Tag Archives: pittsburgh tribune review

Pearl Harbor 70 years ago (Part 5)

December 10, 2011 – 7:14 am

Here is a portion of an article from Pittsburgh Tribune-Review :

Dwindling number of Pearl Harbor survivors recall that fateful day

By Rachel Weaver and Richard Robbin, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Read more: Dwindling number of Pearl Harbor survivors recall that fateful day – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Most Western Pennsylvanians who survived the “date which will live in infamy” are in their late 80s or early 90s. Here are a few of their stories about that day:

Tom Miller of Youngwood

Pfc. Tom Miller, then from Mt. Pleasant, was eating breakfast at Schofield Barracks when waves of Japanese aircraft arrived.

“The dishes started to rattle,” Miller, 93, recalled recently at his Youngwood home with his wife, Angeline. “We quit eating and went out to see what was going on.”

Once they realized what was happening, Miller said he and the rest of the 98th Coastal Artillery Regiment could do little to counter what was happening.

“Because we were supposed to go on maneuvers on Monday, our guns were all in traveling position,” he said.

That night, he pulled watch on a lonely stretch of beach along the eastern shore of Oahu.

“Everyone was scared,” he said. “There were two men at each post, and you kept looking at the ocean.”

Miller imagined Japanese soldiers coming ashore, with the awful prospect of a battle to the death on the beach. He was relieved when dawn broke.

Miller spent the first years of the war on Oahu. Re-christened the 755th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Gun Battalion, his outfit later shipped out to the Pacific island of Tawara.

Steve Jager of Arnold

The attack shook Steve Jager awake.

“When the bombs hit that morning, they were close enough to our building that (it) … was shaken and the flames were shooting up into the air, and I didn’t know what in the world it was,” said Jager, 91, of Arnold.

In the Army’s 24th Infantry Division, Jager installed telegraph and radio communications, setting up defense positions for troops.

A few days later, an article about Jager appeared in the Valley Daily News with the headline “Creighton Boy in Hawaii alive, well.”

He spent the rest of the war as a staff sergeant with duties in Hawaii, Australia, New Guinea and the South Pacific. After his service, Jager worked at West Penn Power in Springdale.

For years, he didn’t talk about Pearl Harbor, until a Valley Middle School teacher asked him to speak to students.

“(She) instilled in me the thought that I’m indebted to the guys who died,” Jager said. “Since I’m alive, I think I should keep their memory alive.”

A member of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, Jager doesn’t hesitate when someone asks him about Pearl Harbor.

“Being alive at my age, I think I am indebted to them to keep it alive for as long as I can.”

Staff writer Rossilynne Skena contributed to this report

Related posts:

Veterans Day 2011 Part 9:Roy “Roxy” Oxenrider survived Korean War’s Toughest Battle

Picture of Roy after he had recovered at the hospital. Picture of Roy below in the hospital recovering from his injuries followed by a picture of Roy encouraging another soldier who was in the hospital:  Below is an article that was published in November of 2010 in the Saline Courier: Saline County War Hero Bryant […]

Veterans Day 2011 Part 8 Leon McDaniel of World War II (second post)

Okinawa – At the Emperor’s Doorstep” episode from “WWII: GI Diary”….. This old 1978 TV docu-drama was narrated by Lloyd Bridges and told the stories of real soldiers/sailors/pilots and their first-hand experiences in battle. Archival footage and good background music really made the stories come alive…..about 25 episodes were made. Video converted from really old […]

Veterans Day 2011 Part 7:You have heard of Jimmy Doolittle, but what about Leon A. McDaniel?

President Reagan and Senator Barry Goldwater present the fourth star to General Jimmy Doolittle during a White House ceremony in the Indian Treaty room, OEOB. 6/20/85. I love the movie “Pearl Harbor” with Ben Affleck and it tells the story of Jimmy Doolittle.  He was born in 1896 and died in 1993. He is pictured […]

Veterans Day 2011 Part 6 (A look back at Okinawa)

This portion below appeared in an article I did for the Saline Courier about 18 months ago: I went to the First Baptist Church in Little Rock from 1983 to 1997, and during that time I became friends with Walter Dickinson Sr. In fact, we used to attend a weekly luncheon together on Thursdays.  Just […]

Veterans Day 2011 Part 5 (A look back at the “Battle of the Bulge”)

The Lost Evidence: The Battle Of The Bulge (1/5) This article was published in the Saline Courier about 18 months ago: When we celebrate July 4th we are focusing on the freedoms that so many soldiers have fought for over the last 234 years. That focus has been highlighted for me since my son Hunter […]

Veterans Day 2011 Part 4

  This is taken from an article that appeared in the Saline Courier about a year ago: Bravery is not just limited to one generation, but Americans have had it in every generation. It makes me think about those who are currently serving in our military. Jon Chris Roberts who is graduate of Benton High […]

Veterans Day 2011 Part 3 (A look back at World War 1)

I was born in Tennessee and everyone in Tennessee knows the name of Alvin York. Above is a clip about his accomplishments in War World I. Cara Gist of Shannon Hills tells me that her grandfather Herbert S. Apple of Salado, Arkansas (near Batesville) fought in World War I. He served in France and fought […]

Veterans Day 2011 Part 2 (Bataan Death March)

My longtime friend Craig Carney is originally  from Jacksonville, and  he told me a couple of years ago about a friend of his parents from Jacksonville, Arkansas named Silas Legrow. Legrow  was going to speak at the Jacksonville Museum of Military History on April 17, 2008 about his experience in the March of 1942 when […]

Veterans Day 2011 (Black Hawk Down and North Little Rock’s Donavan “Bull” Briley)

The Background Facts of The Black Hawk Down (1/7) Uploaded by WarDocumentary on Feb 14, 2011 The movie Black Hawk Down was based on an actual event that took place in Mogadishu, Somalia. This documentary explains the event. _______________________________ On October 3, 2003 my son  played quarterback at the Arkansas Baptist High School Football game […]

War Hero Joe Speaks and D Day pictures

 Below I have the story of Joe Speaks who fought in Europe and was captured twice by the Germans. Photo by Associated Press American GI’s clamber into a landing craft as they prepare to hit the beaches along France’s Normandy coast in June 1944. The World War II operation was part of the massive Allied […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in War Heroes | Also tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Pearl Harbor 70 years ago (Part 4)

December 9, 2011 – 7:12 am

Here is a portion of an article from Pittsburgh Tribune-Review :

Dwindling number of Pearl Harbor survivors recall that fateful day

By Rachel Weaver and Richard Robbin, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Read more: Dwindling number of Pearl Harbor survivors recall that fateful day – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Most Western Pennsylvanians who survived the “date which will live in infamy” are in their late 80s or early 90s. Here are a few of their stories about that day:

Nelson Ferguson of Plum

Nelson Ferguson of Plum remembers sirens blaring, and then a shell whizzed by.

Serving in the Army’s 24th Infantry Division, he was staying at a boarding house in Honolulu, planning to do some Christmas shopping.

“We heard something whistle by the roof,” said Ferguson, 91. “You could hear it sizzling. … And we got out of there in a hurry.”

He hopped a bus back to Schofield Barracks, where guards scrutinized him at the gate to make sure he wasn’t a spy.

Because Ferguson worked with messages and codes, he stayed at the command post in Oahu, sleeping on a cot.

“They would be afraid that if I got captured, they would force me to tell the code,” Ferguson said.

He once risked friendly fire when delivering messages across the island. “If something moved after dark, it would get shot at,” he said.

Ferguson grew up in Monroeville, the oldest of 11 children. He worked in the Civilian Conservation Corps for two years and joined the Army at 18, serving from 1938 to 1945. He later worked for U.S. Steel Research.

“(Nelson) spent a lot of time devoted to his country,” said his wife, Joyce. “And he’s very proud of that.”

Rose Marie Jewart of Vandergrift

Rose Marie Jewart and her family arrived home from church that morning and were climbing the 45 steps to their veranda when they saw a plane approaching Pearl Harbor.

It flew so low that Jewart, then 8, saw the pilot and red circle beneath the wings. She said to her granddad: “That’s not Americans.”

“He turned on the radio, and the voice came on: ‘We are being attacked. All civilians go up to the mountains. We are being attacked.’ ”

Jewart, 77, of Vandergrift remembers planes circling and people panicking. She was scared for her father, who worked as a civilian on ships tearing down and rebuilding boilers. He evacuated the USS Arizona on a dinghy.

Other family members worked on a California Packing sugar plantation, where tides brought bodies ashore.

“They told the kids, ‘All right, go pick it up and put it in the ambulance,’ ” Jewart said. “Everybody had a job.”

Life was tough after the attack. Most food was imported and “they couldn’t allow the ships to come through because of the enemy submarines.”

She didn’t understand why many of her Japanese friends ended up in detention camps behind barbed wire. “Mom said, ‘Well they don’t know who the enemy is.’ I said, ‘But they’re children.’ ”

In 1956, Jewart moved to Pennsylvania with her husband, Jack, whom she met in Hawaii. She worked for Kiski Area School District in the cafeteria and as a crossing guard.

She cannot forget Pearl Harbor.

“It never leaves. It becomes part of your life.”

Staff writer Rossilynne Skena contributed to this report

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Veterans Day 2011 Part 9:Roy “Roxy” Oxenrider survived Korean War’s Toughest Battle

Picture of Roy after he had recovered at the hospital. Picture of Roy below in the hospital recovering from his injuries followed by a picture of Roy encouraging another soldier who was in the hospital:  Below is an article that was published in November of 2010 in the Saline Courier: Saline County War Hero Bryant […]

Veterans Day 2011 Part 8 Leon McDaniel of World War II (second post)

Okinawa – At the Emperor’s Doorstep” episode from “WWII: GI Diary”….. This old 1978 TV docu-drama was narrated by Lloyd Bridges and told the stories of real soldiers/sailors/pilots and their first-hand experiences in battle. Archival footage and good background music really made the stories come alive…..about 25 episodes were made. Video converted from really old […]

Veterans Day 2011 Part 7:You have heard of Jimmy Doolittle, but what about Leon A. McDaniel?

President Reagan and Senator Barry Goldwater present the fourth star to General Jimmy Doolittle during a White House ceremony in the Indian Treaty room, OEOB. 6/20/85. I love the movie “Pearl Harbor” with Ben Affleck and it tells the story of Jimmy Doolittle.  He was born in 1896 and died in 1993. He is pictured […]

Veterans Day 2011 Part 6 (A look back at Okinawa)

This portion below appeared in an article I did for the Saline Courier about 18 months ago: I went to the First Baptist Church in Little Rock from 1983 to 1997, and during that time I became friends with Walter Dickinson Sr. In fact, we used to attend a weekly luncheon together on Thursdays.  Just […]

Veterans Day 2011 Part 5 (A look back at the “Battle of the Bulge”)

The Lost Evidence: The Battle Of The Bulge (1/5) This article was published in the Saline Courier about 18 months ago: When we celebrate July 4th we are focusing on the freedoms that so many soldiers have fought for over the last 234 years. That focus has been highlighted for me since my son Hunter […]

Veterans Day 2011 Part 4

  This is taken from an article that appeared in the Saline Courier about a year ago: Bravery is not just limited to one generation, but Americans have had it in every generation. It makes me think about those who are currently serving in our military. Jon Chris Roberts who is graduate of Benton High […]

Veterans Day 2011 Part 3 (A look back at World War 1)

I was born in Tennessee and everyone in Tennessee knows the name of Alvin York. Above is a clip about his accomplishments in War World I. Cara Gist of Shannon Hills tells me that her grandfather Herbert S. Apple of Salado, Arkansas (near Batesville) fought in World War I. He served in France and fought […]

Veterans Day 2011 Part 2 (Bataan Death March)

My longtime friend Craig Carney is originally  from Jacksonville, and  he told me a couple of years ago about a friend of his parents from Jacksonville, Arkansas named Silas Legrow. Legrow  was going to speak at the Jacksonville Museum of Military History on April 17, 2008 about his experience in the March of 1942 when […]

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The Background Facts of The Black Hawk Down (1/7) Uploaded by WarDocumentary on Feb 14, 2011 The movie Black Hawk Down was based on an actual event that took place in Mogadishu, Somalia. This documentary explains the event. _______________________________ On October 3, 2003 my son  played quarterback at the Arkansas Baptist High School Football game […]

War Hero Joe Speaks and D Day pictures

 Below I have the story of Joe Speaks who fought in Europe and was captured twice by the Germans. Photo by Associated Press American GI’s clamber into a landing craft as they prepare to hit the beaches along France’s Normandy coast in June 1944. The World War II operation was part of the massive Allied […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in War Heroes | Also tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Pearl Harbor 70 years ago (Part 3)

December 8, 2011 – 6:54 am

Two survivors of Pearl Harbor showed up in Little Rock on Dec 7, 2011 for the rememberance. Here is a portion of an article from Pittsburgh Tribune-Review :

Dwindling number of Pearl Harbor survivors recall that fateful day

By Rachel Weaver and Richard Robbin, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Read more: Dwindling number of Pearl Harbor survivors recall that fateful day – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Most Western Pennsylvanians who survived the “date which will live in infamy” are in their late 80s or early 90s. Here are a few of their stories about that day:

Floyd Laughlin of McDonald

Ten days after Floyd Laughlin of McDonald married his wife, Dorothy, on May 31, 1941, he headed for training in California before his assignment at Fort Kamehameha in Pearl Harbor.

That Dec. 7, Army Cpl. Laughlin was eating breakfast when a plane crashed into a truck outside the mess hall. He and his comrades took cover under a porch as planes flew overhead.

“All you could do was stand and watch,” said Laughlin, 94. After the attacks, he said, “everything was blacked out.”

In Ohio, where Dorothy worked at her uncle’s gas station, she didn’t hear from her husband for two weeks after the attacks. It cost him $25 for a three-minute phone call to tell her he was safe.

He came home in 1945 and worked at the former American Cyanamid chemical plant in Bridgeville until retiring in 1981.

The couple has two sons and six grandchildren. Laughlin jokes that they stayed together for so long simply “because she never left.” Dorothy, 93, laughs and kisses his cheek.

A former president of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, Laughlin has returned to Hawaii five times. In his wallet, he carries a worn photo of himself in Pearl Harbor. Tucked behind it is one showing the youthful faces of him and his wife.

Bernard Ordos of West Mifflin

Bernard Ordos, 92, thinks about Pearl Harbor every day.

Near his living room chair in his West Mifflin home, a photo in an album shows him as a uniformed private, relaxing with his military buddies. He has looked at it hundreds of times, said his wife, Betty, 88.

Pvt. Ordos was waiting to be relieved of guard duty on the Navy base near Schofield Barracks when the planes attacked.

He took cover under a stack of mattresses when the first low-flying plane came into sight.

“I could see it plain as day,” he said. “I don’t know why he didn’t come down and machine-gun me.”

His family, including his bride, did not know that Ordos survived unhurt; they could not reach him for more than a week. Betty finally spent more than $50 to call Hawaii.

Weeks afterward, the Army sent Ordos to the Gilbert Islands, where he and fellow soldiers relieved Marines who captured the area from the Japanese.

He came home to work in the mills for 35 years. He and Betty, married 71 years, have three children, three grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

Ordos, who said he saw too many aircraft leave for missions and never return, hasn’t boarded a plane since the war.

Staff writer Rossilynne Skena contributed to this report

Related posts:

Veterans Day 2011 Part 9:Roy “Roxy” Oxenrider survived Korean War’s Toughest Battle

Picture of Roy after he had recovered at the hospital. Picture of Roy below in the hospital recovering from his injuries followed by a picture of Roy encouraging another soldier who was in the hospital:  Below is an article that was published in November of 2010 in the Saline Courier: Saline County War Hero Bryant […]

Veterans Day 2011 Part 8 Leon McDaniel of World War II (second post)

Okinawa – At the Emperor’s Doorstep” episode from “WWII: GI Diary”….. This old 1978 TV docu-drama was narrated by Lloyd Bridges and told the stories of real soldiers/sailors/pilots and their first-hand experiences in battle. Archival footage and good background music really made the stories come alive…..about 25 episodes were made. Video converted from really old […]

Veterans Day 2011 Part 7:You have heard of Jimmy Doolittle, but what about Leon A. McDaniel?

President Reagan and Senator Barry Goldwater present the fourth star to General Jimmy Doolittle during a White House ceremony in the Indian Treaty room, OEOB. 6/20/85. I love the movie “Pearl Harbor” with Ben Affleck and it tells the story of Jimmy Doolittle.  He was born in 1896 and died in 1993. He is pictured […]

Veterans Day 2011 Part 6 (A look back at Okinawa)

This portion below appeared in an article I did for the Saline Courier about 18 months ago: I went to the First Baptist Church in Little Rock from 1983 to 1997, and during that time I became friends with Walter Dickinson Sr. In fact, we used to attend a weekly luncheon together on Thursdays.  Just […]

Veterans Day 2011 Part 5 (A look back at the “Battle of the Bulge”)

The Lost Evidence: The Battle Of The Bulge (1/5) This article was published in the Saline Courier about 18 months ago: When we celebrate July 4th we are focusing on the freedoms that so many soldiers have fought for over the last 234 years. That focus has been highlighted for me since my son Hunter […]

Veterans Day 2011 Part 4

  This is taken from an article that appeared in the Saline Courier about a year ago: Bravery is not just limited to one generation, but Americans have had it in every generation. It makes me think about those who are currently serving in our military. Jon Chris Roberts who is graduate of Benton High […]

Veterans Day 2011 Part 3 (A look back at World War 1)

I was born in Tennessee and everyone in Tennessee knows the name of Alvin York. Above is a clip about his accomplishments in War World I. Cara Gist of Shannon Hills tells me that her grandfather Herbert S. Apple of Salado, Arkansas (near Batesville) fought in World War I. He served in France and fought […]

Veterans Day 2011 Part 2 (Bataan Death March)

My longtime friend Craig Carney is originally  from Jacksonville, and  he told me a couple of years ago about a friend of his parents from Jacksonville, Arkansas named Silas Legrow. Legrow  was going to speak at the Jacksonville Museum of Military History on April 17, 2008 about his experience in the March of 1942 when […]

Veterans Day 2011 (Black Hawk Down and North Little Rock’s Donavan “Bull” Briley)

The Background Facts of The Black Hawk Down (1/7) Uploaded by WarDocumentary on Feb 14, 2011 The movie Black Hawk Down was based on an actual event that took place in Mogadishu, Somalia. This documentary explains the event. _______________________________ On October 3, 2003 my son  played quarterback at the Arkansas Baptist High School Football game […]

War Hero Joe Speaks and D Day pictures

 Below I have the story of Joe Speaks who fought in Europe and was captured twice by the Germans. Photo by Associated Press American GI’s clamber into a landing craft as they prepare to hit the beaches along France’s Normandy coast in June 1944. The World War II operation was part of the massive Allied […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in War Heroes | Also tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Pearl Harbor 70 years ago (Part 2)

December 7, 2011 – 6:57 am

Uploaded by on Dec 7, 2009

At 06:05 on December 7, the six Japanese carriers launched a first wave of 183 planes composed mainly of dive bombers, horizontal bombers and fighters. The Japanese hit American ships and military installations at 07:51. The first wave attacked military airfields of Ford Island. At 08:30, a second wave of 170 Japanese planes, mostly torpedo bombers, attacked the fleet anchored in Pearl Harbor. The battleship Arizona was hit with an armor piercing bomb which penetrated the forward ammunition compartment, blowing the ship apart and sinking it within seconds. Overall, nine ships of the U.S. fleet were sunk and 21 ships were severely damaged. Three of the 21 would be irreparable. The overall death toll reached 2,350, including 68 civilians, and 1,178 injured. Of the military personnel lost at Pearl Harbor, 1,177 were from Arizona. The first shots fired were from the destroyer Ward on a midget submarine that had surfaced outside of Pearl Harbor; Ward did successfully sink the midget sub at approximately 06:55, about an hour before the assault on Pearl Harbor.

___________________

Here is a portion of an article from Pittsburgh Tribune-Review :

Dwindling number of Pearl Harbor survivors recall that fateful day

By Rachel Weaver and Richard Robbin, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Read more: Dwindling number of Pearl Harbor survivors recall that fateful day – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Most Western Pennsylvanians who survived the “date which will live in infamy” are in their late 80s or early 90s. Here are a few of their stories about that day:

Alexander Dyga of Kilbuck

Pvt. Alexander Dyga of Kilbuck awoke to the familiar sound of his superior pounding on the door of the room he shared with three men at the Army’s Schofield Barracks on Oahu. They worked early to clean mule stalls, before the temperature climbed to 80 degrees.

He was eager to get to the mess hall for breakfast. Instead, he would spend two days helping to move bodies.

“A lot of men had been blown apart,” said Dyga, 88. “It didn’t bother me. I was too young then.”

They carried men from Wheeler Field, site of the first attack, to doctors at Schofield. Dyga saw dead sailors whose burned bodies floated to the ocean surface after ship explosions.

He has returned to Hawaii more than 10 times. He’s there this week, observing the anniversary.

He filled his home with souvenirs marking his trips. Some are fun, such as the plastic hula dolls that line a dining room shelf. Others are meaningful, such as framed photographs of Dyga with other survivors.

A Dravosburg native, Dyga served in the Army and Air Force for a combined 20 years, and worked in utilities and maintenance. He and his wife, Annamarie, whom he met in Germany, married in 1948; she died in 2005. They have a son, three grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

Pearson Harkema of Monessen

Seaman 1st Class Pearson Harkema of Monessen assumed the aircraft flying toward the USS Oklahoma was a U.S. plane, until he saw the red dot on its side.

Then the first of nine torpedoes hit the battleship, causing it to tilt. Harkema slid over the side, hitting his knees on the way into the water. He swam a short distance to shore and thought the rest of the crew would reach safety. More than 400 did not.

A rescue crew found Harkema sitting in oil-soaked clothes. When a Marine offered his clothes, Harkema took them. Years later, Harkema realized that if he had died, wearing clothes with another man’s name stenciled inside, the wrong family would have received notice that their son was dead.

“You never think about things like you do in later years,” said Harkema, 91, seated with his wife of 60 years, Marion.

He never returned to Pearl Harbor.

“I had my fill on Dec. 7,” he said.

Harkema went on to serve with the Navy aboard the USS North Hampton and battleship USS Indiana. He worked in steel mills for 30 years. He and Marion have two children and two grandchildren.

Related posts:

Veterans Day 2011 Part 9:Roy “Roxy” Oxenrider survived Korean War’s Toughest Battle

Picture of Roy after he had recovered at the hospital. Picture of Roy below in the hospital recovering from his injuries followed by a picture of Roy encouraging another soldier who was in the hospital:  Below is an article that was published in November of 2010 in the Saline Courier: Saline County War Hero Bryant […]

Veterans Day 2011 Part 8 Leon McDaniel of World War II (second post)

Okinawa – At the Emperor’s Doorstep” episode from “WWII: GI Diary”….. This old 1978 TV docu-drama was narrated by Lloyd Bridges and told the stories of real soldiers/sailors/pilots and their first-hand experiences in battle. Archival footage and good background music really made the stories come alive…..about 25 episodes were made. Video converted from really old […]

Veterans Day 2011 Part 7:You have heard of Jimmy Doolittle, but what about Leon A. McDaniel?

President Reagan and Senator Barry Goldwater present the fourth star to General Jimmy Doolittle during a White House ceremony in the Indian Treaty room, OEOB. 6/20/85. I love the movie “Pearl Harbor” with Ben Affleck and it tells the story of Jimmy Doolittle.  He was born in 1896 and died in 1993. He is pictured […]

Veterans Day 2011 Part 6 (A look back at Okinawa)

This portion below appeared in an article I did for the Saline Courier about 18 months ago: I went to the First Baptist Church in Little Rock from 1983 to 1997, and during that time I became friends with Walter Dickinson Sr. In fact, we used to attend a weekly luncheon together on Thursdays.  Just […]

Veterans Day 2011 Part 5 (A look back at the “Battle of the Bulge”)

The Lost Evidence: The Battle Of The Bulge (1/5) This article was published in the Saline Courier about 18 months ago: When we celebrate July 4th we are focusing on the freedoms that so many soldiers have fought for over the last 234 years. That focus has been highlighted for me since my son Hunter […]

Veterans Day 2011 Part 4

  This is taken from an article that appeared in the Saline Courier about a year ago: Bravery is not just limited to one generation, but Americans have had it in every generation. It makes me think about those who are currently serving in our military. Jon Chris Roberts who is graduate of Benton High […]

Veterans Day 2011 Part 3 (A look back at World War 1)

I was born in Tennessee and everyone in Tennessee knows the name of Alvin York. Above is a clip about his accomplishments in War World I. Cara Gist of Shannon Hills tells me that her grandfather Herbert S. Apple of Salado, Arkansas (near Batesville) fought in World War I. He served in France and fought […]

Veterans Day 2011 Part 2 (Bataan Death March)

My longtime friend Craig Carney is originally  from Jacksonville, and  he told me a couple of years ago about a friend of his parents from Jacksonville, Arkansas named Silas Legrow. Legrow  was going to speak at the Jacksonville Museum of Military History on April 17, 2008 about his experience in the March of 1942 when […]

Veterans Day 2011 (Black Hawk Down and North Little Rock’s Donavan “Bull” Briley)

The Background Facts of The Black Hawk Down (1/7) Uploaded by WarDocumentary on Feb 14, 2011 The movie Black Hawk Down was based on an actual event that took place in Mogadishu, Somalia. This documentary explains the event. _______________________________ On October 3, 2003 my son  played quarterback at the Arkansas Baptist High School Football game […]

War Hero Joe Speaks and D Day pictures

 Below I have the story of Joe Speaks who fought in Europe and was captured twice by the Germans. Photo by Associated Press American GI’s clamber into a landing craft as they prepare to hit the beaches along France’s Normandy coast in June 1944. The World War II operation was part of the massive Allied […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in War Heroes | Also tagged , , , | Comments (0)