List of passed Veterans.....

[ER]

There have been several threads here thru the years of current boardmembers who have served this country. I`d like to start one to remember those who have gone before us, either in combat or passed peacefully at home......

PFC Joseph Delbert White, US Army 1944-45. Anti-tank gunner, 411th Infantry, European Theater. He passed peacefully at home in September 1999. He was the best father in law anyone could ever ask for.

 

[SHARPSHOOTER]

SGT James Burger US ARMY 2nd Armored Division WWII 1942 to 1945 and Korea 1950-1952.Winner of the Distingused Service Cross , Silver Star and Bronze Star. A good friend and mentor who had so much more to teach and share with me than I could ever have hoped to given him. He died feeding his horses of a heart attack in 2000. RIP

 

[FN74]

Corporal Thomas J. Murray, USMC 1942-1945 recalled in 1949 for korean war. 0341 Machinegunner, was BAR gunner during most of WW2. Participated in the solomans campaign, Tinian, Roi/Namur, Saipan and Iwo Jima.
He passed of lingering illness with pnemonia in 2002.
RIP grandpa.

 

[Deltaten]

CWO3 Paul A.Kube,Sr. USN Ret.
12/21/18 to 09/22/88

Entered service in '38. I'd hafta pull his records to see date for sure. Retired Sept. '60 from Mechanicsburg Naval Supply Depot. 20 yr on the blue!

Started out as a striker in Fire Control, ended up as senior FC Chief tasked w/teaching new crews and MIddies the ropes. SPent a tour at Bainbridge teaching Radar FC and repair. Howzabout THAT for coinkydink, W.E.G..!?

Saw action in Pacific Theater, particularly the Phillipine Sea/ Mariannas. Many raids in the island campain, probably as fire support for beach assault?? HIs ship , the U.S.S.New Orleans, was heavily damaged and reported sunk. See .Praise the Lord, and Pass the Ammunition, Chpl Howell M. Forgy 1944 for the story.

I'm looking at about 9 medals as I type. I'd hafta look them up, also. Commendations for exemplary service and several "shootin'" awards.

Same as w/most others; didn't speak of the war untill much later in life, once the horror wore off, I suppose.

Tough old Bird!
Paul

 

[Deltaten]

Can't forget the FiL...
Robert S. Spayd
12/30/22 to 12 23/87

Don't recall unit or Div. 3rd Armored rings a bell? The MiL has all that stuff. Gave a few pics and some patches to my Marine as a rememberance after his passing, and all his other stuff to the local WWII museum.

US Army T-Sergeant Crew cheif for a Half track. Went on the beach on day 3 ,IIRC, all thru the Hedgerows and participated in the Battle of the Bulge. Pushed on to the Rhein. His track was actually in the newsreel footage used for "The Bridge at Remagen" (?)

Hell of a guy! Told some tales of days and nights in the forest. As a native PA Dutchman, he could speak German well enough to get "Jerry" to poke his head up once and a while. You've all seen the trick in the flicks. He said it worked for a while
Another was how the Germans knew that the tracks could not elevate thier main armament (.50 cal?) enough while on the downgrade; and would wait to fire 'till they were so obstructed. Bob fooled 'em by mounting a pair of .30 cals on the front fenders or cowling somehow and then "stalled' the track in defilade, drawing fire and opposition into the open....Ooops! gotcha!

I miss him, too
Paul

 

[ER]

still trying to find the particular bomb group...I know I have his DD214(or whatever they called them in 1945) somewhere here at the house....

update.......464thBG, 779th Bomb Squadron

TSgt Owens D Cantrell...my great uncle....US Army Air Corps 1941-1945. Waist gunner on a B-24 based in Italy late 1943-45. He always said his sole purpose on the plane was to "protect them engines". He passed away in 1997 from prostate cancer.

He and my dad introduced me to shooting.

 

[BlueDuck]

PFC Nick Zimmer
Died 30 May 2004 in An Najaf, Iraq
He was 20 years old.

PFC Michael Mora
Died 14 May 2004 in An Najaf, Iraq
He was 19 years old.

I love you both. I never met more capable and fearless warriors.
Toujours Pret...Courage Conquerers!

 

[scaldwellk]

My grandfather.

SSG Caldwell, John W.
101st Air Born
Served untill the battle of the bulge where his feet got badly frost bitten. He had trouble with his feet for the rest of his life. May God rest his soul.

 

[Aifwikir]

My father served in the Navy during WW2. He passed on 3 years ago. (with full military honors supplied by the Naval reserve in Little Rock)

Here's to those have have gone before us.

Memorial day 2006


Aif

 

[Dean P]

Gary: My father in law, P. Franklin Hartzel, Sr. Served at Camp Lee & Panama. He was a Drill Sargent! What a coincidence! He's still living @ 87. He lives in Penna. His mother was PA Dutch/German & could speak German, but he never learned any.

 

[mitchellh]

Edward W. Hartman
551st PIR
Operation Dragoon
Battle of the Bulge

RIP 1998

 

[AndyC]

Stephen Enright - England - IED, Iraq
Alan Wimpenny - England - Landmine, Iraq
Iain Hunter - Scotland - Vehicle Collision, Iraq
Teina Marokura "Nams" Ngamata - New Zealand - IED, Iraq

ArmorGroup Iraq

Cheers, lads :beer:

 

[Powderfinger]

PFC Michael Bernard Risse, 24 YO
KIA-France
October 21, 1918
My wife's great-uncle. A 1st generation German-American sent to fight the Huns.

Roderick Shane Guile USN BMSC, 70 YO
Natural causes. December 24, 2000
My step-dad. After retiring from the Navy, he ran his charter boat for 27 seasons, retiring from that 3 months before he died. The nurse in his hospital room after he passed looked like she didn't believe me when I told her that there were probably a million fish caught on his boat, the Lady Dee.

Rest in Peace, gentlemen.

 

[Brett]

My dad. Bert Hite. Nearly died when his carrier U.S.S. Princeton was sunk in WWII near the Phillipines. He would never speak of it to anyone but I saw a photo of him on the internet with 6 other guys standing behind the Captain. He died 10 years ago and I miss him more than I can describe.

 

[justashooter]

my dad was active just before the korean war. communications specialist in US Army. he died 1999 (?)

his brothers served in the pacific in WW2. two have been gone since the 70's one remains.

mom's dad was a ground pounder in europe in WW2. he passed in 2002.

some family members in the hollsopple, livingston, and foust families back to the revolution. surely some names are forgotten.

my kid nephew is a marine today. his father's father was also a marine.

 

[mhg]

Maj Thomas Simon Galbraith, USMC, Iwo Jima 1987
LCDR Thomas Simon Galbraith, USNA class of 65 2003


I miss them both, very much


Matt

 

[MACV]

http://www.rollingthundermotorcyclerally.com/missouri.html

 

[SmokeEater2]

Another joins the list. Sgt.Walter Allen Campbell,served as an Infantryman in the Aluetion island campaign until being wounded on butcher's ridge. He passed away Nov.19,2006.

I miss you Dad

 

[RungSat65]

To my father in law who was one of the best. WWII he was at Midway on the USS YorkTown CV-5. Plank owner of CV-10. Served off coast of Korea for that little police action. Served off the coast of Viet Nam for that fun thing. He retired with a full 30 years in 1969, as Command Master Chief (AMCM) of VF-101. May he rest in Peace.

 

[garandguy10]

Major Clay Lee Pace,8th airforce 492 bg, ETO. B17 Driver.shot down twice. Awarded Distinguished Flying Cross twice,awarded Air Medal. Berlin Airlift. He was reactivated for korea where he flew C54 medivac flights to the states. he was quietly proud that he brought his entire original crew home from europe.died 11/29/1995 congestive heart failure/emphyesema. R.I.P.

 

[T210driver]

My father, Frank Fridel died in 2001. Tank destroyer, 2cnd Armored, WW II, Italy and Europe. Bronze and silver star.

Derace

 

[adam762]

WWII

Both Grandpas- One was a marine in the pacific (details to follow, as I get them) and the other an artilleryman in Europe. The latter still tells storys that would thrill DABTL for hours on end. I know, cause I still am enthralled. How many men do you know that have tried to track an ME 262 with a .50?

God bless this great generation, and help us all remember their stories.

 

[Opie]

I have three to list:

First one was my Grandfather, SFC R.T. Allaire, Sr., HHC 3-358 IN.

Two Bronze Stars and battlefield commision to 2LT that he turned down after attending about a week of OCS ( I remember him telling me about that briefly, that he pretty much told the OCS staff to "shove their silly antics up their collective a**es.") Gradfather was the man I could always talk to about anything at all. I also had the great honor of having him in my life for 24 years. I made the 1800 mile trip from Oregon to New Mexico on my own in order to visit him just before he passed, and I wish every day that I had made the trip much sooner. There's been more then a few occasions that I would have traded almost anything to have him back just for a little while.

The second one was my Godfather, Walt Walters. I did not have the privilege of getting to know him as well as he passed away when I was about 10, so I know very little of him other then he served with the 607th TD BN. Perhaps someday I will be able to learn more about his service.

The Third is my Godmother, Mary Jane Walters, the only woman that I feared more then my mother, and also one of a handful that I am taller then. I know even less of her service other then she worked with Naval Intelligence.

My Grandfather I lost to Cancer, my Godfather to the same, and my godmother to almost literally a broken heart from the loss of her husband of 50+ years.

 

[chet]

My great uncle-
TSgt Ray Adkins -748th Tank Battalion- Served in the ETO from 1944-45. Particpated in the then Top Secret CDL/Operation Leaflet Project under Patton's direction. Participated in multiple campaigns but never spoke openly about the CDL project to anyone. Keep his secret (and honor) to the grave. We never knew exactly what he did til after his death in 1994 and declassification of the project. Thanks Uncle Ray.

Another great uncle-
Chief (WT) Jasper Clarence McCartney - USS Cassin Young DD 793- Killed in Action 30 July 1945 by a kamikaze attack that hit just below the forward stack right at the water line at 0345. The crew had the fires out and the ship underway in 20 minutes. The ship is permanently moored today next to Old Ironsides at Charleston Yard in Boston. One of the last Fletcher Class destroyers in existence.

Chet

 

[T210driver]

Geez, you begin to think a little and I remember some I should have never forgotten:

My Uncle Rudolph Fridel, WW II, served in European theater, no known details.
My Uncle Howard Lee Nichols, WW II, Aleutians
My Uncle "Wink" Nichols, WW II, Pacific, Presidential commendation for manning a deck gun after its crew was killed.

All gone within the recent past. Great and common men. We owe them a lot. Still have my Uncle James Edward Nichols kickin' around: Marines, WW II, Pacific and my Uncle Charles Altimore, post-WW II, European Occupation Army.

Today, a lot of people probably cannot even name someone they know, much less are related to, that serves in the military. "Never was some much owed by so many to so few".

Derace