The Greatest Generation......

[Bazza]

"Col. Cooper enlisted in 1942 and served a total of 38 years in the USMC. Among his decorations is the Legion of Merit medal. After boot camp at Parris Island, training in North Carolina, Quantico, VA and Camp Pendleton, CA he boarded a ship bound for Guadalcanal. He also fought in the battle of Okinawa. After Okinawa, his unit moved to Guam to prepare for an invasion of Japan, until the dropping of two atomic bombs and the Japanese surrender ended the war. Col. Cooper was again called to active duty during the Korean War, serving in artillery and infantry, and during the Vietnam War, working mostly in training and recruiting in Washington, D.C. and California. He had a career later in education and coaching, and working with FEMA." Credit: WWII Portraits of Honor - https://www.portraitsofhonor.us/

 

[OakMtn4Bama]

There is a great book called "With the Old Breed" by a Mobile native, E B Sledge. It is a first hand account of his leaving Mobile and ending in the Pacific. It is referenced by nearly every other historian including Ken Burns who used it for his WW2 documentary. It is very well written, while horrifying at the same time. A must read if you are interested in the period. Gives you a greater feeling of gratitude for all of those involved.

 

[Bazza]

There is a great book called "With the Old Breed" by a Mobile native, E B Sledge. It is a first hand account of his leaving Mobile and ending in the Pacific. It is referenced by nearly every other historian including Ken Burns who used it for his WW2 documentary. It is very well written, while horrifying at the same time. A must read if you are interested in the period. Gives you a greater feeling of gratitude for all of those involved.

Thanks much for the recommendation! I just purchased a copy. Here's the description from the site:

In "The Wall Street Journal," Victor Davis Hanson named "With the Old Breed" one of the top five books on epic twentieth-century battles. Studs Terkel interviewed the author for his definitive oral history, "The Good War," Now E. B. Sledge's acclaimed first-person account of fighting at Peleliu and Okinawa returns to thrill, edify, and inspire a new generation. An Alabama boy steeped in American history and enamored of such heroes as George Washington and Daniel Boone, Eugene B. Sledge became part of the war's famous 1st Marine Division-3d Battalion, 5th Marines. Even after intense training, he was shocked to be thrown into the battle of Peleliu, where "the world was a nightmare of flashes, explosions, and snapping bullets." By the time Sledge hit the hell of Okinawa, he was a combat vet, still filled with fear but no longer with panic. Based on notes Sledge secretly kept in a copy of the New Testament, With the Old Breed captures with utter simplicity and searing honesty the experience of a soldier in the fierce Pacific Theater. Here is what saved, threatened, and changed his life. Here, too, is the story of how he learned to hate and kill-and came to love-his fellow man.

 

[Bazza]

Sometimes we don't realize how much the little things we do...can have such great impact on other's lives.........

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1434523622467637252

 

[Bazza]

Stan Sasine, age 97, holds the Japanese rifle responsible for putting a hole in his shoulder during WWII. Stanley was wounded in Burma while serving as a replacement with Merrill's Marauders.

 

[Bazza]

Lawrence Brooks, oldest living WWII veteran and Louisiana native, celebrates 112th birthday

Veteran and Louisiana native Lawrence Brooks celebrated his 112th birthday on Sunday at his home in Central City as residents gathered for a drive-by celebration hosted by the National World War II Museum.

This year's festivities included a live performance from the museum’s vocal trio, The Victory Belles, a Jeep parade and more entertainment from a collection of local New Orleans musicians. The City of New Orleans also recognized Brooks’ birthday with an official proclamation.

 

[Bazza]

100 years and still jumping!

Last month on August 15th, WWII Airborne Veteran Thomas Rice turned 100! To celebrate his special day, Mr. Rice will make a parachute jump in his home town of Coronado, CA in the near future with the Round Canopy Parachute Team.

During WWII, Mr. Rice served with Charlie Company, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. His first experience in combat was during D-Day when he jumped out of a C-47 at 160 mph as the pilots tried to evade enemy fire.

Three months later, Mr. Rice parachuted into Holland and then served in Bastogne where he was severely wounded. Despite this, he managed to be get back just in time for the capture of Hitler’s Eagles Nest.

After the war, Mr. Rice completed his degree at San Diego State University, and taught social sciences and history for almost 44 years in California. Later in life he wrote his memoir, “Trial by Combat: A Paratrooper of the 101st Airborne Division Remembers the 1944 Battle of Normandy”.

Happy belated birthday!

Photo source: Jeff Rease- Portraits of Honour Foundation.

 

[Bazza]

On the evening of 06 June 1944, Roy Hayward – then only 19 – landed on the beaches of Normandy. This is his story:
“I remember an Infantry sergeant saying they were being held up and could we help them. He came on board our tank but we were hit as we moved up a lane. There was a thud but nothing else.
Seconds later, a second shell penetrated the tank and exploded close to my legs. The tank immediately started to burn and everybody got out except for the sergeant. It was his first time in a tank, so I had to push him out. Another minute and I think I would have had it, but I somehow got him up and out of the hatch, and dropped down onto the lane after him.
I crawled away and then turned over to see that my right leg was completely smashed and the front of my left leg had disappeared. There was just a bit of heel left, and I think that is what enabled me to stand and get out of the tank. I had burns to my right hand and forehead that hurt more than my legs. It was pretty bad and at one stage I thought: ‘I have a revolver; is this the time to use it?’”
When I crawled down the lane and turned over onto my back I realised that my right leg had been shattered below the knee and my left foot had been blown off leaving me with just a part of the heel which I think enabled me to stand."
The veteran is now 96! Thank you Roy!

 

[Bazza]

In and around the Belgian town of Flamierge, the 17th Airborne Division took a thousand casualties during the Battle of Bulge. Today 98-year-old WWII paratrooper Bob White returned to the village in which he first saw combat 77 years before. He hugged tightly the memorial dedicated to his former unit.

 

[Toddrn]

In and around the Belgian town of Flamierge, the 17th Airborne Division took a thousand casualties during the Battle of Bulge. Today 98-year-old WWII paratrooper Bob White returned to the village in which he first saw combat 77 years before. He hugged tightly the memorial dedicated to his former unit.
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Unfortunately, Bazza, the day will come when there will be no more stories like this about the Greatest Generation. What a sad day that will be.

 

[Bazza]

Retired in 1986. I guess this could go into that thread...lol....

God Bless this man....I hope he lives another 100 years!

School crossing guard, WWII veteran celebrates 100th birthday with a special surprise

 

[Bazza]

Arch enemies meet again at a German Cemetery seventy-seven years later. Jurgen Tegethoff, 97, (left) was a Tiger Tank Commander during WWII for the German Army. Ed Cottrell, 99, (right) was a P-47 pilot whose number one priority during the war was to fly out, locate tanks, and destroy them. He did it over sixty times. Jurgen, being a tanker, was forced to only move his tank at night. He often had to hide in the woods to prevent being strafed or bombed. “To think we could do those awful things to one another back then is horrible. I’m glad we could meet as friends and not shoot at one another finally.” Said Jurgen.

 

[Toddrn]

Retired in 1986. I guess this could go into that thread...lol....

God Bless this man....I hope he lives another 100 years!

School crossing guard, WWII veteran celebrates 100th birthday with a special surprise

I know I have said it before. They just don't make them like that anymore. WOW!!!

 

[Bazza]

Looking good for 96!

John Diperna served with the 1st Marine Division during WWII.

He saw action on both Peleliu and Okinawa.

Semper Fi Marine!

 

[Bazza]

“The last surviving officer D-DAY first wave, turns 99”
- Mark Severino.

 

[Bazza]

77 years ago today WWII Veteran Clarence Cormier was captured in the Battle of the Bulge. He served with the 106th Infantry Division, 422nd Regiment. He weighed only 90lbs upon is liberation.

 

[Bazza]

(DEC 20, 2021) BATTLE OF THE BULGE - 77th ANNIVERSARY VETERAN OF THE DAY - Today, we honor the legendary Jake McNiece veteran of World War II - Normandy & Battle of the Bulge.
Shortly before the D-Day invasion, the Filthy 13 soldiers shaved their heads into Mohawks and decorated their faces with war paint. It was Sergeant McNiece’s idea. Baldness would be more hygienic on a battlefield strewn with dead bodies, he reasoned, and face paint would add to their camouflage. His mother was part Choctaw.
“I think he was trying to build upon the idea that ‘if they’re scared of us as crazy paratroopers, well, this just makes us look crazier,’ ” Hugh McNiece said.
Sergeant McNiece spent more than 30 days behind enemy lines after D-Day. He later joined the Pathfinders, an exclusive paratrooper unit that jumped behind enemy lines to provide logistical help to Allied missions, including in the Battle of Bulge.

 

[Bazza]

The crew of B-29 Superfortress 42-24598 "Waddy's Wagon" posing to duplicate the nose art. All were killed in action when the bomber was shot down over Japan in January 1945.

 

[Bazza]

Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vb's of No. 303 (#Polish) Squadron on a fighter sweep over northern France, 1942.

 

[Bazza]

The RMS Queen Elizabeth pulling into New York with service men returning home after the end of World War 2, 1945.