Maggie’s And Then There Were None

[pmclaine]

Woody Williams, last living MOH recipient from WWll has died.........

RIP Marine........

Hershel W. Williams - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I was just watching a YouTube interview with him this AM. Made time on the Peloton go faster listening to such a great man tell his story.

A fantastic human being.

 

[canman]

Jim (Pee Wee ) Martin 101st WWII

D-Day Veteran of the 101st Airborne, Jim 'Pee Wee' Martin, Dies at 101

On June 6, 1944, James Martin was among the first Allied paratroopers to jump into Normandy with the 101st Airborne, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment.

www.military.com

 

[canman]

Lt. General Grange three war Veteran.

Legendary Army Ranger, who fought in three wars, dies at 97

The soldier for whom the Army’s Best Ranger Competition is named passed away Sept. 11 at age 97.

www.militarytimes.com

 

[CSGambill]

Spent Monday at a USMC Birthday luncheon with a WWII Marine vet.

Day after Pearl Harbor he went to the local USMC recruiter to join but was told because he was working at Raytheon building RADARs he was critical to the war and untouchable.

He went to the Boston recruiting station and that recruiter said "You are going to Parris Island".

He spent his war in the Pacific most on Guadalcanal running RADAR.

Had the perfect job to stay home out of harms way but he went.

Wonder if he knew my grandpa. He was an officer at Pearl, but heavily involved with RADAR.

 

[pmclaine]

Wonder if he knew my grandpa. He was an officer at Pearl, but heavily involved with RADAR.

Wish I could ask, he passed January of 20.

If you are ever in Provincetown, MA (and you had better have a reason) on main street there is a liquor store directly across from a pretty good pizza joint.

I happened to wear a Marine Corps cover in to the liquor store and of course the proprietor asked if I had been in the Marines. saying yes he told me the story of his Dad that was OOD on the morning of December 7th at Pearl Harbor. His dad is depicted in the movie Torah, Torah, Torah as the Marine eating breakfast when the bombing starts.

He has a great shadow box in his store office, pieces of a Japanese plane, Silver Star, I think it is posted somewhere in this thread.

This dude was a stud. Bet your gramps and he knew each other.

 

[canman]

Bump. It's been a long time. We are getting to the point where there are None. The Wife and I bought breakfast for a WWII Vet last week. He was in Japan occupation Army. He always says He never saw combat. He didn't know that in basic training though is my response to that. Those Guy's see Our Country is so different now and not for the better.

 

[mosin46]

my father joined the navy right after HS in '36. stationed around the SW pacific and ended up on the heavy carrier huston which was sunk in the battle of java sea/sunda straight in feb '42 along with HMAS perth. floated around a couple of days and got rounded up and handed to japs by some island natives. survived as a "guest of the IJN" until liberated in mid '44. he always said by merrill's marauders. spent his time in forced labor in SE asia-thai/burma area. worked on the approaches to the "bridge over the river kwai". a lot aussie and brit captives there too. also,a lot of asian slave labor. guards were mostly korean. left navy in '48. bronze star for the action when the the huston was bombed at darwin. purple heart from java sea. never talked about it much or for long,only a few scattered anecdotes over the years and mostly ones he thought as funny. some of his ship mates had a web site for awhile. doubt any of them are left. a different world and country and very different people back then.

 

[Ronws]

My father-in-law passed away in August of 2014. He was born in 1923. He was a PFC in the 9th USAF 410 Light Bomber Group 646th Squadron in the mess hall, in the european theater. Because he spoke and understood German from his elders and his ancestry, he was also a caretaker for german POWs. He gave them work assignments around the camp. Latrine duty, peeling potatoes (not necessarily in that order."

He would let me go with him to vet lunches in his town and I got to have "Shit on a shingle."

 

[MK20]

I was privileged to know Dylan Elchin for a while. Ironically, we were put in charge of "toughening" him and a few other guys up for the next phase of their pipeline. Not that they needed it.

If I remember correctly his MRAP got cut in half (literally) in Gahzni province in 2019.

He was engaged to be married upon return from that deployment.

 

[pmclaine]

If we had half the balls….

 

[Badfinger]

We lost another Good Man and Good Friend today. The year in Vietnam doesn't begin to describe the damage he received and pain he lived with the rest of his life. He Never complained...

Obituary
Robert Joe “Bob” Gibson passed away peacefully on May 20, 2023 at Upper Valley Medical Center in Troy Ohio.

Bob was proceeded in death by his parents Eustace and Emma Gibson, a sister, Lois Boyes, and three brothers; Cletus, Leslie, and Dennis Gibson.

He is survived by his wife of 51 years Barbara Gibson, a Daughter Jill (Jeff) Amos, a son Jason (Sheena) Gibson, and four grandsons, Chad and Clay Amos and Ryan and Seth Gibson, and a brother Eustace (Rosemary) Gibson, as well as a host of other family members.

Bob was a veteran of the United States Army with three years service; including one year at the 71st Evac. Hospital, Pleiku Vietnam.

He retired from General Motors with 33 years of service, then went onto work an additional two decades for Westwind Limousine and Morton & Whetstone Funeral Home.

Bob was a member of First Baptist Church in Vandalia for 39 years, where he served as an usher. He spent each Christmas season playing Santa Claus; bringing joy to hundreds of children in the community.

Bob loved hunting, fishing, and being out in nature. He will be greatly missed by his friends and family.

The family would like to extend deep felt gratitude to all of the Doctors, Nurses, Therapists, and Support Staff of Miami Valley, and Upper Valley Medical Centers; especially the Critical Care teams in both hospitals, as well as Hospice of Miami County.

Funeral services will be held on Friday May 26 at 1:00pm at the First Baptist Church 140 Elva Ct. Vandalia with Mr. John Seagraves officiating. Burial will follow at Polk Grove Cemetery. The family will receive friends at the church on Friday from 11:00am until the time of service at 1:00pm. If so desired, contributions may be made to the Vandalia Butler Food Pantry in Bobs memory.

 

[Ronws]

I was privileged to know Dylan Elchin for a while. Ironically, we were put in charge of "toughening" him and a few other guys up for the next phase of their pipeline. Not that they needed it.

If I remember correctly his MRAP got cut in half (literally) in Gahzni province in 2019.

He was engaged to be married upon return from that deployment.

View attachment 8135611View attachment 8135612

Yes, we have Sec of State Kilary to thank for that. And Obamination.

 

[canman]

June 6th. 79 years ago

 

[canman]

WWII paratrooper famous for bringing beer to wounded troops dies at 98

Vincent Speranza, an American paratrooper who became known as the soldier who doled out beer to his wounded comrades, died Wednesday at 98.

www.armytimes.com

God Bless you Vince. I spent a few hours with him in Frederick Ok. Truly one of the best memories of my life.

 

[Sandhog308]

I put that kind deed up there with any I’ve ever heard
Did a couple of long line periods off Vietnam that were in the 50 day range…
No Beer available for that long sucked Be in Subi soon …but Having Someone go through that to deliver Beer , that should grant him instant Saint status

 

[canman]

Bump

 

[Badfinger]

Sadly, it looks like we are done here........

 

[UKDslayer]

Lost my Dad this year at 94. He was living history. He enlisted with his brother, lying about his age to get in. “Blondie” was just 18 so he had to lie to cover for Dad. Blondie joined the 10th Mountain and was KIA in Italy.

The funeral home was told no one was available to do the Military honors (just the flag) but I made some calls and the Maine National Guard pulled it off for us. I can’t tell you my gratitude. Here is the video we posted for those who could not make it:

His obituary is the best I have ever read. Inspiring. Mom did make one mistake: Blondie (Walfred) went in the 10th Mountain, not the paratroopers. https://www.staplesfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Shirley-F-Sutherburg?obId=3293033#/celebrationWall


View attachment 6970596View attachment 6970597?

How did you time the rain like that?

 

[Sandhog308]

How did you time the rain like that?

Glad you could set it up for him. He would be proud of you. I’ve helped bury my Uncle who was a Pharmacist Mate ( Corpsman) during WWll , in the shit while attached with the Marines. And another friend that served in Korea. Both had military honors , but they were to use a recording of Taps. Didn’t go over well with me , so I contacted a High School band director (a Viet Nam Vet) to play taps for them. A recorded version just ain’t right.

 

[Maggot]

The street I grew up on all the men were WWII vets. My Dad was in the Navy the rest were Army or Army Air Corps. They would come home from work and play baseball with us. We didn't have a clue what they had done. They were just our Dad's

This.

All my(our) mentors were just 'Dad's but damn near everyone was there. They never talked about it, at least not when we were around. One old guy, a pastor, did tell about laying in a ditch for a couple of days when the Bulge first started and the German 88's opened up. He said it was a life changing experience. No doubt.

My father
Mr Cantley
Mr Oaks
Mr Rorer
Mr Hudson
Mr Dotson
Mr Clark
Many others

RIP

 

[Maggot]

And who were these men? The were The Salt of the Earth.