Clik here to view.
Victor Brenk of Burnt Store Marina kept Patton’s 3rd Army moving during...
Victor Brenk of Burnt Store Marina, south of Punta Gorda, Fla. was 18 when he joined Gen. George S. Patton in Europe during World War II as a member of the 851st Ordinance Heavy Auto Maintenance...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Young aviation cadet writes to mom from Arcadia, Fla. in 1918 near end of WW I
I was recently given copies of 14 letters from a young flying cadet named “Clarence” taking “Pursuit Training” at Carlstrom Field, just south of Arcadia, Fla. in the fall of 1918. He sent the letters...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lt. Col. Bill Richardson of Port Charlotte, Fla. served in WW II, Korea and...
Lt. Col. Bill Richardson (Ret) of Port Charlotte, Fla. fought in three of this country’s wars—World War II, Korea and Vietnam — during his 33 – years of military service. A little less than a month...
View ArticleClik here to view.
He was a tanker in the 2nd Armored Division – Pfc. Bill Kilfeder fought in...
Bill Kilfeder has a connection to the Douglas T. Jacobson State Veterans Nursing Home in Port Charlotte. His daughter, Liz Barton, runs the place. The 90-year-old vet was a member of the 2nd Armored...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Luck played big part in Jay Vredevoogd’s World War II experience in Italy
It’s all a bit fuzzy now for 87-year-old Jay Vredevoogd of Port Charlotte, Fla. who served as an engineer in Gen. Mark Clark’s 5th Army in North Africa, Sicily and Italy in World War II. He was in many...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Nick Casertano of Venice, Fla. fought with Merrill’s Maraudersm during WW II
Nick Casertano of Venice, Fla. helped Merrill’s Marauders rid the Burma Road of Japanese soldiers during World War II. He was a mortar-man in the 475th Infantry Regiment. The 20-year-old “dog face”...
View ArticleClik here to view.
He kept the engines of war running – Sgt. Harold Wallace got gas and diesel...
Harold Wallace of Arcadia. Fla. was a sergeant in the U.S. Army’s 782nd Engineering Petroleum Distribution Company serving in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II. It was his unit’s...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Jim Winslow of Venice, Fla. served aboard the nuclear sub USS Francis Scott...
Jim Winslow of Venice, Fla. served as an electrician’s mate 2nd class aboard the ballistic missile submarine Francis Scott Key during the Vietnam War era. He helped keep the nuclear reactor that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
He was off Omaha Beach on D-Day, Jim Kolka was aboard USS Ezra Cornell
Almost a week before D-Day, Seaman 1st Class Jim Kolka was waiting in the English Channel aboard a liberty ship, the USS Ezra Cornell off the coast of France, along with tens of thousands of other...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sp-4 Robert Weatherhead lost right leg at end of Vietnam tour
Minutes before Spc.-4 Robert Weatherhead was to fly out of the Vietnam jungle in 1969 at the end of his tour with the 25th Infantry Division, he and his buddies got in a firefight with a couple of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Marine barracks in Lebanon blown up, 241 killed in blast 33 years ago
It was 33 years ago that 241 U.S. Marines were killed when a terrorist truck bomb went off next to a Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon while they were trying to keep the peace between Isralies and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Budd Brown fought the Korean War with a sax in his hand
Budd Brown of Port Charlotte, Fla. fought the Korean War with a saxophone in his hand. He serve as a member of the 2nd Platoon, 10th Special Services Company, 8th Army from January 1952 until February...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bud Whitney arrived at Pearl Harbor Navy Yard 6 days before Japanese attack...
When the Japanese bombed America’s Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor shortly before 8 a.m., Dec. 7, 1941 “Bud” Whitney was a 19-year-old electrician’s helper working at the Navy Yard in Pearl. He had...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Capt. Scott Moyer, 1st Sgt. Jim Hargis earn Combat Infantryman’s Badge in Iraq
There are few commendations more important to a U.S. Army soldier than the Combat Infantryman’s Badge. One-inch high by three-inches-long with a silver infantry musket and an oak leaf wreath says the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sgt. Taylor saved soldiers’ lives in Iraq War
By the time Daren Taylor reached Iraq during “Operation Enduring Freedom” at Christmas time 2005, he had served more than three years in the Army as a combat medic. He was a sergeant attached to the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sgt. Sapp was the best platoon sergeant there ever was, in my view
I don’t normally write war stories about myself, but since this is “Black History Month” I thought it was appropriate to talk about my first time away from home in the integrated U.S. Army. This story...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Jim Koder served aboard 6 aircraft carriers during his 22-year Naval career...
Jim Koder of Port Charlotte, Fla. spent more than 20 years in the Navy. Much of the time he served aboard six aircraft carriers—the Ranger, Bennington, John F. Kennedy, Saratoga, Forrestal and the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Al Trombi finally hears rest of his war story – Englewood, Fla. man was 8...
Al Trombi of Englewood, Fla. just returned from the first-ever Kamikaze Survivors Reunion held in Everett, Wash., last week. It was the trip of a lifetime for him. Trombi served aboard the destroyer...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sp-3 Francis Durso was on H-19 helicopter crew that flew Cardinal Spellman...
When Francis Durso of North Port. Fla. arrived in Korea in 1955 as a member of the 13th Helicopter Company based in Uijongbu, South Korea, approximately 80 miles north of Seoul and 30 miles south of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
New Guinea cannibals eye Air Corps Sgt. Francis Drab for Sunday dinner
Sgt. Francis Drab of Venice, Fla. was a member of the 5th Air Force stationed in the Pacific during World War II. He has a war story that almost rivals James Mitchner’s “Tales of the South Pacific.”...
View Article