Our story began 46 years ago in the jungles of Vietnam. In 1970 Charlie Company 2nd 506th Infantry BN 101st Airborne Division known as “Currahees” was part of the effort to re-open and defend a strategic firebase on the edge of the notorious A Shau Valley which began March 12, 1970 and continued through July 22nd of that year. Charlie Company would lose 17 men in the siege of Firebase Ripcord. We would lose another seven in the months that…..
My husband, Jerry Richard Steele joined the USMC in 1957. I joined the Navy after high school in January 1960 and attended boot camp in Bainbridge, MD. Then I was stationed at NAS Jacksonville, Florida, where I spent two years before Jerry was stationed there at the Marine Corps barracks. He already had orders for Camp Pendleton, CA but got them postponed for five months until I could get out to go with him. I had to wait for my…..
I served from 1978 to 1982 as a U.S. Marine. My older brother, Jimmy served in the U.S. Marine Corps and spent 13 months in Vietnam. He never spoke of his experiences. I remember when I was young and he came home. I was a teenager then. We slept in the same room and he had lots of nightmares. It scared me because he didn’t know where he was. I didn’t understand and was afraid he might do something to…..
My dad, Joe C. Andrew was with the 82nd Airborne, 508th, Hqs Company. He jumped into Holland and on D-Day and never talked about the war, except only in bits and pieces. He spent 28 years in the U.S, Army and retired as a CWO-4. Dad was part of the honor guard that stayed in Frankfurt, Germany after the war ended. He found a boy there trying to get food and the kid was walking over a pile of hand…..
In July of 1967, I was a rebellious college dropout and found myself serving with the Eleventh Armored Cavalry Regiment in the Vietnam War. I served in 1967 to 1968 and pictured here with the group front row second from the left without a hat. My MOS was 82C20 but I was FDC and Artillery Liaison in Nam. I guess my offbeat sense of humor and optimistic attitude helped me to survive as I watched my friends become statistics. The…..
While shopping at Walmart, we had the wonderful honor of meeting Korean War Veteran Ralph Calabrese who served in the US Army, 2nd Infantry. His devoted dog Molly stands guard 24/7 and never leaves Ralph’s side. God Bless all who serve!
“I was blown up by a 4.2 mortar in September 1944 at a secret base in the Sahara Desert. It was a horrible mess and many were killed. It was considered “friendly fire” and kept quiet. We all had to sign an oath to never talk about his for 65 years. I was in a coma for 3 1/2 months. When I finally awakened I was at the 7th station hospital in Oran, Africa. I must have landed on my…..
Mother, Lois Conover Pate in her ROTC uniform with Dad, James Alton Pate in his Marine Corp uniform. Dad spoke little of his wartime experience. He signed up the Monday after Pearl Harbor but they would not let him go until his 17th birthday. He was on a troop train on his 17th birthday and 5 weeks after Pearl Harbor. He told a few war stories but not many and not often. -James Byron Pate
I care deeply about all veterans and it saddens me. They all made sacrifices for our so called country including my Father, Chris Herman who fought on the front lines in Iwo Jima. When they were taking Mt. Sirabachi, he was in a fox hole in the hill. Everybody else was dead but him. The Japanese were everywhere. So he stacked the bodies of his fellow Marines and crawled underneath them. He was stuck there for at least a day…..
My father was in the 175th IR of the 29th ID landed at Omaha Beach. He received the Bronze Star. This is a picture of him when he arrived in Paris during WWII. My late father-in-law was in a Tank Destroyer Unit in Patton’s 3rd Army. He thought of me and loved me as his son and I thought of him and loved him as my father. Because of that and our veteran connection he told me stories about his…..
