He couldn’t hit me from where I was at.”
For a week, he and several others were stranded behind enemy lines. The British troops were cut off and couldn’t get to them. They hadn’t packed enough rations for a week, so they had to live off the food they found at a nearby farm, Ellison said.
“I found a spot, dug a foxhole and stayed there that week,” Ellison said.
Ellison survived that week, but some of the details, he said are still too hard to talk about.
The following months would bring the end of the war. Ellison’s role would turn to flying into the concentration camps and prison camps run by the Germans. He flew prisoners out of Germany to where they could receive medical care, food and shelter.
“We brought some out who were just skin and bones,” Ellison said. “We saw some terrible sights over there.”
By the late summer of 1945, Ellison, who made it to second lieutenant, was allowed to return home to his beloved wife, Hazel. In just those few months, he’d earned those wings.
“I had a lifetime of experiences in that year and a half,” Ellison said. “I wouldn’t take anything for the experience but I wouldn’t go through it again for anything either.”
ANDERSON COUNTY — Inside a shadow box on Carl Ellison’s living room wall is an array of colorful ribbons and medals. In the middle of that box are two sets of small metal wings.
Those are wings that Ellison, 88, earned.
“I’ve always been interested in airplanes,” Ellison said. “From the time I was a kid, I’d always wanted to fly.”
World War II gave him the opportunity to do just that.
On Dec. 12, 1942, about two years after he’d finished high school in Williamston, he traveled to Spartanburg with two other buddies to sign up for the U.S. Army Air Corps, which later became the Air Force. They had to take a test. Ellison was the only one who passed. He was sworn in that day, and by Feb. 21, 1943, he was called to active duty.
For the next two years, he served the Air Corps, in the 91st Squadron. He was assigned to the 439th troop carrier, and learned how to fly every aircraft that the Air Corps had.
Two of those planes, the C-47s and the gliders, would become second-nature to him by the end of the war.
He traveled all over the South for pre-flight training. For most of his training, he and his wife, Hazel, were able to spend time together, and even live together on the bases. But by October 1944, he received orders to report to Maxton, N.C. This time, he couldn’t take Hazel, and could not tell her where he was going.
All he could say was that he had to report to North Carolina and she couldn’t come with him. They had a week together, before he had to board a bus and head north.
“When I kissed her and left her at the bus station, it was one of the most difficult days of my life,” Ellison wrote in a memoir about Hazel, after she died in 2008.
The two met in a ninth-grade study hall at Williamston High School, he said. He noticed her right away and can still remember where they were sitting in that room. By the end of the study hall, Ellison said he made it a point to meet her.
For 64 years, they were married. In that memoir, Ellison said it was the letters he received from Hazel that gave him strength in the midst of the fighting around him.
The memories of the time they shared together were the only thing he had to cling to as he flew more than 60 missions — many of them in the midst of anti-aircraft fire.
In one mission, Ellison said about half of the planes in the mission were lost as Germans shot them down.
“The Germans had closed up a corridor that we thought was open,” Ellison said. “We were trying to drop supplies in to the 101st Airborne. We took fire and in about five minutes, they put a big dent in our squadron.”
By that Christmas, he was sleeping in a four-man tent in a foot of snow, because the Germans had bombed out the barracks at their base in France, Ellison said.
In his memoir, he said this day was a bad day for him.
“I did not have to fly that day and I was sitting alone in our four-man tent with about 18 inches of snow on the ground,” he wrote. “I had nothing to do but think of the past.”
Before that day ended, something else would happen that would change his experience in the war. A plane crashed shortly after take-off, killing everybody on board, including 25 glider pilots.
For the first time during the war, Ellison was assigned to fly something else besides a C-47. He had to fly a glider as Gen. George Patton made his push across the Rhine River.
Ellison had to land behind enemy lines to try and get some artillery to the troops on the ground.
“Glider pilots were getting killed left and right,” Ellison said. “Now, they call that a suicide mission. You were scared all the time. You never did get used to flying and getting shot at.”
As he landed behind enemy lines, Ellison was just a few feet from a German 88-mm, an anti-tank gun.
“It just so happened that I landed 10 or 12 steps too far to the left,” Ellison said. “He couldn’t hit me from where I was at.”
For a week, he and several others were stranded behind enemy lines. The British troops were cut off and couldn’t get to them. They hadn’t packed enough rations for a week, so they had to live off the food they found at a nearby farm, Ellison said.
“I found a spot, dug a foxhole and stayed there that week,” Ellison said.
Ellison survived that week, but some of the details, he said are still too hard to talk about.
The following months would bring the end of the war. Ellison’s role would turn to flying into the concentration camps and prison camps run by the Germans. He flew prisoners out of Germany to where they could receive medical care, food and shelter.
“We brought some out who were just skin and bones,” Ellison said. “We saw some terrible sights over there.”
By the late summer of 1945, Ellison, who made it to second lieutenant, was allowed to return home to his beloved wife, Hazel. In just those few months, he’d earned those wings.
“I had a lifetime of experiences in that year and a half,” Ellison said. “I wouldn’t take anything for the experience but I wouldn’t go through it again for anything either.”
Monday, November 7, 2011
11 Nov: Navajo 'Code Talker' tells his WWII story at GVSU
From Chicago Tribune: Navajo 'Code Talker' tells his WWII story at GVSU
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.—
An 88-year-old Marine Corps veteran who was among the famed Navajo Code Talkers during World War II is bringing his story to western Michigan on Thursday for a Veterans Day week event.
Samuel Sandoval of Shiprock, N.M., and his fellow Navajo speakers used the Native American language to communicate and keep Japanese interpreters from understanding U.S. forces' communications. Since few outsiders understood the language, their work offered a considerable tactical advantage for the U.S.
"The Japanese didn't have a chance," said Sandoval, who served in the Pacific. "I am pretty proud of what we did."
Using the language during the war was the idea of Phillip Johnston, the son of a Protestant missionary who grew up on a Navajo reservation. After convincing top commanders, Johnston launched a test program and the unit was formed in early 1942, as Johnston recruited the first 29 Code Talkers.
Native words were assigned to military terms, often linked to weapons they resembled. For example, tank was "chay-da-dahi," the Navajo word for turtle, and a dive bomber was "chini," which translates to chicken hawk, The Grand Rapids Press (http://j.mp/tZb7N) reported.
The code was expanded by assigning Navajo terms to individual letters, allowing Code Talkers to spell out words. The Navajo term for ant, "wo-la-chee," became the letter A. The term for badger, "na-hash-chid," was the letter B.
Sandoval enlisted in the Marines in 1943, followed by his brother, Merril, who also joined the Code Talkers. At first, Samuel Sandoval said he was puzzled at the intense interest the military had in him and his fellow Navajos.
"Why did they choose the Navajo boys? I didn't have an idea," he said.
Historians and military experts consider their work a remarkable chapter in the history of military intelligence, said Jonathan White, a terrorism and intelligence expert at Grand Valley State University.
"It certainly was an ingenious idea. And given our treatment of Native Americans, it was certainly gracious of them to perform a service like that," said White, head of the school's Homeland Defense Initiative.
It offered a considerable tactical advantage to have a code that the enemy couldn't penetrate, White said. He noted that U.S. intelligence operatives managed to break the German and Japanese codes in World War II.
Sadoval will tell his story at Grand Valley State University's Eberhard Center at 1 p.m. on Tuesday. The Marine Corps League of Grand Rapids is hosting the event to highlight Veterans Day, which is Friday.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.—
An 88-year-old Marine Corps veteran who was among the famed Navajo Code Talkers during World War II is bringing his story to western Michigan on Thursday for a Veterans Day week event.
Samuel Sandoval of Shiprock, N.M., and his fellow Navajo speakers used the Native American language to communicate and keep Japanese interpreters from understanding U.S. forces' communications. Since few outsiders understood the language, their work offered a considerable tactical advantage for the U.S.
"The Japanese didn't have a chance," said Sandoval, who served in the Pacific. "I am pretty proud of what we did."
Using the language during the war was the idea of Phillip Johnston, the son of a Protestant missionary who grew up on a Navajo reservation. After convincing top commanders, Johnston launched a test program and the unit was formed in early 1942, as Johnston recruited the first 29 Code Talkers.
Native words were assigned to military terms, often linked to weapons they resembled. For example, tank was "chay-da-dahi," the Navajo word for turtle, and a dive bomber was "chini," which translates to chicken hawk, The Grand Rapids Press (http://j.mp/tZb7N) reported.
The code was expanded by assigning Navajo terms to individual letters, allowing Code Talkers to spell out words. The Navajo term for ant, "wo-la-chee," became the letter A. The term for badger, "na-hash-chid," was the letter B.
Sandoval enlisted in the Marines in 1943, followed by his brother, Merril, who also joined the Code Talkers. At first, Samuel Sandoval said he was puzzled at the intense interest the military had in him and his fellow Navajos.
"Why did they choose the Navajo boys? I didn't have an idea," he said.
Historians and military experts consider their work a remarkable chapter in the history of military intelligence, said Jonathan White, a terrorism and intelligence expert at Grand Valley State University.
"It certainly was an ingenious idea. And given our treatment of Native Americans, it was certainly gracious of them to perform a service like that," said White, head of the school's Homeland Defense Initiative.
It offered a considerable tactical advantage to have a code that the enemy couldn't penetrate, White said. He noted that U.S. intelligence operatives managed to break the German and Japanese codes in World War II.
Sadoval will tell his story at Grand Valley State University's Eberhard Center at 1 p.m. on Tuesday. The Marine Corps League of Grand Rapids is hosting the event to highlight Veterans Day, which is Friday.
World War II treasure to join museum collection
From Statesman Journal: World War II treasure to join museum collection
World War II memorabilia is highly collectible, Band of Brothers memorabilia even more so.
Knowing that, Bill Wingett wasn't about to announce that he had found his guidon from Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne.
A guidon is a small flag carried as a standard by a military unit, and his guidon represents not just any unit, but the one made famous by Stephen Ambrose's book "Band of Brothers" and the subsequent HBO miniseries.
It might even be fair to call it the Holy Grail of guidons.
"When I did find this thing, I didn't intend to let it get out that I had it," Wingett told me this past week. "I knew there would be offers to buy it."
Word eventually did get out about the guidon, which he discovered in a box of keepsakes, and one gentleman, a collector, offered him $7,000.
Wingett figures it's worth more, but it's not for sale. And hopefully never will be.
The longtime Salem resident is donating the guidon to the Don F. Pratt Memorial Museum at Fort Campbell, Ky., home of the 101st Airborne. Wingett will present it to the museum during an event Wednesday leading up to Veterans Day.
He believes it's too valuable a treasure to just hang on the wall of his home, among all his medals (including the Bronze Star) and other military memorabilia. There was a time years ago when he had it on display in his office at home, hanging on a dowel, before he "lost it."
It is a swallow-tail style guidon — a triangular portion is cut away from the fly section — 28 inches wide, 181/2 inches tall. Inside the channel along the hoist, where a pole can be inserted, is stitched a tag that reads "Phila. Quartermaster Depot."
The guidon is dark blue, made of wool bunting, with white appliquéd insignia. In the center are crossed rifles 11 inches long, with the number 506 above and the letter E below.
The location of the 31/2-inch high regimental number and company letter is important, because museum officials originally were concerned this might not have been an authentic World War II guidon.
World War II memorabilia is highly collectible, Band of Brothers memorabilia even more so.
Knowing that, Bill Wingett wasn't about to announce that he had found his guidon from Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne.
A guidon is a small flag carried as a standard by a military unit, and his guidon represents not just any unit, but the one made famous by Stephen Ambrose's book "Band of Brothers" and the subsequent HBO miniseries.
It might even be fair to call it the Holy Grail of guidons.
"When I did find this thing, I didn't intend to let it get out that I had it," Wingett told me this past week. "I knew there would be offers to buy it."
Word eventually did get out about the guidon, which he discovered in a box of keepsakes, and one gentleman, a collector, offered him $7,000.
Wingett figures it's worth more, but it's not for sale. And hopefully never will be.
The longtime Salem resident is donating the guidon to the Don F. Pratt Memorial Museum at Fort Campbell, Ky., home of the 101st Airborne. Wingett will present it to the museum during an event Wednesday leading up to Veterans Day.
He believes it's too valuable a treasure to just hang on the wall of his home, among all his medals (including the Bronze Star) and other military memorabilia. There was a time years ago when he had it on display in his office at home, hanging on a dowel, before he "lost it."
It is a swallow-tail style guidon — a triangular portion is cut away from the fly section — 28 inches wide, 181/2 inches tall. Inside the channel along the hoist, where a pole can be inserted, is stitched a tag that reads "Phila. Quartermaster Depot."
The guidon is dark blue, made of wool bunting, with white appliquéd insignia. In the center are crossed rifles 11 inches long, with the number 506 above and the letter E below.
The location of the 31/2-inch high regimental number and company letter is important, because museum officials originally were concerned this might not have been an authentic World War II guidon.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Women veterans of World War II celebrated
From The Salt Lake Tribune: Women veterans of World War II celebrated
Steve Griffin | The Salt Lake Tribune) Waves of the Wasatch members Eula Kimber, 90, of Grouse Creek, Utah, right, and Marjorie Campbell, of Salt Lake City, listen during the Veterans Adminstration Salt Lake City Health Care System and Salt Lake Community College's celebration of women veterans during a program at Salt Lake Community College in Taylorsville, Utah Tuesday, November 1, 2011. The group was honored during the event. Kimber served from 1944-1946 and Campbell served from 1944-1945.
Taylorsville • Eula Kimber was fresh from the tiny town of Grouse Creek and working as a typist in Salt Lake City when she noticed all the women joining up to serve in World War II.
Figuring she’d always wanted to see New York City, where the Navy trained its Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service — Waves — she went to a recruiting office. “They took me just that quick,” says Kimber.
Then 21, she caught an eastbound train at Lucin, not far from Grouse Creek in Utah’s northwest corner, by waving a handkerchief in the air. “When I got on it was all Waves.”
Now 90, Kimber is president of the veterans group Waves of the Wasatch Unit 93 Region 3, which was honored Tuesday night at a banquet at Salt Lake Community College’s Taylorsville campus.
It was hosted by the Women Veterans Program at the Veterans Affairs Salt Lake City Health Care System and SLCC to celebrate all women veterans, especially the Waves, the first women considered veterans of the U.S. Military.
Kimber, who taught school in Grouse Creek for 30 years and still lives there, was a hotel clerk checking officers into their rooms in San Diego from 1944 to 1946.
Others Waves had diverse jobs.
Rosalind Henneman, of Alpine, taught instrumentation to pilots and recalls pilots letting the Waves take turns piloting the planes across the country, only to turn the controls back over to the male pilots for landing.
Ruth Klein, of Sandy, was a gunnery instructor, teaching “the guys” to shoot machine guns and discern whether an aircraft was American, British, German or Japanese in less than a second.
“I just felt like it was a patriotic duty,” said Ruth Messick, of Holladay. “I’m so glad I did.”
Meadville, PA, Nov 11, 2011: Through a Veteran's Eye: A Salute to focus on women
From The Meadville Tribune: Through a Veteran's Eye: A Salute to focus on women
MEADVILLE — Active Aging Inc. is ready to honor area veterans with its 12th annual Through a Veteran’s Eye: A Salute on Nov. 11 at 8:30 a.m. at the Lew Davies Community Building, 1034 Park Ave.
The festivities begin with a flag-raising ceremony conducted by the Meadville Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2006 and Vietnam Veterans Post 52 color guard. Following this will be a short message by state Sen. Robert D. Robbins. Those attending will assemble in the building’s Community Center after the ceremonies for a continental breakfast sponsored by Vantage.
This year’s event is specifically held to honor women veterans. Guest speakers will include:
--Shutsy Reynolds, who tells her story of females flying on the World War II home front, when she was a Women Airforce Service Pilot (WASP), and the challenges they faced.
--Dessie Ford, a decorated nurse who served in combat-support hospitals in North Africa and Italy during World War II. She survived bombings and military action on the front line, while tending to the injured and dying.
Both women, now in their 90s, have amazing stories to share with fellow service personnel and interested public.
The ceremonies to honor veterans will continue with a special recognition of all former or current servicemen and women in attendance. All veterans, as well as the public, are invited to attend this annual event to honor and thank the community’s veterans.
There is no cost to attend. Immediately after the breakfast and speakers, veterans will be part of a special photo opportunity that will be organized as a special recognition for servicemen and women in each branch. The photo shoot is sponsored by The Meadville Tribune. The Salute will be broadcast on Armstrong channel 23.
Volunteers on the Veteran’s Salute committee include Fred Cunningham and Agnes Folmar, co-chairmen; Ray Andel, Tom Barratt, Patrick Emig, Jack Kordes, Dr. Bob Moyers, Ray Packard, Dr. John Robb, Dick Runnels, Lon Wilson and Gary Mason.
-More information: Contact Pam Roberts at 336-1792 or (800) 321-7705, or by email at proberts@activeaging.org.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Around Livermore: A downtown walk and Veterans Day
From Mercury News: Around Livermore: A downtown walk and Veterans Day
Saturday evening downtown was still warm but there was a cool breeze. Here it is late October and people were enjoying their downtown, outdoors.
My wife and I decided to take in a new Italian restaurant, Milano Joe's, and as we sat enjoying our meal outside we people watched. People strolled by in twos, threes and more. Some were walking with a purpose; others were just enjoying the evening and people watching like us.
Hot rods were abundant as were motorcycles. It reminded me of the days of cruising in high school, but as a friend once put it, this type of cruising is "for the Mondavi crowd." That it was.
It was quiet, except for the occasional loud muffler and traffic was bumper-to-bumper, like cruising, but without the thousands who used to descend on First Street. Still, the number of people was impressive and all seemed to be enjoying themselves.
After our meal we strolled with the crowds a bit and enjoyed the sights. Young couples with babies in strollers, older couples walking hand-in-hand, children watching the colored water spouts at Lizzie Fountain, a man playing a guitar nearby. All of that and much more were happening Saturday night.
Our downtown has certainly become the go-to place in town and the valley. Soon the weather will be cooler and the rains will return. So before that happens, take in a meal at any one of the many restaurants downtown that offer sidewalk dining. The food is good and the show is free.
Afterwards, you can enjoy a coffee at Pete's Coffee or Starbuck's downtown or a dessert at First Treats Yogurts or Nestles' Tollhouse Cafe, or at any of the many other restaurants downtown. From Anita's Mexican Restaurant to Zephyr Grill, downtown Livermore has dining for all tastes and budgets. Talk an evening walk downtown sometime, you won't be disappointed.
VETERANS DAY PLANS: The Las Positas College Veterans First Program, the Student Veterans Organization, the LPC Library History Department and a host of other campus organizations are hosting two remarkable talks for LPC's fourth annual Veterans Day observance. This will be held the day before Veterans Day, on Thursday, Nov. 10.
At 8 a.m., the Student Veterans Organization will present an American flag to the college that flew over a forward operating base in Afghanistan.
At 10:30 am, the first speaker will be Maggie Gee, who was one of the original Women's Air Service Pilots during World War II. She was also only one of two Chinese-American women who flew for the WASPS.
The WASPS were instrumental in getting aircraft from the factories to air bases and ports for shipping them overseas to combat zones. Several of these female pilots were killed in these flights and in working as test pilots for new aircraft being built to fight the Japanese and Germans in the war.
At noon, the speakers will be former Lt. LeRoy Gillead and retired Lt. Col. Harold Hoskins Jr., who served with the famous Tuskegee Airmen, the all-black 332nd Fighter Group and the 447th Bomber Group in World War II. Due to the segregation of the armed forces, blacks were regulated to mainly service duty. The Tuskegee Airmen unit was an Army Air Force experiment that was successful beyond anyone's dream.
At 5 p.m, the day will end with the traditional sounding of "Taps."
The talks are free to the public and will be held in the Mertes Center for the Arts at the college.
For more information, call Todd Steffan at 925-424-1571.
Unleaded Swift fuel tested in radial engine
From AOPA online: Unleaded Swift fuel tested in radial engine
An unmodified Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine running on Swift Enterprises’ high-octane unleaded fuel 100SF showed no signs of knock in an informal round of testing, Purdue Research Park announced Oct. 25.
High-powered radial engines, designed to run on 115/145-octane fuel, present a significant challenge to any developer of an unleaded fuel. These engines already must run on reduced power settings on today’s lower-octane 100LL, and losing the knock protection provided by lead could further shrink their operating margins. The testing was part of an effort to prove that the fuel can meet the needs of engines that demand high-octane fuel, like the radial-engine aircraft that play an especially critical role in transporting people and supplies in Alaska—a question that Swift Vice President of Renewable Fuels Jon Ziulkowski said frequently arises during meetings with industry.
“Everybody says, ‘Yeah, but will it work in a radial engine?’” he said. Now, the company can say, "Yes," he added.
AOPA Top Stories
* FAA launches Web page for laser incident reports
* Aviation groups: Costly proposals won't work
* Real-time runway status alerts coming
* Keep flying: 180 hp, one passenger, driver's license medical
* Former medical certification manager advanced FAA policies
* Unleaded Swift fuel tested in radial engine
“It turns out it’s at least as good as 100LL."
A&P mechanics at Anderson Aeromotive Inc. conducted testing over three days in Grangeville, Idaho, operating at 115- to 145-octane takeoff power settings with no sign of engine knock, Purdue Research Park said. The R-2800 burned more than 100 gallons of 100SF, which produced a higher detonation threshold than 100LL, the business incubation complex added.
Norman Koerner, president of TriCap International Inc., organized the testing at Anderson Aeromotive, an outfit with significant radial engine experience, Purdue Research Park noted in a news release. Texas-based TriCap provides consulting and management services for aircraft modification, specializing in high-performance piston aircraft such as the Douglas A-26 and DC-3 and the Lockheed PV-2.
Swift’s fuel will undergo another, more extensive, formal round of radial engine testing in 2012, the release noted. Ziulkowski said Swift expects to conduct those tests in the demanding environment of Alaska, running the fuel on an aircraft there and measuring such performance parameters as detonation and resistance to detonation, compatibility with the engine, and cold-weather performance.
The testing also will explore the possibility of operating at higher power settings than on 100LL because of 100SF’s slightly higher octane, Ziulkowski said. “To an air carrier in Alaska, that makes all the difference,” he said.
Koerner said in the news release that the testing will help pave the way for legacy aircraft to continue to provide essential services.
"Additionally, 100SF will be able to power the heritage aircraft that are indispensable in preserving the history of World War II,” Koerner said. “I think it's the right thing to do, so let's 'keep 'em flying!'"
An unmodified Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine running on Swift Enterprises’ high-octane unleaded fuel 100SF showed no signs of knock in an informal round of testing, Purdue Research Park announced Oct. 25.
High-powered radial engines, designed to run on 115/145-octane fuel, present a significant challenge to any developer of an unleaded fuel. These engines already must run on reduced power settings on today’s lower-octane 100LL, and losing the knock protection provided by lead could further shrink their operating margins. The testing was part of an effort to prove that the fuel can meet the needs of engines that demand high-octane fuel, like the radial-engine aircraft that play an especially critical role in transporting people and supplies in Alaska—a question that Swift Vice President of Renewable Fuels Jon Ziulkowski said frequently arises during meetings with industry.
“Everybody says, ‘Yeah, but will it work in a radial engine?’” he said. Now, the company can say, "Yes," he added.
AOPA Top Stories
* FAA launches Web page for laser incident reports
* Aviation groups: Costly proposals won't work
* Real-time runway status alerts coming
* Keep flying: 180 hp, one passenger, driver's license medical
* Former medical certification manager advanced FAA policies
* Unleaded Swift fuel tested in radial engine
“It turns out it’s at least as good as 100LL."
A&P mechanics at Anderson Aeromotive Inc. conducted testing over three days in Grangeville, Idaho, operating at 115- to 145-octane takeoff power settings with no sign of engine knock, Purdue Research Park said. The R-2800 burned more than 100 gallons of 100SF, which produced a higher detonation threshold than 100LL, the business incubation complex added.
Norman Koerner, president of TriCap International Inc., organized the testing at Anderson Aeromotive, an outfit with significant radial engine experience, Purdue Research Park noted in a news release. Texas-based TriCap provides consulting and management services for aircraft modification, specializing in high-performance piston aircraft such as the Douglas A-26 and DC-3 and the Lockheed PV-2.
Swift’s fuel will undergo another, more extensive, formal round of radial engine testing in 2012, the release noted. Ziulkowski said Swift expects to conduct those tests in the demanding environment of Alaska, running the fuel on an aircraft there and measuring such performance parameters as detonation and resistance to detonation, compatibility with the engine, and cold-weather performance.
The testing also will explore the possibility of operating at higher power settings than on 100LL because of 100SF’s slightly higher octane, Ziulkowski said. “To an air carrier in Alaska, that makes all the difference,” he said.
Koerner said in the news release that the testing will help pave the way for legacy aircraft to continue to provide essential services.
"Additionally, 100SF will be able to power the heritage aircraft that are indispensable in preserving the history of World War II,” Koerner said. “I think it's the right thing to do, so let's 'keep 'em flying!'"
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Outfits from 1950s inspire this year’s party season
From the Aberdeen City Council: Outfits from 1950s inspire this year’s party season
As the party season nears an exhibition of elegant ball gowns and glittering cocktail dresses will open on Saturday 29 October at Provost Skene's House, Aberdeen.
Jingle Bell Rock 1950s Partywear highlights the story of fashion and how it changed dramatically after World War II.
Christian Dior, a relatively unknown French designer, introduced his first major couture collection in February 1947 which featured designs that were in complete contrast to the austere clothing worn during the war years.
The style was coined the 'New Look' by Carmel Snow, the editor-in-chief of Harper's Bazaar, and was characterised by soft shoulders, a wasp-waist and extravagant full-flowing skirts. Masses of fabric, in some cases up to 40 metres, were used to create the skirt of one dress. Finishing touches such as lace trims, sequins, beads and embroidery was added to garments to create a glamorous and opulent finish.
With the end of clothes rationing in 1949 the early 1950s saw a revival of femininity and a demand for dresses to suit every occasion from picnics and luncheons to cocktail parties and balls.
The 1950s also saw growth in the ready-to-wear industry and the use of man-made materials, which meant that luxurious looking garments could be produced at a fraction of the cost giving ordinary women the opportunity to buy designer inspired evening wear.
This was also the decade of the cocktail hour; before dinner it became popular to relax with a Martini or Manhattan. Cocktail parties became a fashionable way to entertain friends and the correct outfit was required in the form of cocktail dresses and lounge suits.
Fashion from this period was feminine, figure-hugging and glamorous and there was no better time to show off the latest trends than in the festive season when dances and parties were in full swing.
Aberdeen City Council, Museums and Galleries, curator (decorative art) Kate Gillespie, said: "With the party season fast approaching, get into the festive mood by visiting this display of sparkling ball gowns, cocktail dresses and accessories.
"Fashion from the 1950s was feminine, figure-hugging and glamorous and designers still frequently use this decade as a source of inspiration for the outfits we see on the catwalks and on the high street today."
The exhibition runs until 07 January 2012.
Provost Skene's House
Guestrow (between Broad Street and Flourmill Lane)
Opening times Monday – Saturday 10am – 5pm
Closed Sunday
Admission free
www.aagm.co.uk
As the party season nears an exhibition of elegant ball gowns and glittering cocktail dresses will open on Saturday 29 October at Provost Skene's House, Aberdeen.
Jingle Bell Rock 1950s Partywear highlights the story of fashion and how it changed dramatically after World War II.
Christian Dior, a relatively unknown French designer, introduced his first major couture collection in February 1947 which featured designs that were in complete contrast to the austere clothing worn during the war years.
The style was coined the 'New Look' by Carmel Snow, the editor-in-chief of Harper's Bazaar, and was characterised by soft shoulders, a wasp-waist and extravagant full-flowing skirts. Masses of fabric, in some cases up to 40 metres, were used to create the skirt of one dress. Finishing touches such as lace trims, sequins, beads and embroidery was added to garments to create a glamorous and opulent finish.
With the end of clothes rationing in 1949 the early 1950s saw a revival of femininity and a demand for dresses to suit every occasion from picnics and luncheons to cocktail parties and balls.
The 1950s also saw growth in the ready-to-wear industry and the use of man-made materials, which meant that luxurious looking garments could be produced at a fraction of the cost giving ordinary women the opportunity to buy designer inspired evening wear.
This was also the decade of the cocktail hour; before dinner it became popular to relax with a Martini or Manhattan. Cocktail parties became a fashionable way to entertain friends and the correct outfit was required in the form of cocktail dresses and lounge suits.
Fashion from this period was feminine, figure-hugging and glamorous and there was no better time to show off the latest trends than in the festive season when dances and parties were in full swing.
Aberdeen City Council, Museums and Galleries, curator (decorative art) Kate Gillespie, said: "With the party season fast approaching, get into the festive mood by visiting this display of sparkling ball gowns, cocktail dresses and accessories.
"Fashion from the 1950s was feminine, figure-hugging and glamorous and designers still frequently use this decade as a source of inspiration for the outfits we see on the catwalks and on the high street today."
The exhibition runs until 07 January 2012.
Provost Skene's House
Guestrow (between Broad Street and Flourmill Lane)
Opening times Monday – Saturday 10am – 5pm
Closed Sunday
Admission free
www.aagm.co.uk
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Antonio Cassese, War Crimes Law Expert, Dies at 74
From : Antonio Cassese, War Crimes Law Expert, Dies at 74
Antonio Cassese, a prominent Italian jurist who helped found two international war-crimes tribunals and who was often described as the chief architect of modern international criminal justice, died early Saturday at his home in Florence, Italy. He was 74.
His death came after a long battle with cancer, his wife, Sylvia, said.
In books, law journals and decisions from the bench, Judge Cassese expanded the body of international law that had lain mostly dormant since the trials at Nuremberg and Tokyo after World War II.
A professor of law in Florence and Oxford early in his career, in 1993 he became the first president of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, a court established by the United Nations to deal with war crimes in the Balkans in the 1990s.
He proved to be something of a maverick among normally discreet justices. Invariably affable but outspoken, he prodded fellow lawyers and Western governments into providing more support for the fledgling tribunal. And he played a central role in defining rules that would guide it and that have since served as a model for other tribunals and courts.
Among his early decisions, seen as controversial at the time but widely accepted since, were several that changed basic precepts of international criminal law. One was that war crimes could be punished not only in wars between nations, but also in conflicts within a particular country. In another, he wrote that even if there was no war going on, massacres, torture and other atrocities committed by governments or groups could be found to be crimes against humanity and punished accordingly.
“Perhaps more than any other person, Antonio Cassese was both the visionary and the architect of international criminal justice,” said Theodor Meron, an American judge who will take over next month as president of the Yugoslavia tribunal.
Most recently, Mr. Cassese was president of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, created by the United Nations to try those accused of killing Lebanon’s former prime minister Rafik Hariri and 22 others. He stepped down as president two weeks ago, as his health was failing.
Over the years, Mr. Cassese became a familiar figure in The Hague, where several international courts are based. He was often seen riding his bicycle, and he was popular with colleagues for his wit and personal modesty, as well as his erudition.
Claude Jorda, a former judge from France at the Yugoslavia tribunal, recalled that when Mr. Cassese arrived in The Hague, he was a great legal scholar, with no idea what it meant to be a judge. “But he did know that the new tribunal was the one and perhaps only chance to make international justice work,” Judge Jorda said, adding, “Failure was unthinkable to him.”
Stephen J. Rapp, the United States ambassador for war crimes and a former international prosecutor who knew Mr. Cassese for many years, said, “Everywhere that he served, Judge Cassese was the energetic force that overcame inertia, caution and resistance in order to work for justice for the victims of the most serious crimes known to humankind.”
Born Jan. 1, 1937, in Atripalda, a town in a poor region of southern Italy, he had hoped to study philosophy or sociology but instead opted for law. He said his father, whom he once described as an impecunious civil servant, urged him to pursue a more secure career. A bonus was that he was offered free board and lodging at the University of Pisa if he studied law.
In an essay called “Soliloquy,” a personal history, he wrote that he initially found it difficult to learn the hard discipline and the rigorous logic of law. But eventually he became known for scholarly work ranging from numerous essays to books including “The Tokyo Trial and Beyond: Reflections of a Peacemonger,” based on his conversations with a Dutch judge, B. V. A. Roling.
He was editor in chief of the more than 1,000-page “Oxford Companion to International Criminal Justice” and founded the Journal of International Criminal Justice, which became a prestigious forum for debate.
He insisted on the need for continuous debate because international law was gradually emerging, and as such, reflecting the common conscience of mankind. But he said it was vital to remain skeptical about harsh laws. “Laws may and should be improved if they are not up to reality,” he said frequently.
To remind himself, he kept these words from Bertolt Brecht, the German playwright and poet, on his office wall in The Hague: “I am by nature a man who is difficult to control. I reject with outrage any authority that does not rest on my respect. And I regard laws only as provisional and changeable proposals for regulating human intercourse.”
He won numerous awards for his work, including the the 2009 Erasmus Prize in the Netherlands. He used the prize money to help law students publish their papers.
He is survived by his wife and their son and daughter and two grandchildren.
In 2004, Mr. Cassese headed the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Darfur, which led the Security Council to ask the International Criminal Court to open a criminal investigation of the reported large-scale crimes against civilians. The court eventually issued an arrest warrant for several officials from Sudan, including the country’s president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir.
Mr. Cassese could be critical of fellow judges whom he thought lazy or inefficient. In a 2006 report on the Special Court for Sierra Leone, he charted the number of hours the judges were working and said that they were taking too many breaks.
Patricia M. Wald, a former federal judge in the Unites States, who was an appeals judge on the Yugoslavia tribunal, recalled the time that her appeals panel overturned a judgment and acquitted four defendants convicted by a bench that included Mr. Cassese.
“He was most gracious about it afterwards, and even invited me to write for his law journal,” Judge Wald said. She added that he turned his knowledge into concrete action that became the bedrock for several international courts.
“There are moments in history when one individual can make a great difference, and he was such a man,” Judge Wald said.
Antonio Cassese, a prominent Italian jurist who helped found two international war-crimes tribunals and who was often described as the chief architect of modern international criminal justice, died early Saturday at his home in Florence, Italy. He was 74.
His death came after a long battle with cancer, his wife, Sylvia, said.
In books, law journals and decisions from the bench, Judge Cassese expanded the body of international law that had lain mostly dormant since the trials at Nuremberg and Tokyo after World War II.
A professor of law in Florence and Oxford early in his career, in 1993 he became the first president of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, a court established by the United Nations to deal with war crimes in the Balkans in the 1990s.
He proved to be something of a maverick among normally discreet justices. Invariably affable but outspoken, he prodded fellow lawyers and Western governments into providing more support for the fledgling tribunal. And he played a central role in defining rules that would guide it and that have since served as a model for other tribunals and courts.
Among his early decisions, seen as controversial at the time but widely accepted since, were several that changed basic precepts of international criminal law. One was that war crimes could be punished not only in wars between nations, but also in conflicts within a particular country. In another, he wrote that even if there was no war going on, massacres, torture and other atrocities committed by governments or groups could be found to be crimes against humanity and punished accordingly.
“Perhaps more than any other person, Antonio Cassese was both the visionary and the architect of international criminal justice,” said Theodor Meron, an American judge who will take over next month as president of the Yugoslavia tribunal.
Most recently, Mr. Cassese was president of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, created by the United Nations to try those accused of killing Lebanon’s former prime minister Rafik Hariri and 22 others. He stepped down as president two weeks ago, as his health was failing.
Over the years, Mr. Cassese became a familiar figure in The Hague, where several international courts are based. He was often seen riding his bicycle, and he was popular with colleagues for his wit and personal modesty, as well as his erudition.
Claude Jorda, a former judge from France at the Yugoslavia tribunal, recalled that when Mr. Cassese arrived in The Hague, he was a great legal scholar, with no idea what it meant to be a judge. “But he did know that the new tribunal was the one and perhaps only chance to make international justice work,” Judge Jorda said, adding, “Failure was unthinkable to him.”
Stephen J. Rapp, the United States ambassador for war crimes and a former international prosecutor who knew Mr. Cassese for many years, said, “Everywhere that he served, Judge Cassese was the energetic force that overcame inertia, caution and resistance in order to work for justice for the victims of the most serious crimes known to humankind.”
Born Jan. 1, 1937, in Atripalda, a town in a poor region of southern Italy, he had hoped to study philosophy or sociology but instead opted for law. He said his father, whom he once described as an impecunious civil servant, urged him to pursue a more secure career. A bonus was that he was offered free board and lodging at the University of Pisa if he studied law.
In an essay called “Soliloquy,” a personal history, he wrote that he initially found it difficult to learn the hard discipline and the rigorous logic of law. But eventually he became known for scholarly work ranging from numerous essays to books including “The Tokyo Trial and Beyond: Reflections of a Peacemonger,” based on his conversations with a Dutch judge, B. V. A. Roling.
He was editor in chief of the more than 1,000-page “Oxford Companion to International Criminal Justice” and founded the Journal of International Criminal Justice, which became a prestigious forum for debate.
He insisted on the need for continuous debate because international law was gradually emerging, and as such, reflecting the common conscience of mankind. But he said it was vital to remain skeptical about harsh laws. “Laws may and should be improved if they are not up to reality,” he said frequently.
To remind himself, he kept these words from Bertolt Brecht, the German playwright and poet, on his office wall in The Hague: “I am by nature a man who is difficult to control. I reject with outrage any authority that does not rest on my respect. And I regard laws only as provisional and changeable proposals for regulating human intercourse.”
He won numerous awards for his work, including the the 2009 Erasmus Prize in the Netherlands. He used the prize money to help law students publish their papers.
He is survived by his wife and their son and daughter and two grandchildren.
In 2004, Mr. Cassese headed the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Darfur, which led the Security Council to ask the International Criminal Court to open a criminal investigation of the reported large-scale crimes against civilians. The court eventually issued an arrest warrant for several officials from Sudan, including the country’s president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir.
Mr. Cassese could be critical of fellow judges whom he thought lazy or inefficient. In a 2006 report on the Special Court for Sierra Leone, he charted the number of hours the judges were working and said that they were taking too many breaks.
Patricia M. Wald, a former federal judge in the Unites States, who was an appeals judge on the Yugoslavia tribunal, recalled the time that her appeals panel overturned a judgment and acquitted four defendants convicted by a bench that included Mr. Cassese.
“He was most gracious about it afterwards, and even invited me to write for his law journal,” Judge Wald said. She added that he turned his knowledge into concrete action that became the bedrock for several international courts.
“There are moments in history when one individual can make a great difference, and he was such a man,” Judge Wald said.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
World War II comes alive at weekend re-enactment at Fort Mott State Park
Members of the 9th Division World War II Historical Preservation Society during this weekend's re-enactment at Fort Mott State Park in Pennsville Township.
From NJ.com: World War II comes alive at weekend re-enactment at Fort Mott State Park
PENNSVILLE TWP. — The 9th Division World War II Historical Preservation Society held a living history event here at Fort Mott State Park this weekend.
The event, titled “Dug In! Holding the Line,” gave spectators a first hand look at interactive displays as well as tactics and equipment used by World War II soldiers.
“We are portraying a unit on the front line, what they call a ‘dug-in unit’,” said 9th Division re-enactor Matt Carroll.
During the event, re-enactors portraying GI’s held the line along the Rhine River (the Delaware River in Fort Mott’s case) as the Allied Armies looked to cross the river and take the war deeper into German territory.
The focus of the event held Saturday and Sunday was to demonstrate the procedures and techniques that American troops used when digging in to secure a beachhead from enemy forces and in preparing to cross a river during an invasion.
Re-enactors were dressed head to toe in World War II uniforms. The scene was portrayed as realistic as possible, down to the rations the soldiers ate for lunch to the cigarettes they smoked.
Stark realism was also provided by way of machine gun fire and rifle grenade rounds.
Carroll, who resides in Burlington City, was a History major in college. He said a lot of the volunteers who participate in the re-enactments do so because they have strong family ties to World War II.
“It’s about keeping the tradition alive,” Carroll said. “Unlike Revolutionary War re-enactors, we can interview the veterans and know exactly what they did and how they acted when they served.”
9th Division Re-enactor Chris Barebo, of Emmas, Pa., said one of reasons he participates is because of the bond that is created among the group.
“I won’t liken it to the guys that really served, but the bond we have is far beyond any of the friendships I have back at home,” Barebo said.
Though the 9th Division World War II Historical Preservation Society does conduct public demonstrations, Carroll said it is not their main function.
“We like to go to veteran World War II reunions and actually set up the equipment for them and they get a kick out of it,” Carroll said.
Re-enactor Dave Mitchell said the joy he gets from the demonstrations is when veterans approach the unit and thank them for what they do.
“It’s a lot more rewarding because you have the veterans coming up and thanking you for honoring what they have done,” said Mitchell. “There are too many people these days who don’t remember the history and it’s important to keep it alive because without history you don’t know where you came from.”
Mitchell said often times veterans who see the demonstrations start to share stories with the re-enactors as well.
“Even some veterans who have never spoken about the war,” he said.
For more information on the 9th Division World War II Historical Preservation Society please visit www.9thdivision.com.
Living history programs provided by Fort Mott State Park are free to the public.
If you have any questions or would like more information on upcoming events, contact Fort Mott State Park at (856) 935-3218
Monday, October 24, 2011
World War II pilot remembered in France
Frrom Gaston Gazette, NC: World War II pilot remembered in France
After her brother was killed while piloting a plane in World War II, 6-year-old Patricia Ross held onto what little memory she had of him through the decades.
She relied heavily on old photographs and accounts that her parents and older relatives passed along, though even they were told little about the circumstances of his death.
Only this year did Ross come to realize how well regarded Lt. Ferris Suttle’s name is among an entire city in northern France, where residents there have established a memorial in his honor. And during a recent trip overseas to attend the monument’s dedication, she was finally able to meet many of the people who — like her — have refused to let her brother’s legacy die.
“It was the most awesome thing in the world,” said Ross, a resident of Gastonia, her voice welling with emotion Thursday. “It was as if my brother’s presence was right there with us.”
Suttle was born and raised in Lancaster, S.C. But several of his kin now live in Gaston County, including his sister, and her sons, Tom Ross, 49, a Gastonia insurance agent, and Jamie Ross of Dallas.
The cenotaph that honors Suttle features a stone base, mounted with a propeller from his plane that French historians uncovered last year from the field where he crashed in 1944. The blade has given residents there a tangible artifact to place with the name they have revered for so many years. It is now the focal point of a newly named square that commemorates Suttle for saving their city from German destruction before his death.
A hero’s sacrifice
Ferris Suttle, one of five children, was an adventurous teenager who joined the Army Air Corps to fulfill his dream of piloting a P-51 Mustang. He was paired with the 359th Fighter Group Association, 369th Squadron.
On Aug. 28, 1944, his team was charged with taking out a convoy of German trucks and trains that were carrying munitions and field guns toward the city of Dombasle-sur-Meurthe, France, near the borders of Germany and Switzerland. Suttle flew low, strafed the convoy and destroyed it. But after he failed to return to formation with his squadron, his superiors learned his plane had crashed, killing him.
In 1965, Ross and her mother received a letter from a French villager who had witnessed the crash and wanted to share what he knew of it. He traveled here to meet them in 1972 and shared an eyewitness account of Suttle’s heroism.
After destroying most of the convoy, Suttle had attempted a second pass. But when the tail of his plane clipped a tall cypress tree, he was ejected and killed instantly. Suttle’s mother gained comfort from learning her son had not suffered, and that a priest and grateful villagers had conducted a burial service. His gravesite was adorned with flowers afterward.
Last year, Char Baldridge, a group historian for the 359th Fighter Group Association, was contacted by Gerard Louis, a World War II historian and resident of Dombasle-sur-Meurthe. Louis’ friend Jacky Guillaume had found a P-51 propeller in a meadow near the town of Luneville years ago, and working with Baldridge, they soon realized it belonged to Suttle’s plane.
The Frenchmen began making plans to incorporate the propeller into a memorial. With Baldridge’s help, they made contact with Pat Ross and her brother, Phillip Suttle of Ecuador, and invited them to attend the recent dedication.
“These gentleman are very thankful to this day of what America did for them and their freedom,” said Baldridge.
Undying appreciation
Ross traveled to the dedication ceremony last month with her brother, a cousin, a niece and several other relatives. Guillaume first escorted them to the field where Suttle’s plane had crashed, and explained what he had witnessed of the convoy attack as a wide-eyed, 13-year-old boy.
While they were there, another 83-year-old villager approached them. He told Ross he has a daughter who lives in Sanford, N.C. And he described running with others to recover Suttle that day in 1944, helping to wrap his bloodied body in his parachute and carrying it to the local morgue on a cart.
The man produced a rusted hose clamp he had recovered from the battered aircraft.
“He said, ‘I’ve had this for 67 years, since I was 16 years old. And I want you to have it,’” said Ross. “I thought that was the most wonderful gesture.”
Another villager who was 9 years old in 1944 pulled a folded, dog-eared piece of paper from his pocket and showed it to Ross. The copy of her brother’s death certificate was further proof of how much the townspeople there appreciated what he had done.
Ross visited the cemetery where Suttle was first buried, before the Army later relocated his remains to the nearby Lorraine American Cemetery. Guillaume told them that German soldiers in the area had told nearby townspeople they were not allowed to come to his initial funeral. But they turned out in full force anyway.
“There was nothing the Germans could do to stop them,” said Ross. “I just thought that was so remarkable.”
The dedication of the new memorial took place in a section of the town now known as Ferris Square. It was held as part of several annual liberation ceremonies, which included attendants in period military uniforms, and authentic World War II vehicles. Ross and her family members were honored guests throughout their time there.
Ross said she is proud and grateful that her brother’s sacrifice continues to mean so much to townspeople in northern France.
“It was the trip of a lifetime,” she said. “It was a huge event. You could not have asked for people to be nicer or more appreciative.”
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Augusta (SC)-area World War II veterans tell their stories in movie
From The Augusta, South Carolina Chronicle: Augusta-area World War II veterans tell their stories in movie
An estimated 740 World War II veterans die every day, taking with them irreplaceable firsthand memories of events from our history books.
In the ongoing effort to stem that loss, more than 700 stories have been collected by Augusta-Richmond County Historical Society volunteers in the past four years. The World War II accounts range from larger-than-life figures who flew under the Eiffel Tower to Pearl Harbor wives who watched in disbelief as Japanese planes passed overhead.
A fraction of those stories have been collected into a roughly 70-minute movie called War Stories, which will be shown on Oct. 30 at Aiken Community Playhouse.
“It’s been a labor of love, really,” said Fred Gehle, one of the core team of volunteers who have coordinated and recorded the interviews since 2007.
In an interview about their work, a copy of which is stored in the Library of Congress, Gehle and three others talked about the challenges of working with old soldiers who would often rather not remember the things they’ve seen and done. Many of the stories are grim, but there also plenty of positive notes sprinkled in.
Jan Hicks, a retired major general and now the head of upper school of Augusta Preparatory Day School, said one of her favorite interviews was with a member of the French Resistance. His parents long assumed that he had been killed but, on the day Paris was liberated, he rode a tank to his parents’ home.
“It was a year before I could tell that story without crying,” said Hicks, a former commanding general of Fort Gordon.
Another memorable character for Hicks was an Army Air corpsman who flew his plane underneath the Eiffel Tower.
Some stories put a human face on the enemy. Bill Tilt remembers a soldier who worked alongside a German prisoner of war to rebuild a French port. The German soldier asked the Americans to tell his mother he was OK if they passed through his hometown.
The American soldier later got the chance to do just that, Tilt said.
Thurman Slusser, of North Augusta, is one of the veterans interviewed. He said he was overcome by the tropical beauty of Oahu when he arrived on the Hawaiian island in October 1941.
“They call it paradise for the simple reason it was,” said Slusser, at the time a fresh-faced teenager from Pennsylvania recently drafted into the Army.
Two months of paradise became hell the morning of Dec. 7, 1941. Slusser was at Schofield Barracks when he heard planes flying overhead. It was a familiar sound, but any notion it was a Marine Corps training run was quickly disabused when he saw the Rising Sun emblem.
One plane flew so low, Slusser could see the Japanese pilot through the open canopy.
“It was devastating. You felt completely defeated,” said Slusser.
When Tilt volunteered to help with the project, it was on the condition he could partner with his longtime friend, Stan Schrader. Both have a military background and combat experience in Vietnam, which goes a long way toward helping veterans feel comfortable.
Reluctance to speak is common. One Battle of the Bulge veteran refused to talk about combat, and it took the combined experience of Schrader and Tilt to stretch the interview to the 30 minutes required for the Library of Congress. Other times, the veterans opened up for the first time in 60 years, Hicks said.
Schrader has found that any reluctance to speak is usually conquered with some gentle coaxing.
“I tell them, ‘You’re the only who knows your story,’ ” Schrader said.
An estimated 740 World War II veterans die every day, taking with them irreplaceable firsthand memories of events from our history books.
In the ongoing effort to stem that loss, more than 700 stories have been collected by Augusta-Richmond County Historical Society volunteers in the past four years. The World War II accounts range from larger-than-life figures who flew under the Eiffel Tower to Pearl Harbor wives who watched in disbelief as Japanese planes passed overhead.
A fraction of those stories have been collected into a roughly 70-minute movie called War Stories, which will be shown on Oct. 30 at Aiken Community Playhouse.
“It’s been a labor of love, really,” said Fred Gehle, one of the core team of volunteers who have coordinated and recorded the interviews since 2007.
In an interview about their work, a copy of which is stored in the Library of Congress, Gehle and three others talked about the challenges of working with old soldiers who would often rather not remember the things they’ve seen and done. Many of the stories are grim, but there also plenty of positive notes sprinkled in.
Jan Hicks, a retired major general and now the head of upper school of Augusta Preparatory Day School, said one of her favorite interviews was with a member of the French Resistance. His parents long assumed that he had been killed but, on the day Paris was liberated, he rode a tank to his parents’ home.
“It was a year before I could tell that story without crying,” said Hicks, a former commanding general of Fort Gordon.
Another memorable character for Hicks was an Army Air corpsman who flew his plane underneath the Eiffel Tower.
Some stories put a human face on the enemy. Bill Tilt remembers a soldier who worked alongside a German prisoner of war to rebuild a French port. The German soldier asked the Americans to tell his mother he was OK if they passed through his hometown.
The American soldier later got the chance to do just that, Tilt said.
Thurman Slusser, of North Augusta, is one of the veterans interviewed. He said he was overcome by the tropical beauty of Oahu when he arrived on the Hawaiian island in October 1941.
“They call it paradise for the simple reason it was,” said Slusser, at the time a fresh-faced teenager from Pennsylvania recently drafted into the Army.
Two months of paradise became hell the morning of Dec. 7, 1941. Slusser was at Schofield Barracks when he heard planes flying overhead. It was a familiar sound, but any notion it was a Marine Corps training run was quickly disabused when he saw the Rising Sun emblem.
One plane flew so low, Slusser could see the Japanese pilot through the open canopy.
“It was devastating. You felt completely defeated,” said Slusser.
When Tilt volunteered to help with the project, it was on the condition he could partner with his longtime friend, Stan Schrader. Both have a military background and combat experience in Vietnam, which goes a long way toward helping veterans feel comfortable.
Reluctance to speak is common. One Battle of the Bulge veteran refused to talk about combat, and it took the combined experience of Schrader and Tilt to stretch the interview to the 30 minutes required for the Library of Congress. Other times, the veterans opened up for the first time in 60 years, Hicks said.
Schrader has found that any reluctance to speak is usually conquered with some gentle coaxing.
“I tell them, ‘You’re the only who knows your story,’ ” Schrader said.
Monday, October 17, 2011
World War II buddies reunite after 66 years apart
From NOLA.com: World War II buddies reunite after 66 years apart
Soldiers Joe Pennino and Frank Bonfield last saw each other in the summer of 1945, just after the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Japan. But on Saturday, the old buddies reunited at the National World War II Museum and swapped happy stories about jitterbugging at military dances, hijinx at soldiers’ rest camps on the French Riviera, and the day Pennino tapped the pope on the shoulder.
The two also recalled more somber times: Allied loyalists in Italy who were captured and tortured by Facist agents working for dictator Benito Mussolini. And the day they first saw dead American soldiers after a fighter plane had crashed into a nearby mountain. They gathered up scattered body parts and, most important, the dog tags that identified the soldiers.
“We knew then it was war,” Bonfield said, recalling the gruesome crash scene.
The two close friends — whom Bonfield described “as compatible as brothers” — met while serving in North Africa and Italy in a unit of the 5th Army. Both were Italian-Americans in their early 20s who spoke their parents’ native tongue. They bonded over a mutual love of horses and a shared capacity to horse around.
In August 1945, not long after Allied forces had triumphed in Europe, the two men were headed home for a 30-day leave before more service in the still-active Pacific theater. Suddenly, as their ship crossed the Atlantic Ocean, bells began to ring and everyone embraced, crying out, “They dropped the atomic bomb! The war’s over!”
“But it was a funniest thing, that happiness,” Bonfield said. “We were so happy that we almost forgot everything else.”
Ecstatic, the two men left for home without bothering to exchange addresses, not realizing they wouldn’t talk for 66 years. Bonfield established himself in Newcastle, Penn. Pennino, a New Orleans native, returned home to Mid-City and eventually settled in Covington.
Bonfield had traveled to New Orleans several times in the past to visit a cousin, the Rev. Tony Rigoli of Our Lady of Guadelupe church. Each time he looked for Pennino, but had never found “the right Joe.”
This time, however, Alice Bonfield, his wife of 64 years, went online and found a press release about a spry old horse trainer named Joe Pennino. The release had been posted by a Houston public-relations executive Laura Pennino, Joe’s daughter. After a few phone calls, Saturday’s reunion was arranged.
During World War II, the United States government interned more than 3,000 Italian-Americans and classified more than 600,000 as “internal enemies,” a classification that came with restrictions banning travel of more than five miles from home and the ownership of short-wave radios or cameras.
But the U.S. Army found ways to capitalize on its bilingual Italian-American soldiers by training Italian-American troops who parachuted behind enemy lines to help build support among the Italian people, Pennino said.
Pennino was occasionally called on to interpret. And while they were stationed in Italy, Bonfield helped Allied troops communicate with partisans who hid in the mountains, gathered intelligence and helped foment rebellion behind Germany Army lines.
Bonfield, whose family name was changed from Bonfiglio by a schoolteacher who couldn’t understand why the ‘g’ should be silent, became a full-time interpreter after suffering injuries in North Africa. The Allies had captured Italians fighting for Mussolini and needed someone fluent in Italian to head up a prisoner-of-war camp.
Throughout the war, Pennino served as the orderly — “basically, flunky,” Pennino said — for Lt. Col. John N. Hauser. Hauser, also a horse-lover, had met Pennino through the stables at Jackson Barracks and selected him to be his driver. So when Hauser landed duty in Africa, he requested Pennino, who was on call at all hours.
Pennino got perks as well. When their company was stationed near Rome, Bonfield stood in line to greet Pope Pius XII but never got to touch him. But since Pennino was later stationed “with the brass” near the platform where the pontiff walked out to greet the crowd, a major gave him permission to chase the papal ring.
So Pennino hopped onto the platform, tapped the pope on the shoulder and said, “Papa, I’d love to kiss your ring.” He got his wish and created a time-honored narrative he told more than once to passing visitors at the museum on Saturday.
Noting that his older brother was a priest, Pennino tapped on the knee of his old friend Bonfield Saturday morning and delivered his tried-and-true punchline.
“You remember? I wanted to be able to tell my brother: ‘You may work for him but I kissed his ring.’”
Soldiers Joe Pennino and Frank Bonfield last saw each other in the summer of 1945, just after the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Japan. But on Saturday, the old buddies reunited at the National World War II Museum and swapped happy stories about jitterbugging at military dances, hijinx at soldiers’ rest camps on the French Riviera, and the day Pennino tapped the pope on the shoulder.
The two also recalled more somber times: Allied loyalists in Italy who were captured and tortured by Facist agents working for dictator Benito Mussolini. And the day they first saw dead American soldiers after a fighter plane had crashed into a nearby mountain. They gathered up scattered body parts and, most important, the dog tags that identified the soldiers.
“We knew then it was war,” Bonfield said, recalling the gruesome crash scene.
The two close friends — whom Bonfield described “as compatible as brothers” — met while serving in North Africa and Italy in a unit of the 5th Army. Both were Italian-Americans in their early 20s who spoke their parents’ native tongue. They bonded over a mutual love of horses and a shared capacity to horse around.
In August 1945, not long after Allied forces had triumphed in Europe, the two men were headed home for a 30-day leave before more service in the still-active Pacific theater. Suddenly, as their ship crossed the Atlantic Ocean, bells began to ring and everyone embraced, crying out, “They dropped the atomic bomb! The war’s over!”
“But it was a funniest thing, that happiness,” Bonfield said. “We were so happy that we almost forgot everything else.”
Ecstatic, the two men left for home without bothering to exchange addresses, not realizing they wouldn’t talk for 66 years. Bonfield established himself in Newcastle, Penn. Pennino, a New Orleans native, returned home to Mid-City and eventually settled in Covington.
Bonfield had traveled to New Orleans several times in the past to visit a cousin, the Rev. Tony Rigoli of Our Lady of Guadelupe church. Each time he looked for Pennino, but had never found “the right Joe.”
This time, however, Alice Bonfield, his wife of 64 years, went online and found a press release about a spry old horse trainer named Joe Pennino. The release had been posted by a Houston public-relations executive Laura Pennino, Joe’s daughter. After a few phone calls, Saturday’s reunion was arranged.
During World War II, the United States government interned more than 3,000 Italian-Americans and classified more than 600,000 as “internal enemies,” a classification that came with restrictions banning travel of more than five miles from home and the ownership of short-wave radios or cameras.
But the U.S. Army found ways to capitalize on its bilingual Italian-American soldiers by training Italian-American troops who parachuted behind enemy lines to help build support among the Italian people, Pennino said.
Pennino was occasionally called on to interpret. And while they were stationed in Italy, Bonfield helped Allied troops communicate with partisans who hid in the mountains, gathered intelligence and helped foment rebellion behind Germany Army lines.
Bonfield, whose family name was changed from Bonfiglio by a schoolteacher who couldn’t understand why the ‘g’ should be silent, became a full-time interpreter after suffering injuries in North Africa. The Allies had captured Italians fighting for Mussolini and needed someone fluent in Italian to head up a prisoner-of-war camp.
Throughout the war, Pennino served as the orderly — “basically, flunky,” Pennino said — for Lt. Col. John N. Hauser. Hauser, also a horse-lover, had met Pennino through the stables at Jackson Barracks and selected him to be his driver. So when Hauser landed duty in Africa, he requested Pennino, who was on call at all hours.
Pennino got perks as well. When their company was stationed near Rome, Bonfield stood in line to greet Pope Pius XII but never got to touch him. But since Pennino was later stationed “with the brass” near the platform where the pontiff walked out to greet the crowd, a major gave him permission to chase the papal ring.
So Pennino hopped onto the platform, tapped the pope on the shoulder and said, “Papa, I’d love to kiss your ring.” He got his wish and created a time-honored narrative he told more than once to passing visitors at the museum on Saturday.
Noting that his older brother was a priest, Pennino tapped on the knee of his old friend Bonfield Saturday morning and delivered his tried-and-true punchline.
“You remember? I wanted to be able to tell my brother: ‘You may work for him but I kissed his ring.’”
Sunday, October 16, 2011
World War II prisoners of war share their stories
From MyFox Tampa Bay: World War II prisoners of war share their stories
POLK CITY - Three American heroes shook hands and signed autographs Friday.
Warren Smith, Foster Heath and Rudy Froeschle recounted their experiences as prisoners of war during World War II to dozens of people at Fantasy of Flight in Polk City.
It is part of the Legends and Legacies series.
Warren Smith was just 18 years old when he enlisted. He wanted to become a Navy pilot, but an astigmatism grounded those plans. Instead, he became a tail gunner on a B-17.
On their third mission, they were shot down by Germans.
"A couple of German guards came up and they said literally, 'for you, the war is over.' That's exactly what they said. I'll never forget it," Smith said.
He was a POW for one year and one day. He lost 25 pounds.
"We were given some thin soup once a day, Coffee twice a day. Given a little loaf of bread -- tasted like sawdust -- once a week. A little margarine and sugar, and that's about it," he recalled.
Rudy Froeschle was shot down three months after he went off to war. He spent 601 days as a POW. He still gets emotional talking about the day he and his fellow soldiers were liberated.
"That was very exciting, very emotional. When the American flag was put up, there wasn't a dry eye in the place. To this day, I well up with tears when I think of the American flag," he said.
Visitors to Fantasy of Flight were enthralled to hear the men speak.
"It's unfortunate, people don't get enough of the history. Especially while we have the living history still, people who witnessed some of the greatest victories this nation's ever been through," said Doug Wingate.
Warren says he's amazed people want to listen to their experiences.
The men will be back at Fantasy of Flight on Saturday, October 15th. There are two symposiums, one at 10:30 a.m. and one at 2:30 p.m.
Each will be followed by an autograph session and a meet and greet.
www.fantasyofflight.com
POLK CITY - Three American heroes shook hands and signed autographs Friday.
Warren Smith, Foster Heath and Rudy Froeschle recounted their experiences as prisoners of war during World War II to dozens of people at Fantasy of Flight in Polk City.
It is part of the Legends and Legacies series.
Warren Smith was just 18 years old when he enlisted. He wanted to become a Navy pilot, but an astigmatism grounded those plans. Instead, he became a tail gunner on a B-17.
On their third mission, they were shot down by Germans.
"A couple of German guards came up and they said literally, 'for you, the war is over.' That's exactly what they said. I'll never forget it," Smith said.
He was a POW for one year and one day. He lost 25 pounds.
"We were given some thin soup once a day, Coffee twice a day. Given a little loaf of bread -- tasted like sawdust -- once a week. A little margarine and sugar, and that's about it," he recalled.
Rudy Froeschle was shot down three months after he went off to war. He spent 601 days as a POW. He still gets emotional talking about the day he and his fellow soldiers were liberated.
"That was very exciting, very emotional. When the American flag was put up, there wasn't a dry eye in the place. To this day, I well up with tears when I think of the American flag," he said.
Visitors to Fantasy of Flight were enthralled to hear the men speak.
"It's unfortunate, people don't get enough of the history. Especially while we have the living history still, people who witnessed some of the greatest victories this nation's ever been through," said Doug Wingate.
Warren says he's amazed people want to listen to their experiences.
The men will be back at Fantasy of Flight on Saturday, October 15th. There are two symposiums, one at 10:30 a.m. and one at 2:30 p.m.
Each will be followed by an autograph session and a meet and greet.
www.fantasyofflight.com
World War II veterans from Oklahoma praise organization of Honor Flights trip to Washington
From NewsOk: World War II veterans from Oklahoma praise organization of Honor Flights trip to Washington
WASHINGTON — “Now I know what royalty feels like,'' Charles Austin, of Norman, said as he walked along the granite plaza of the National World War II Memorial last week.
The Greatest Generation isn't used to being pampered.
But Austin, 88, felt that way on Wednesday, courtesy of the Oklahoma hub of Honor Flights, a non-profit organization formed to show gratitude to the men and women who served the U.S. military during World War II by taking them, all expenses paid, to Washington to see their memorial and some other sights.
“It's an amazing trip,'' said Austin, who was one of 103 Oklahoma veterans on the fifth Honor Flights trip from the state.
Before the Oklahomans arrived, Honor Flight contingents from Wyoming, Missouri and Tennessee walked the vast memorial as drizzle turned into rain. A supply of wheelchairs was stowed on each bus. Each group had its own hats and T-shirts — Ozarks Honor Flight, Music City Honor Flight, Oklahoma Honor Flights.
Some of the veterans were greeted by family members, some from the Washington area and some from farther away. Roger Deapen, of Harrah, toured the memorial with his son, who had come from Los Angeles.
As the veterans walked to the memorial's entrance, six members of the U.S. Air Force saluted, while on-lookers clapped and expressed gratitude for the veterans' sacrifices.
“I've never experienced anything like this,'' said Kelly Kappel, of Clinton. “They have got this thing so organized. They really did a good job.”
U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican, was there to greet the veterans from his state. U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., was there for his.
U.S. Rep. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma City, stood in the plaza of the memorial talking to the Oklahoma veterans and posing for pictures near the Oklahoma pillar.
“I love seeing them step off the buses and seeing their excitement when they walk into the memorial for the first time,'' Lankford said. “ One of the very first guys caught me and said, ‘It's so different being here than it was seeing it in pictures.'
“It's an honor to see them and be able to thank them personally.”
They were just boys when they left for the war and many had never been far from home. Kappel was 19, “just a redneck farm kid,” when he left for the Philippines; Joseph Williams, of Del City, said he joined the Army in 1944, just out of high school. Austin was among the older ones — he turned 21 on his way to the South Pacific.
And they had vastly different tasks: Robert Paul Williams, of Yukon, was a rear gunner on a B-24 bomber during the daring raids on the Nazis' oilfields in Romania; Austin typed up daily casualty reports in the Philippines for the 32nd Infantry Division; Billy Joe Garner, of Durant, was a cryptographer for a B-26 bomber group in England and France; Deapen was an x-ray technician at a large training base in Idaho.
But they were bound by their common mission, and they were finally honored for that with a national memorial here in 2004. And the organizers of Honor Flight and the donors to the program are trying to get as many as possible to see it.
“Everything has been well planned, ideally put together,'' Joseph Williams said. “I couldn't ask for a better trip.”
WASHINGTON — “Now I know what royalty feels like,'' Charles Austin, of Norman, said as he walked along the granite plaza of the National World War II Memorial last week.
The Greatest Generation isn't used to being pampered.
But Austin, 88, felt that way on Wednesday, courtesy of the Oklahoma hub of Honor Flights, a non-profit organization formed to show gratitude to the men and women who served the U.S. military during World War II by taking them, all expenses paid, to Washington to see their memorial and some other sights.
“It's an amazing trip,'' said Austin, who was one of 103 Oklahoma veterans on the fifth Honor Flights trip from the state.
Before the Oklahomans arrived, Honor Flight contingents from Wyoming, Missouri and Tennessee walked the vast memorial as drizzle turned into rain. A supply of wheelchairs was stowed on each bus. Each group had its own hats and T-shirts — Ozarks Honor Flight, Music City Honor Flight, Oklahoma Honor Flights.
Some of the veterans were greeted by family members, some from the Washington area and some from farther away. Roger Deapen, of Harrah, toured the memorial with his son, who had come from Los Angeles.
As the veterans walked to the memorial's entrance, six members of the U.S. Air Force saluted, while on-lookers clapped and expressed gratitude for the veterans' sacrifices.
“I've never experienced anything like this,'' said Kelly Kappel, of Clinton. “They have got this thing so organized. They really did a good job.”
U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican, was there to greet the veterans from his state. U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., was there for his.
U.S. Rep. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma City, stood in the plaza of the memorial talking to the Oklahoma veterans and posing for pictures near the Oklahoma pillar.
“I love seeing them step off the buses and seeing their excitement when they walk into the memorial for the first time,'' Lankford said. “ One of the very first guys caught me and said, ‘It's so different being here than it was seeing it in pictures.'
“It's an honor to see them and be able to thank them personally.”
They were just boys when they left for the war and many had never been far from home. Kappel was 19, “just a redneck farm kid,” when he left for the Philippines; Joseph Williams, of Del City, said he joined the Army in 1944, just out of high school. Austin was among the older ones — he turned 21 on his way to the South Pacific.
And they had vastly different tasks: Robert Paul Williams, of Yukon, was a rear gunner on a B-24 bomber during the daring raids on the Nazis' oilfields in Romania; Austin typed up daily casualty reports in the Philippines for the 32nd Infantry Division; Billy Joe Garner, of Durant, was a cryptographer for a B-26 bomber group in England and France; Deapen was an x-ray technician at a large training base in Idaho.
But they were bound by their common mission, and they were finally honored for that with a national memorial here in 2004. And the organizers of Honor Flight and the donors to the program are trying to get as many as possible to see it.
“Everything has been well planned, ideally put together,'' Joseph Williams said. “I couldn't ask for a better trip.”
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Potential Oil Leak Investigation Of World War II Era Tanker
From KVEC News Talk 920: Potential Oil Leak Investigation Of World War II Era Tanker
San Luis Obispo, CA -- On December 23, 1941, about two weeks after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, a Japanese submarine lurking off the Central Coast launched a torpedo sinking the S.S. Montebello. Now 70 years later the Montebello is the focus of an investigation. Officials want to know if the World War II era tanker, that was carrying roughly three million gallons of crude oil, is leaking, or could leak it’s cargo in the future.
For the next ten days, dive crews using robotic submersibles, will study the ship’s hull to determine if it poses a threat to the ecosystem off the coast of Cambria. The multi-agency investigation is being funded by the Oil Spill Response Trust Fund. It is a federal fund paid for by oil companies and currently opened up for three to five million dollars for the mission; officials say while it is expensive, it is also necessary.
San Luis Obispo, CA -- On December 23, 1941, about two weeks after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, a Japanese submarine lurking off the Central Coast launched a torpedo sinking the S.S. Montebello. Now 70 years later the Montebello is the focus of an investigation. Officials want to know if the World War II era tanker, that was carrying roughly three million gallons of crude oil, is leaking, or could leak it’s cargo in the future.
For the next ten days, dive crews using robotic submersibles, will study the ship’s hull to determine if it poses a threat to the ecosystem off the coast of Cambria. The multi-agency investigation is being funded by the Oil Spill Response Trust Fund. It is a federal fund paid for by oil companies and currently opened up for three to five million dollars for the mission; officials say while it is expensive, it is also necessary.
Morristown park renamed for WWII veteran Bob Tracey
From NJNews.com: Morristown park renamed for WWII veteran Bob Tracey
MORRISTOWN — Bob Tracey has spent much of his adult life honoring memories. Tuesday night, his hometown recognized his efforts and honored him.
The Morristown council passed a resolution to rename Veterans Park, at Madison Avenue and South Street, J. Robert Tracey Veterans Memorial Park.
Tracey, 85, served in the Navy during World War II and the Army during the Korean War. This Veterans Day will mark the 60th that he has headed to Morristown Green to honor fellow soldiers and urge his fellow citizens to remember their sacrifice.
He said he was thrilled to learn that the council had renamed the park in his honor.
"I was ecstatic," he said. "It’s something to be alive and have a piece of land named after you in the town you love."
MORRISTOWN — Bob Tracey has spent much of his adult life honoring memories. Tuesday night, his hometown recognized his efforts and honored him.
The Morristown council passed a resolution to rename Veterans Park, at Madison Avenue and South Street, J. Robert Tracey Veterans Memorial Park.
Tracey, 85, served in the Navy during World War II and the Army during the Korean War. This Veterans Day will mark the 60th that he has headed to Morristown Green to honor fellow soldiers and urge his fellow citizens to remember their sacrifice.
He said he was thrilled to learn that the council had renamed the park in his honor.
"I was ecstatic," he said. "It’s something to be alive and have a piece of land named after you in the town you love."
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
World War II Planes Land in Morgantown
From 12WBOY: World War II Planes Land in Morgantown
MORGANTOWN -- It’s not every day that you can touch a piece of history, but visitors to the Morgantown Municipal Airport have had that chance.
It's hosting three World War II planes this week, as a part of the Wings of Freedom Tour. The crew explained that the planes at the airport this week did not go through heavy combat during World War II, but all of them were built in the 1940s.
A few World War II veterans made their way to the airport see a part of their past.
"There was a gentlemen in his 90's who drove himself here on Tuesday. He really enjoyed being here. It’s the kind of stuff like that. It might be the last time he gets to see the aircraft. It’s a powerful, powerful thing to be a part of," explained Derick Ward, a mechanic for the P-51 Mustang and co-pilot of the B-17 and B-24.
"My dad was a veteran of WWII in the 8th Army Air Corps in England, and he actually flew in these planes for, I think nine bombing missions he told me. The end of the war, in ’44 and ‘45. So, he survived and I’ve been trying to find one of these planes for a long time," explained Bill Wilson, who drove from Pennsylvania to see the aircrafts.
Morgantown Municipal Airport’s tarmac looked like a flashback to the 1940’s, with a P-51 Mustang, B-17 Flying Fortress, and B-24 Liberator on display.
The planes visit more than 100 cities in the United State throughout the year, and the highlight for the crew is meeting new veterans along the way.
"It’s spending time with the people that actually flew in these aircrafts. Surprisingly, the joy of seeing somebody who's 80 or 90 years old, who fought in the war, WWII, come out here and tell us and reminisce about what they did, is pretty impressive," said Andrew Meislin, with the Collings Foundation.
It’s also a lesson for family members of veterans, to put into perspective what life was like during WWII.
"Most of these guys, you have to remember, they were gunners, bombardiers in their late teens. If you were 20 or 21 years old, you were probably the old man on their air craft. So, to put that into perspective, today for kids who are just getting out of high school, who have no clue what they're going to do, to think that this is what their life would've been like during WWII is pretty amazing,” reflected Meislin.
The aircrafts were unable to take off on Wednesday because of weather, but they will leave early Thursday morning.
For a schedule of the tour or to find out more about the Collings Foundation, who sponsor the event:
http://www.collingsfoundation.org/cf_schedules.htm
MORGANTOWN -- It’s not every day that you can touch a piece of history, but visitors to the Morgantown Municipal Airport have had that chance.
It's hosting three World War II planes this week, as a part of the Wings of Freedom Tour. The crew explained that the planes at the airport this week did not go through heavy combat during World War II, but all of them were built in the 1940s.
A few World War II veterans made their way to the airport see a part of their past.
"There was a gentlemen in his 90's who drove himself here on Tuesday. He really enjoyed being here. It’s the kind of stuff like that. It might be the last time he gets to see the aircraft. It’s a powerful, powerful thing to be a part of," explained Derick Ward, a mechanic for the P-51 Mustang and co-pilot of the B-17 and B-24.
"My dad was a veteran of WWII in the 8th Army Air Corps in England, and he actually flew in these planes for, I think nine bombing missions he told me. The end of the war, in ’44 and ‘45. So, he survived and I’ve been trying to find one of these planes for a long time," explained Bill Wilson, who drove from Pennsylvania to see the aircrafts.
Morgantown Municipal Airport’s tarmac looked like a flashback to the 1940’s, with a P-51 Mustang, B-17 Flying Fortress, and B-24 Liberator on display.
The planes visit more than 100 cities in the United State throughout the year, and the highlight for the crew is meeting new veterans along the way.
"It’s spending time with the people that actually flew in these aircrafts. Surprisingly, the joy of seeing somebody who's 80 or 90 years old, who fought in the war, WWII, come out here and tell us and reminisce about what they did, is pretty impressive," said Andrew Meislin, with the Collings Foundation.
It’s also a lesson for family members of veterans, to put into perspective what life was like during WWII.
"Most of these guys, you have to remember, they were gunners, bombardiers in their late teens. If you were 20 or 21 years old, you were probably the old man on their air craft. So, to put that into perspective, today for kids who are just getting out of high school, who have no clue what they're going to do, to think that this is what their life would've been like during WWII is pretty amazing,” reflected Meislin.
The aircrafts were unable to take off on Wednesday because of weather, but they will leave early Thursday morning.
For a schedule of the tour or to find out more about the Collings Foundation, who sponsor the event:
http://www.collingsfoundation.org/cf_schedules.htm
The Collings Foundation visits over 150+ locations nationwide per year to help promote aviation's living history and the rememberance of our veterans. Your chance to see aircraft spanning from the early days of aviation up to the thunderous roar of modern jet fighters like the F-4 Phantom is just a click away. Please select from the schedules below:
* Wings of Freedom Tour - B-17, B-24 & P-51 (Nationwide)
* Vietnam Memorial Flight - F-4D Phantom, TA-4J Skyhawk & UH-1E Huey
* General Airshow Schedule - All Aircraft
The Collings Foundation would love to bring our available aircraft to your next airshow or aviation event! For more information on how to book our aircraft for your needs, please visit our Aircraft Bookings section.
Do you have what it takes to bring our B-17, B-24 and P-51 to your hometown? Helping organize a tour stop for our bombers is one of the most rewarding experiences plus it can have its benefits. It is easier than you think! Send us an e-mail for more information.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
On travel til Wednesday
I'm visiting elderly relatives in Box Elder, SD who do not have internet.
Will try to sneak out now and again to an internet cafe to post, but more than likely will not be posting until Wedneday.
Will try to sneak out now and again to an internet cafe to post, but more than likely will not be posting until Wedneday.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Lee Davenport dies at 95; physicist developed WWII radar device
From Los Angeles Times: Lee Davenport dies at 95; physicist developed WWII radar device
Lee Davenport, a physicist who developed a radar device that helped U.S. and Allied troops win key battles in World War II, has died. He was 95.
He died Friday of cancer at a nursing home in Greenwich, Conn., said his daughter, Carol.
Davenport was among hundreds of scientists who worked at the secret MIT Radiation Laboratory, even before the United States joined the war in 1941, to develop radar systems that would give the American military an edge. He was credited with developing the SCR-584 — the letters standing for Signal Corps Radio — a microwave radar built into a semitrailer with a parabola on top that tracked enemy planes and helped to direct antiaircraft batteries.
The radar helped to counter the German air force and aided troops who shot down planes during German air attacks on Italy's Anzio beachhead in 1944.
Davenport went to England to waterproof radar semitrailers that were to be floated ashore at Normandy in the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944. After the landing, he was sent to France to continue developing applications for the radar.
"They issued papers for me to be known as a captain in the Signal Corps," Davenport said in a 2010 interview with the Greenwich Citizen, a weekly newspaper. "I had all the dog tags and identification. When you are a civilian and are overseas in a war zone, that civilian would need protection, for if he was caught by the enemy for any reason he would be shot as a spy."
A targeting system developed for the SCR-584 later helped Allied pilots target enemy vehicles in snowy conditions at the Battle of the Bulge in Europe.
Carol Davenport recalled simpler technological lessons from her father, an avid collector of antique cars.
"He was insistent that my sister and I learn to change a tire," she said.
Davenport was born Dec. 31, 1915, in Schenectady, N.Y., where his father was a schoolteacher. He graduated from Union College in Schenectady in 1937 and earned a doctorate in physics from the University of Pittsburgh based on the work he did at the MIT Radiation Lab. He also taught at MIT and Harvard, where he was responsible for the nuclear lab.
Davenport later had a 24-year career with GTE Corp. and various subsidiaries, retiring as vice president and chief scientist.
In a 1991 oral history interview with the IEEE, a professional association formerly known as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Davenport said he developed an early interest in science and was an avid reader of Popular Mechanics magazine. At a young age, he said, he made small electric motors from paper clips, copper wire and low-voltage batteries.
Davenport credited a college physics professor with giving him his start in science.
In 1934, he was removing insects from plants for 35 cents an hour when Peter Wold, chairman of the physics department, invited him to help make scientific drawings, he told a Union College interviewer.
"It's better than picking bugs off salvias," he said.
Lee Davenport, a physicist who developed a radar device that helped U.S. and Allied troops win key battles in World War II, has died. He was 95.
He died Friday of cancer at a nursing home in Greenwich, Conn., said his daughter, Carol.
Davenport was among hundreds of scientists who worked at the secret MIT Radiation Laboratory, even before the United States joined the war in 1941, to develop radar systems that would give the American military an edge. He was credited with developing the SCR-584 — the letters standing for Signal Corps Radio — a microwave radar built into a semitrailer with a parabola on top that tracked enemy planes and helped to direct antiaircraft batteries.
The radar helped to counter the German air force and aided troops who shot down planes during German air attacks on Italy's Anzio beachhead in 1944.
Davenport went to England to waterproof radar semitrailers that were to be floated ashore at Normandy in the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944. After the landing, he was sent to France to continue developing applications for the radar.
"They issued papers for me to be known as a captain in the Signal Corps," Davenport said in a 2010 interview with the Greenwich Citizen, a weekly newspaper. "I had all the dog tags and identification. When you are a civilian and are overseas in a war zone, that civilian would need protection, for if he was caught by the enemy for any reason he would be shot as a spy."
A targeting system developed for the SCR-584 later helped Allied pilots target enemy vehicles in snowy conditions at the Battle of the Bulge in Europe.
Carol Davenport recalled simpler technological lessons from her father, an avid collector of antique cars.
"He was insistent that my sister and I learn to change a tire," she said.
Davenport was born Dec. 31, 1915, in Schenectady, N.Y., where his father was a schoolteacher. He graduated from Union College in Schenectady in 1937 and earned a doctorate in physics from the University of Pittsburgh based on the work he did at the MIT Radiation Lab. He also taught at MIT and Harvard, where he was responsible for the nuclear lab.
Davenport later had a 24-year career with GTE Corp. and various subsidiaries, retiring as vice president and chief scientist.
In a 1991 oral history interview with the IEEE, a professional association formerly known as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Davenport said he developed an early interest in science and was an avid reader of Popular Mechanics magazine. At a young age, he said, he made small electric motors from paper clips, copper wire and low-voltage batteries.
Davenport credited a college physics professor with giving him his start in science.
In 1934, he was removing insects from plants for 35 cents an hour when Peter Wold, chairman of the physics department, invited him to help make scientific drawings, he told a Union College interviewer.
"It's better than picking bugs off salvias," he said.
Luke makes WWII Honor Flight
From Marybille Daily Forum: Luke makes WWII Honor Flight
Maryville, Mo. —
For a man who professes to have an affinity for "home" — and has been at the same Conception Junction address with his wife, Mary, since 1949 — Dutch Luke has been around.
And not just to the several local venues where he and his musical group entertain on a regular basis.
Luke, 86, began his travels when he entered the U.S. Marine Corps in June 1944, a stint which took him from Kansas City to basic training in San Diego and then to Guadalcanal, Okinawa and the mainland of China during the height of the action in the South Pacific during World War II.
Civilian adventures with wife and family have continued through the years, increasing significantly since his retirement to include a return trip to China where he visited many of the places he had seen on his first trip there during the war.
"Things had changed a lot, that's for sure," Luke said this week. "Especially the cars. Everyone used bicycles to get around when I was there after the war, there were thousands of them."
Luke's most recent excursion was considerably shorter, but his day as a member of an Honor Flight Network excursion to Washington, D.C., was just as memorable.
Accompanied by daughter, Edna Schieber of Kansas City, Luke was one of 27 veterans to make the Sept. 28 visit to Washington and tour the comparatively new WWII Memorial as well as the Lincoln, Korea, Vietnam, Marine and Air Force memorials.
The group also toured the Arlington National Cemetery, where they witnessed a changing to the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns.
Luke said he was somewhat surprised by the size of the WWII Memorial and its dominant location in the center of the National Mall.
Departing Kansas City at 6 a.m., the Honor Flight members were greeted at Reagan National Airport by a small group then by a cheering crowd of some 300 veterans organization members and the U.S. Marine Corps Band. The visiting veterans treated like royalty throughout the day.
The military band held special importance for Luke because part of his military service was spent as a member of a unit marching band. His primary duty, however, was as a corpsman — which is Marine for medic.
Luke also had the opportunity to visit with U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri while in Washington.
Standing on the porch of his home, from where Ravenwood, the Clyde monastery, the basilica at Conception Abbey and the Jefferson C-123 school are all visible — Luke confirmed his fondness for far-ranging travel and the comfort he feels from returning home.
"I've never been one for pomp and glory," he said. "When there is a job to do, you just go ahead and do it without a lot of fanfare."
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Ken Dahlberg, WWII ace and Watergate figure, dies at 94
From Nashua Telegraph: Ken Dahlberg, WWII ace and Watergate figure, dies at 94
MINNEAPOLIS – Kenneth Dahlberg, a minor figure but a crucial linchpin in the Watergate scandal that brought down the Nixon presidency, has died.
Dahlberg, 94, of Deephaven, Minn., also was a decorated World War II fighter pilot who spearheaded numerous well-known business ventures. He died Tuesday and will be eulogized next week in Edina, Minn., with burial at Arlington National Cemetery.
As the Midwest finance chairman of President Richard Nixon’s 1972 re-election campaign, Dahlberg was pulled into the Watergate scandal even though he didn’t engage in any wrongdoing. He became linked to the scandal after a check he delivered to the Nixon campaign turned up in a Watergate burglar’s bank account, tying Nixon to the break-in.
The contribution, which was legal, had come from Dwayne Andreas, a native of Worthington, Minn., and former chairman of Archer-Daniels-Midland.
Dahlberg was cleared by a grand jury of any wrongdoing, but his role in Watergate was parlayed into a moment of high drama for the movie that documented the scandal, “All the President’s Men.”
One scene shows Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward phoning Dahlberg to ask about the check, eliciting a tense standoff, though no allegations are made against Dahlberg.
At one point, as the White House tapes later revealed, White House chief of staff H.R. Haldeman mentioned Dahlberg’s role to Nixon, to which the president responded, “Who the hell is Ken Dahlberg?”
In an obituary placed Wednesday in the Star Tribune on behalf of the family, it notes Dahlberg’s extensive accomplishments as a fighter pilot, prisoner of war, founder of Miracle Ear Hearing Aid. Co., his business association with Buffalo Wild Wings and other enterprises, and having “befriended presidents and generals.”
Absent was any mention of Dahlberg’s connection to Nixon and the Watergate affair.
Warren Mack, a longtime friend of Dahlberg who wrote his biography, “One Step Forward: The Life of Ken Dahlberg,” said that he left out any reference to Watergate “because it’s still uncomfortable for Betty Jayne (Dahlberg’s wife). There was always this implication that he did something wrong.”
Mack added that Dahlberg himself lamented that Watergate overshadowed his accomplishments in battle and in business.
“He was just the victim of circumstance,” Mack said.
Dahlberg’s political activities grew out of a wartime friendship with Barry Goldwater. Dahlberg was a deputy chairman of fundraising for the Arizona Republican’s presidential campaign in 1964.
He later was campaign chairman for Clark MacGregor’s unsuccessful run for a U.S. Senate seat in Minnesota in 1970 against Hubert Humphrey. MacGregor went on to head Nixon’s Campaign to Re-elect the President.
Dahlberg grew up on a 120-acre farm near Wilson, Wis. He graduated from St. Paul Harding High School in 1935.
On June 2, 1944, four days before D-Day, draftee Dahlberg arrived in England to join the 354th Fighter Group flying P-51 Mustangs to support the invasion.
He was shot down three times behind enemy lines, escaped twice and sat out the last few months of the war as a POW in Stalag 7-A near Munich.
Inducted into both the Minnesota and Arizona Aviation Halls of Fame, he continued flying into his 90s.
Along with his wife of 64 years, Dahlberg’s survivors include daughters Nancy Dahlberg and Dede Disbrow; son K. Jeffrey Dahlberg; brother Arnold Dahlberg; and sisters Marcella Savage and Harriet Dolny.
A memorial service is scheduled for Oct. 12 at Colonial Church of Edina, Minn.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the Minnesota Military Appreciation Fund or the Colonial Church of Edina.
MINNEAPOLIS – Kenneth Dahlberg, a minor figure but a crucial linchpin in the Watergate scandal that brought down the Nixon presidency, has died.
Dahlberg, 94, of Deephaven, Minn., also was a decorated World War II fighter pilot who spearheaded numerous well-known business ventures. He died Tuesday and will be eulogized next week in Edina, Minn., with burial at Arlington National Cemetery.
As the Midwest finance chairman of President Richard Nixon’s 1972 re-election campaign, Dahlberg was pulled into the Watergate scandal even though he didn’t engage in any wrongdoing. He became linked to the scandal after a check he delivered to the Nixon campaign turned up in a Watergate burglar’s bank account, tying Nixon to the break-in.
The contribution, which was legal, had come from Dwayne Andreas, a native of Worthington, Minn., and former chairman of Archer-Daniels-Midland.
Dahlberg was cleared by a grand jury of any wrongdoing, but his role in Watergate was parlayed into a moment of high drama for the movie that documented the scandal, “All the President’s Men.”
One scene shows Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward phoning Dahlberg to ask about the check, eliciting a tense standoff, though no allegations are made against Dahlberg.
At one point, as the White House tapes later revealed, White House chief of staff H.R. Haldeman mentioned Dahlberg’s role to Nixon, to which the president responded, “Who the hell is Ken Dahlberg?”
In an obituary placed Wednesday in the Star Tribune on behalf of the family, it notes Dahlberg’s extensive accomplishments as a fighter pilot, prisoner of war, founder of Miracle Ear Hearing Aid. Co., his business association with Buffalo Wild Wings and other enterprises, and having “befriended presidents and generals.”
Absent was any mention of Dahlberg’s connection to Nixon and the Watergate affair.
Warren Mack, a longtime friend of Dahlberg who wrote his biography, “One Step Forward: The Life of Ken Dahlberg,” said that he left out any reference to Watergate “because it’s still uncomfortable for Betty Jayne (Dahlberg’s wife). There was always this implication that he did something wrong.”
Mack added that Dahlberg himself lamented that Watergate overshadowed his accomplishments in battle and in business.
“He was just the victim of circumstance,” Mack said.
Dahlberg’s political activities grew out of a wartime friendship with Barry Goldwater. Dahlberg was a deputy chairman of fundraising for the Arizona Republican’s presidential campaign in 1964.
He later was campaign chairman for Clark MacGregor’s unsuccessful run for a U.S. Senate seat in Minnesota in 1970 against Hubert Humphrey. MacGregor went on to head Nixon’s Campaign to Re-elect the President.
Dahlberg grew up on a 120-acre farm near Wilson, Wis. He graduated from St. Paul Harding High School in 1935.
On June 2, 1944, four days before D-Day, draftee Dahlberg arrived in England to join the 354th Fighter Group flying P-51 Mustangs to support the invasion.
He was shot down three times behind enemy lines, escaped twice and sat out the last few months of the war as a POW in Stalag 7-A near Munich.
Inducted into both the Minnesota and Arizona Aviation Halls of Fame, he continued flying into his 90s.
Along with his wife of 64 years, Dahlberg’s survivors include daughters Nancy Dahlberg and Dede Disbrow; son K. Jeffrey Dahlberg; brother Arnold Dahlberg; and sisters Marcella Savage and Harriet Dolny.
A memorial service is scheduled for Oct. 12 at Colonial Church of Edina, Minn.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the Minnesota Military Appreciation Fund or the Colonial Church of Edina.
Monday, October 3, 2011
POW/MIAs remembered
From HelenaAir: POW/MIAs remembered
Since World War II, 55 Montanans went abroad fighting for America and never returned, alive or dead.
Some local veterans are making sure those former prisoners of war and troops missing in action are not forgotten, and they took a moment to read all 55 names aloud Friday in Memorial Park, marking National POW/MIA Recognition Day.
Since Ray Read began exploring the subject 32 years ago, five of the missing have returned, most recently a Vietnam veteran who returned to Billings for proper burial a year ago.
“If we keep these names floating through the ether, someone will think of them and maybe we’ll get one of them back,” said Read, a retired colonel who served in the Special Forces in Vietnam, and is now director of the Montana Military Museum.
Read, along with retired Gen. Gene Prendergast and Jim Heffernan, a Marine and Coast Guard veteran who served in Korea and has been active in veterans issues for decades, also read the POW’s prayer and a proclamation related to the day.
They conducted the short ceremony at the Veterans Memorial in Memorial Park, where the names of those from Lewis and Clark County who died in wars are etched, including the names of five who died in Iraq.
Read has conducted plenty of research on the missing. Only one of the 55 has had a reported sighting: U.S. Navy pilot Lt. j.g. Lee E. Nordahl of Choteau went down in what was then North Vietnam in 1965.
“We actually have pictures of him in prison,” Read said.
The memorial site also has plenty of meaning. In addition to the names and the flags of the service branches — plus the POW/MIA flag — the stars and stripes wave from a flagpole removed from Fort Harrison. The group plans a ceremony in November to mark the fifth anniversary of the memorial’s renovation.
“This is a solemn and sacred site,” said Prendergast.
More than 78,000 Americans who fought in World War II met an unknown fate; more than 8,000 are missing from the Korean War, 120 from the Cold War, 1,737 from the Vietnam War, two from Desert Storm and one from the current global war on terror.
Since World War II, 55 Montanans went abroad fighting for America and never returned, alive or dead.
Some local veterans are making sure those former prisoners of war and troops missing in action are not forgotten, and they took a moment to read all 55 names aloud Friday in Memorial Park, marking National POW/MIA Recognition Day.
Since Ray Read began exploring the subject 32 years ago, five of the missing have returned, most recently a Vietnam veteran who returned to Billings for proper burial a year ago.
“If we keep these names floating through the ether, someone will think of them and maybe we’ll get one of them back,” said Read, a retired colonel who served in the Special Forces in Vietnam, and is now director of the Montana Military Museum.
Read, along with retired Gen. Gene Prendergast and Jim Heffernan, a Marine and Coast Guard veteran who served in Korea and has been active in veterans issues for decades, also read the POW’s prayer and a proclamation related to the day.
They conducted the short ceremony at the Veterans Memorial in Memorial Park, where the names of those from Lewis and Clark County who died in wars are etched, including the names of five who died in Iraq.
Read has conducted plenty of research on the missing. Only one of the 55 has had a reported sighting: U.S. Navy pilot Lt. j.g. Lee E. Nordahl of Choteau went down in what was then North Vietnam in 1965.
“We actually have pictures of him in prison,” Read said.
The memorial site also has plenty of meaning. In addition to the names and the flags of the service branches — plus the POW/MIA flag — the stars and stripes wave from a flagpole removed from Fort Harrison. The group plans a ceremony in November to mark the fifth anniversary of the memorial’s renovation.
“This is a solemn and sacred site,” said Prendergast.
More than 78,000 Americans who fought in World War II met an unknown fate; more than 8,000 are missing from the Korean War, 120 from the Cold War, 1,737 from the Vietnam War, two from Desert Storm and one from the current global war on terror.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Booklist: Mother Was A Gunner's Mate
Mother Was A Gunner's Mate: World War II in the WAVES
Josette Dermody Wingo
Naval Institute Press, 1994
Description
In 1944 the U.S. Navy, fighting on two fronts and needing all the hands it could get, said "Welcome Aboard" to Josette Dermody and sent her to boot camp at Hunter College.
Full of naivete and patriotic military brio, the WAVES brought their own outlook to the man's world of the Navy. Dermody and her roomates learned to shoot antiaircraft guns at GReat Lakes and spent the rest of the war teaching sailors of the Armed Guard Center on Treasure Island, California to use the ring gunsights on antiquated Oerlikons.
She digested the Navy "Rocks and Shoals" and kept out of trouble (mostly). She watched GErman prisoners-of-war learn English from the sailors ("hubba, hubba, what a tomato whatcha doin' tonight, sweetheart?). She taught Russian sailors en route to Murmansk how to lead with American ringsights.
She watched the United Nations Confederence prepare for the peace. She celebrated V-J Day on Market Street, protected from the rioting by her handsome, rakehell boatswain's mate. Best of all, she and her shipmates marched in the victory parades with all the others who had fought the good fight and helped win the war.
Recorded here with great clarity and wit, her reminiscences of these experiences presserve for future generations the real world of the enlisted WAVE in World War II.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Prologue: Birthday
1. Goodbye
2. Boot
3. Ripples
4. Waves
5. Impressions
6. Liberty
7. Gunners
8. Parade
9. Home Leave
10. Challenger
11. Treasure Island
12. Survivors
13. Christmas
14. Mutiny
15. Russiand and Rescue
16. Captain's Mast
17. Vodka Victory
18. Springtime
19. Sorrow
20. Fly Away Home
21. True Love
22. Toot, Toot, Tootsie
23. Anniversary
24. War Ending
25. V-J Day
26. Well Done
Epilogue
Saturday, October 1, 2011
New Hampshire: World War II fighter planes at Nashua Airport
From the Nashua Telegraph: World War II fighter planes at Nashua Airport
“Holy kazoo,” the 4-year-old Nashua resident said as a World War II-era B-17 Flying Fortress bomber sped over the heads of a small crowd gathered at Boire Field on Friday afternoon.
That wasn’t much different than what many of the much older watchers were muttering as the plane completed a slow flyover and then taxied to a stop on the runway.
A few minutes later, two more 1940s planes – a B-24 Liberator and a North American P-51 Mustang – followed it onto the runway.
The planes will be at, or over, the airfield all weekend as part of the Wings of Freedom Tour, a sort of living history museum on wings. For $12, you can tour the insides of the planes, and for a lot more money, you can take half-hour or hour-long flights. Veterans can tour the planes for free.
Lt. Richard Austin was one of the passengers on the Flying Fortress, which arrived around 2:30 p.m. from Keene.
In a way, the ride was Austin’s 36th mission on the plane. The first 35 were combat missions launched from an air force base in England in 1944-45. He was a co-pilot. The 35th mission was a ticket home to Brattleboro, Vt., where he still lives. On Friday, Austin, 88, sat at the radio operator station and “hung on for dear life.”
“I wouldn’t want to be in the back end for seven hours,” he said, referring to the average length of his missions during the war.
Austin said he walked away from the flight with a new appreciation for the plight of his fellow crew members in the back of the plane unable to see what was going on around them.
“It was really fun and educational,” he said. “I never got back there in a flight. They had a lot of courage sitting back there and not seeing anything and trusting us to fly it like we should.”
Austin’s daughter, Andrea Austin, said her father “came alive” when they arrived at the Keene airport and he laid eyes on the plane. He immediately began describing the ins and outs of the machine to her.
“He’ll give you the gallons of gas they used on each flight,” Andrea Austin said. “He just came alive. To get this last flight is awesome.”
The Wings of Freedom Tour is a division of the Collings Foundation. It visits more than 100 cities in the United States during the year. The tour is designed to be a living tribute to the men who flew and maintained the planes that were a vital part of the Allies’ eventual success in the European Theater.
“We want people to come out and see these airplanes and touch them,” volunteer pilot Mac McCauley said. “They still smell like World War II. They can see what contributed to winning the war in Europe.”
Jan Burtt, of Hollis, said she remembers some of the same types of planes flying in formation over her house in Hollis during the 1940s as practice runs ended and pilots steered their way back to Nashua. She would hear the roar of the engines and run outside to watch the planes fly over.
“That’s when girls weren’t supposed to like airplanes, but I did,” she said.
Burtt applied to a Chicago flight school in the 1950s, but was rejected because it wouldn’t accept women. On Friday she clutched a gift certificate she received as a retirement gift to take a flight in the Liberator.
“I was born to fly,” she said. “I got grounded, but it hasn’t taken away my love of flying.”
Kiefer Savoie, 15, was lucky enough to skip a half day of school with his dad, Roland Savoie, to come see the planes arrive. He has been in love with flying for years. He flies remote-control planes, is a member of the Civil Air Patrol and is already checking out flight programs to attend after high school.
“Just seeing these old planes landing is just cool,” Savoie said. “Normally, my generation can’t see something like that.”
Free rides for kidsNASHUA – Kyle Herrmann had only two words to say.
Boire Airfield will be a busy place this weekend.
In addition to the Wings of Freedom Tour, the Young Eagles program will offer free airplane rides Saturday to kids ages 8-17.
The program is sponsored by the National Aviation Association and is designed to promote interest in aviation among young people, according to spokesman Harlan Loken.
The rides will be offered at Infinity Aviation, Hangar 117 on Perimeter Road, from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday – or Sunday in case of rain – on a first-come, first-served basis, Loken said.
No reservations or money are required, but a parent or guardian must accompany kids during the registration.
– JOSEPH G. COTE
“Holy kazoo,” the 4-year-old Nashua resident said as a World War II-era B-17 Flying Fortress bomber sped over the heads of a small crowd gathered at Boire Field on Friday afternoon.
That wasn’t much different than what many of the much older watchers were muttering as the plane completed a slow flyover and then taxied to a stop on the runway.
A few minutes later, two more 1940s planes – a B-24 Liberator and a North American P-51 Mustang – followed it onto the runway.
The planes will be at, or over, the airfield all weekend as part of the Wings of Freedom Tour, a sort of living history museum on wings. For $12, you can tour the insides of the planes, and for a lot more money, you can take half-hour or hour-long flights. Veterans can tour the planes for free.
Lt. Richard Austin was one of the passengers on the Flying Fortress, which arrived around 2:30 p.m. from Keene.
In a way, the ride was Austin’s 36th mission on the plane. The first 35 were combat missions launched from an air force base in England in 1944-45. He was a co-pilot. The 35th mission was a ticket home to Brattleboro, Vt., where he still lives. On Friday, Austin, 88, sat at the radio operator station and “hung on for dear life.”
“I wouldn’t want to be in the back end for seven hours,” he said, referring to the average length of his missions during the war.
Austin said he walked away from the flight with a new appreciation for the plight of his fellow crew members in the back of the plane unable to see what was going on around them.
“It was really fun and educational,” he said. “I never got back there in a flight. They had a lot of courage sitting back there and not seeing anything and trusting us to fly it like we should.”
Austin’s daughter, Andrea Austin, said her father “came alive” when they arrived at the Keene airport and he laid eyes on the plane. He immediately began describing the ins and outs of the machine to her.
“He’ll give you the gallons of gas they used on each flight,” Andrea Austin said. “He just came alive. To get this last flight is awesome.”
The Wings of Freedom Tour is a division of the Collings Foundation. It visits more than 100 cities in the United States during the year. The tour is designed to be a living tribute to the men who flew and maintained the planes that were a vital part of the Allies’ eventual success in the European Theater.
“We want people to come out and see these airplanes and touch them,” volunteer pilot Mac McCauley said. “They still smell like World War II. They can see what contributed to winning the war in Europe.”
Jan Burtt, of Hollis, said she remembers some of the same types of planes flying in formation over her house in Hollis during the 1940s as practice runs ended and pilots steered their way back to Nashua. She would hear the roar of the engines and run outside to watch the planes fly over.
“That’s when girls weren’t supposed to like airplanes, but I did,” she said.
Burtt applied to a Chicago flight school in the 1950s, but was rejected because it wouldn’t accept women. On Friday she clutched a gift certificate she received as a retirement gift to take a flight in the Liberator.
“I was born to fly,” she said. “I got grounded, but it hasn’t taken away my love of flying.”
Kiefer Savoie, 15, was lucky enough to skip a half day of school with his dad, Roland Savoie, to come see the planes arrive. He has been in love with flying for years. He flies remote-control planes, is a member of the Civil Air Patrol and is already checking out flight programs to attend after high school.
“Just seeing these old planes landing is just cool,” Savoie said. “Normally, my generation can’t see something like that.”
Korea forms task force on Japan's wartime sexual slavery
From The Korea Times: Korea forms task force on Japan's wartime sexual slavery
Korea's foreign ministry has set up a task force to deal with the issue of compensation for Korean women forced into sexual slavery for Japan's World War II soldiers, an official said Thursday.
The task force was formed as Japan has yet to respond to Korea's Sept. 15 proposal to hold bilateral talks to discuss the issue, following a ruling late last month by the Constitutional Court that it is unconstitutional for the Seoul government to make no specific effort to settle the issue with Tokyo.
"The task force, manned by diplomats who have specialized in international law and bilateral relations with Japan, will seek ways to resolve the issue," Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Byung-jae said.
Japan, which ruled the Korean Peninsula as a colony from 1910 to 1945, has acknowledged that its wartime military used sex slaves, but refuses to directly compensate them individually, arguing that the issue was settled by a 1965 normalization treaty.
Despite the Japanese claim, some South Korean officials said Seoul could ask Tokyo to directly compensate the victims because Japan's wartime sexual slavery was regarded as a "war crime against humanitarianism."
The issue of the former sex slaves, euphemistically called "comfort women," is one of the most emotional issues that still remains unresolved between South Korea and Japan.
In a possible get-tough measure, the ministry is considering raising the issue at a U.N. meeting on women's affairs to be held in New York next month, a ministry official said on the condition of anonymity.
A 1996 report by then U.N. special rapporteur, Radhika Coomaraswamy, concluded that Japan's wartime sexual slavery of foreign women was a violation of international law, and urged Tokyo to make an official apology and pay compensation.
Since the early 1990s, South Korea has intermittently raised the issue at U.N. meetings.
"We are weighing the necessary diplomatic options by accepting the Constitutional Court's ruling," the official said. "While pursuing bilateral talks with Japan, we are also reviewing a plan to raise the issue at the U.N. meeting next month."
According to historians, up to 200,000 women, mostly Koreans, were coerced into sexual servitude at front-line Japanese brothels during World War II.
Japan's former wartime sexual enslavement is becoming an increasingly urgent priority as most victims are elderly and fear they may die before they receive compensation or an apology from Japan
Korea's foreign ministry has set up a task force to deal with the issue of compensation for Korean women forced into sexual slavery for Japan's World War II soldiers, an official said Thursday.
The task force was formed as Japan has yet to respond to Korea's Sept. 15 proposal to hold bilateral talks to discuss the issue, following a ruling late last month by the Constitutional Court that it is unconstitutional for the Seoul government to make no specific effort to settle the issue with Tokyo.
"The task force, manned by diplomats who have specialized in international law and bilateral relations with Japan, will seek ways to resolve the issue," Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Byung-jae said.
Japan, which ruled the Korean Peninsula as a colony from 1910 to 1945, has acknowledged that its wartime military used sex slaves, but refuses to directly compensate them individually, arguing that the issue was settled by a 1965 normalization treaty.
Despite the Japanese claim, some South Korean officials said Seoul could ask Tokyo to directly compensate the victims because Japan's wartime sexual slavery was regarded as a "war crime against humanitarianism."
The issue of the former sex slaves, euphemistically called "comfort women," is one of the most emotional issues that still remains unresolved between South Korea and Japan.
In a possible get-tough measure, the ministry is considering raising the issue at a U.N. meeting on women's affairs to be held in New York next month, a ministry official said on the condition of anonymity.
A 1996 report by then U.N. special rapporteur, Radhika Coomaraswamy, concluded that Japan's wartime sexual slavery of foreign women was a violation of international law, and urged Tokyo to make an official apology and pay compensation.
Since the early 1990s, South Korea has intermittently raised the issue at U.N. meetings.
"We are weighing the necessary diplomatic options by accepting the Constitutional Court's ruling," the official said. "While pursuing bilateral talks with Japan, we are also reviewing a plan to raise the issue at the U.N. meeting next month."
According to historians, up to 200,000 women, mostly Koreans, were coerced into sexual servitude at front-line Japanese brothels during World War II.
Japan's former wartime sexual enslavement is becoming an increasingly urgent priority as most victims are elderly and fear they may die before they receive compensation or an apology from Japan
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