Here are some recent articles of interest that I found this week for U.S. Veterans. Enjoy!
Remembering History Makers: Internet Rallies For 107-Year-Old WWII Vet Who Worried No One Would Attend His Funeral
Before Roscoe Cassidy died last week, the WWII veteran was concerned no one would attend his funeral. He needn’t have worried.
Cassidy, who died last Tuesday at 107, told his family he’d outlived so many of his friends there’d be no one left to show up at his funeral, reports WAVE. Thanks to groups like the Patriot Guard and Reddit, dozens of well-wishers attended Cassidy’s service on Saturday, armed with American flags and salutes.
“It’s important for us to be at these funerals and to support these veterans and show them that somebody cares and show the community that they’ve got a lot of people behind them,” Patriot Guard State Captain Danny Valentine told WKYT, explaining his group’s mission. Roscoe’s son, Mike, told Lex18 his dad “loved his shot of moonshine every day and he said that was his secret to life.” As for the strangers who came to see him off, Mike says “I think it would bring tears to [Roscoe’s] eyes. He would just be so pleased.” Read more here…
These Trees Do Talk: Tree Carvings Help Date World War II Site in Poland
Near the forest where trenches were discovered, are the remains bunkers built by the Germans shortly before World War II. The Międzyrzecz Fortification Region was a system of fortifications created by the Germans to defend the eastern borders of the Third Reich. It was built in the years 1934 – 1944. It did not play a large role during World War II, as the Nazis retreated earlier before the Soviet troops.
A few dozen carvings have been discovered on the beech trees. The researchers divided them into three groups. Those belonging to the first group were made even before the last world war. Dates that appear include “1915”, “1925”, “1930”, accompanied by initials, including one instance of initials with a heart surrounding them. The second group are the carvings associated with the period of World War II. The third group consists of carvings from the period after 1945. Among them is a Polish name and the date 1966/67. The most interesting were the inscriptions from the World War II period. Read more here…
Nisei Veterans: Fallen Japanese-American WWII are remembered
The Nisei Veterans Legacy Center has hosted an annual event honoring fallen WWII Japanese-American soldiers and their families since 2006. This year’s ceremony was held on the morning of September 28th, 2014 at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, otherwise know as Punchbowl Cemetery.
Those recognized included troops who died in the line of duty while serving in four segregated units including: the 100th Infantry Battalion, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the 1399 Engineer Construction Battalion and the Military Intelligence Service. After Japan attacked Pearl Harbour, there were over 20,000 Americans of Japanese Ancestry who served in these units, the Eye Witness News reports. Read more here…
History Maker: As rear gunner, Martin Charters flew 40 missions under heavy fire is finally honored
As a so-called ‘Tail-end Charlie’ – a rear gunner in a World War Two bomber plane – Martin Charters had the most dangerous job in the most dangerous part of the UK’s armed forces. Not only did he survive almost 40 raids in the flak-filled skies over heavily defended Nazi-occupied Europe, he has now reached the age of 93. Now his service has been recognised with a special ceremony to award him a Bomber Command clasp.
It took so long for the government to honour the actions of the wartime bomber air crews that many of the Killyleagh man’s comrades did not live long enough to get the special clasps which have only been issued over the past two years. Moral questions over the bombing of residential areas in German cities 70 years ago meant that in post-war Britain the work of Bomber Command was never officially recognised by the authorities until the Queen backed moves by Prime Minister David Cameron for the Bomber Command Clasp in 2012. Read more here…
Thank you for reading (and sharing). Stay tuned for next week’s weekly review for U.S. Veterans.
