Here are some recent articles of interest that I found this week for U.S. Veterans. Enjoy!
Jumping for History: Spitfire pilot finally parachutes for the first time – at the age of 92
Veteran Spitfire pilot Peter Proctor gasps with excitement as he leaps out of a plane for the first time … at the age of 92. Plucky Peter flew the legendary fighter plane after joining the RAF in 1942 – but never used a parachute until this week. Despite artificial hips and a false knee, he plunged more than 13,000 feet to complete his first freefall skydive, strapped onto instructor Ian Charnock. After tumbling into space and falling at 120mph before his chute opened, Peter chuckled: “It was amazing and very exhilarating reports the Daily Mirror.
Read more here…
Help Support our Kickstarter Campaign: Making History: 82nd Airborne Veteran Oral Histories by Patrick Russell
The Making History Project makes history for the future by preserving the memories of World War II and Veterans through oral histories, pictures, documents, and artifacts. While we cannot change history, we can certainly make history today for future generations by accumulating, documenting and archiving those important memories.
An oral history is an interview with the Veteran so he/she can take us back in time and tell us what is what like to be there. This is a walk through history in the eyes of a Veteran that lived it. Oral history obtains the sights, sounds, and feelings from an experience. The Veteran tells you just how it was, including his/her hopes, dreams and fears. A fascinating trip down memory lane as though you had your own personal time-machine.
Read more here…
History Lesson: Who the heck was Kilroy? A tale of ships and wartime
When I started working in the oilpatch in 1955, most of the guys I worked with were World War II veterans. Many of the Cajuns I worked with here in south Louisiana worked in shipyards all along the coast during the war. I was just a 16-year-old kid and I was amazed and awed at the stories about the war that the guys would swap.
Whether they were wartime soldiers or shipyard workers they could tell some tales. They always talked about the mysterious Kilroy.
Twenty years later I was a drilling supervisor on an old offshore “platform” drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico off south Louisiana. I was looking at the big electric motors in the engine room. The rig mechanic was there and he told me the electric motors were WWII submarine motors. He showed me a place near the underside of one of the motors. Written in black paint was, “Kilroy was here.”
For the WWII generation, this will bring back memories. For the younger folks, it’s a bit of trivia that is a part of our American history. Anyone born in the teens, ’20s, and ’30s, is familiar with Kilroy reports theadvertiser.com
Read more here…
History’s Weapons: TOP 10 WWII TANKS
View video here…
History Maker: Soviet WWII Veteran Celebrates One Hundredth Birthday
Ilia Starodubsky, better known as Ilia Stark, is a Soviet WWII veteran with a very accomplished career. After his service, he made his living in the field of science. He eventually moved to the United States and gained citizenship. The former Soviet WWII veteran now lives in Pinehurst, in North Carolina. He recently celebrated his one hundredth birthday. Despite his age, he is still able to recall his experiences during the war as if they were yesterday.
Read more here…
Thank you for reading (and sharing). Stay tuned for next week’s weekly review for U.S. Veterans.
