Tarawa Marine Identified and Reburied: Pfc. Royal L. Waltz

From the September 29, 2021, Santa Maria (California) Times "Hanford Marine killed in World War II laid to rest with honors" by Donald A Promnitz.

He was found eight years ago on the tiny Pacific island of Betio in the Battle of Tarawa.

The ceremony took place at the church of his youth, the First Methodist Church, and he was buried among family at Grangeville Cemetery.

He was born in Hanford in 1923 and grew up there until his family moved to Cambria in 1940.  He joined the Marines in the summer of 1941 and was at Pearl Harbor when it was attacked.  He  went on to serve in the Pacific Theater and was at the American first offensive at Guadalcanal in 1942.

After a short rest, he was part of the Marine attack on the island of Betio in the Battle of Tarawa which was ought primarily to capture a strategic Japanese airfield.  It was an intense battle in which  over 1,000 Americans were killed in a 76-hour period of time.  

Many of the Americans drowned before they could even reach the beach.  According to former Marine SGM Justin LeHew,  witnesses confirmed that  Waltz was able to reach the shore before being mortally wounded on November 20, 1943, the first day of the landing.

LeHew serves as the chief operating officer for History Flight, a non-profit group dedicated to finding, identifying and bringing home fallen military personnel.  They found Waltz's remains in 2013 during n excavation and six years later they were able to positively able to identify his remains.

This group has found and identified many of the USMC unknowns on Betio.

He was buried with full military honors.

Bringing the Boys Home.  --GreGen

Remains of 2nd Lt. Ernest N. Vienneau to Be Buried in Maine-- Part 2

His remains were not recovered until June 20 Defense POW/MIA  Accounting Agency, working with Lone Wolf Productions  to film underwater  excavation of a B-24 Liberator plan wreck off Vis Island.

Enough evidence was collected during a dive for recovery of Vienneu's B-17.  His remains were recovered in the fall of 020 and identified through evidence on April16, 2021.

Funeral service will be  on October 9, 2021 and will be performed by Lamson Funeral Home of Lincoln.

--GreGen

Remains of 2nd Lt. Ernest N. Vienneau to Be Returned Home to Maine

From the September 28, 2021, News Center Maine "Remains of Millinocket man, World War II vet,  to be buried in Millinocket Cemetery" by Beth Brogan.

The remains of Ernest N. Vienneau will be buried in Millinocket on October 9, this year.

U.S. Army Air Force 2nd Lieutenant Ernest N. Vienneau was a pilot assigned to the 240th  Bombardment Squadron, 97th Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force, based in Amendola, Italy.

On November 6, 1944, when Vienneau was 25, he was co-piloting a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber over Maribor, Yugoslavia,  now Slovenia, when it came under heavy fire and he was hit in the head by a piece of flak that penetrated the cockpit.

While he was being treated  for the injury, his co-pilot attempted to fly the damaged B-17 back to base, but was forced to ditch off the coast of Vis Island, Croatia.

Ten crew members survived, but Vienneu's body was not recovered.

--GreGen

WW II Veteran Celebrates 103rd Birthday: Technical Sgt. Raymond Kenney

From the August 28, 2021,  Fox 23 News  Tulsa, Oklahoma.

World War II Veteran Technical Sergeant  Raymond Kenney celebrated his 103rd birthday at the Tulsa VFW on Saturday.

When Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941, he was working at  the Winchester Repeating Arms Company in New Haven, Connecticut.  He immediately wanted to enlist, but couldn't because he was working  in a defense plant.  he told his employer that he wanted to be a Marine and that he would train a replacement if they would release him to serve.

Kenney joined the Marine Corps on August 20, 1942, and shipped off to Parris Island, South Carolina,  for boot camp.  While there, he was asked if he had any flight training, which he had,  so he was shipped off to flight training school and awarded his Naval Aviator Wings.

He was then ordered to Cherry Point, North Carolina, to join MAG (Marine Air Group) 35 of the 2nd Marine  Aircraft Wing.

He flew both  the Douglas SBD (Scout Bomber Douglas) Dive-bombers and  the F4U3 Corsairs.

After the Japanese surrender, he served with the occupation forces of Japan until April 22, 1946, when he returned home.

--GreGen

WW II Veteran Kathleen Hilbrandt Laid to Rest with Military Honors. She Was a Member of the WASPs

From the August 18, 2021,  Tap Into Rahway (New Jersey).

Her funeral was delayed a year because of COVID, but arrangements were made for August 14, 2021.

Kathleen "Kay" Ann Hilbrandt (1924-2020) during World War II was one  of only 1,074 women to take part in the Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) program  Though, serving in non-combat positions,  these female pilots offered indispensable assistance on behalf of the war effort by  ferrying planes from factories to bases and flight-testing aircraft.  This freed up men to fly in combat areas.

According to the National Women's History Museum, they were, "the first women to fly for the U.S. military, paving the way for women to serve equally in the U.S. Air Force."

Hilbrandt had cultivated a love of flying from a young age.  Raised in Garwood, she began taking fly lessons right out of high school.  In 1943, she was working for Eastern Aircraft, a division of  General Motors, becoming one of the first female  mechanics for the TBM Avenger torpe4do bomber.

By the time she was 19, she already had 85 flight hours and was immediately accepted into the WASPs, and stationed at Eagle Pass Army Air Field in Texas during the war,

After the war, she returned home and became a flight instructor from 1945-1948.    She also assisted veterans, instructing them under the G.I. Bill of Rights and helped them earn private and commercial  pilot licenses.

--GreGen

Veteran Turns 100 in Mississippi: Talmage Byrd

From the September13, 2021, AP News  "Mississippi World War II veteran celebrates 100th birthday."

Talmage Byrd of Vancleave was born in 1921 and joined the U.S. Navy when he was 20  years old, saying he was influenced by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

His first post was near the Aleutian Islands, then he  was moved to Astoria, Oregon, where he repaired battle damaged ships.  In the 1950s, he was stationed in Guam.

His military service inspired generations of his family to serve their country.  His son, Larry Byrd, joined the  Air Force in 1965, serving more than twenty years servicing aircraft like B-52s before retiring in 1986.  His grandson,  Chris Rowell,  served in  the Army beginning in 2007 and was stationed in Baghdad, Iraq, for 13 months.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Byrd.

--GreGen

WW II Shipwrecks OFF NC's Coast-- Part 5: Many Are War Graves

"Each wreck (story) has two parts:  There's the wreck itself on the bottom,  and the history of what it went through to end up on the bottom." Tane Casserley said.  "Most  of these wreck are war graves.  People died on these (ships)  going down in horrible ways.  Some of the vessels lost up to twenty guys that went down in burning flames and drowned."

In the case of the freighter Portland, which ran aground  in 1943, the July 2021 expedition marked the first time investigators have visited the site.

Another visit is planned for the summer of 2022, in partnership with the heritage-presentation group known as Diving  with a Purpose.  A member of that group was a volunteer in the July expedition according to officials.

Side scan data was collected at  each of the 13  wrecks during the  expedition.  The new sonar imaging  will provide a better  idea of what remains of the  wrecks on the sea floor, officials said.

--GreGen

WW II Wrecks Off NC's Coast-- Part 4: How Many Shipwrecks in the Graveyard of the Atlantic

One of the biggest mysteries of the Graveyard of the  Atlantic is just how many  shipwrecks it holds.  Some experts say 5,000 and others say it is more like 2,000.

Bo matter the number,  the wrecks collectively tell an important story about the United States

"You can throw a rock and hit a shipwreck off North Carolina,"  said Tane Casserley.    "We really have the story of America's rise  as a super power off the coast."

That story includes German U-boats coming to North Carolina, where they sank unarmed merchant ships.  Of the 1,700 men lost in the Battle of the Atlantic, about 1,200 were U.S. merchant marines.

The merchant ships they preyed upon will be a key component of the proposed marine sanctuary expansion, says Casserley, who is resource protection and permit coordinator for the sanctuary.

--GreGen

World War II Wrecks Off NC's Outer Banks-- Part 3: Even Two WW I Ships

"Off the coast of North Carolina lies the remains of a forgotten  World War II battlefield that serves as the final resting place of  nearly 1,700 men lost during the Battle of the Atlantic,"  NOAA reports in its proposal.  "In just three years, from 1942 to 1945, 90 ships were lost off  North Carolina alone as a result of this action. of 78 merchant  tankers and freighters, eight Allied warships and  four German U-boats resting on the seabed."

The thirteen ships visited by the team recently included two with ties to World War I, Light Vessel 71 and Merak, and six  from World War II:  the Portland, F.W. Abrams,  Kesehena,  Kasandra Louloudis, City of Atlanta and San Delfino.

In the case of the City of Atlanta,  43 of the 46 people aboard died, while 28 of 50 on the San Delfino perished.

--GreGen

Important Dates WW II, Sept. 15 &17: Nuremburg Laws, Battle of Britain, Poland, Operation Market Garden

SEPTEMBER 15

**  1935:  The Nuremburg Laws deprived German Jews of their citizenship and made the swastika the official symbol of Nazi Germany.

**  1940:  During the Battle of Britain the tide turned as the Luftwaffe sustained heavy losses inflicted by the Royal Air Force.

SEPTEMBER 17

**  1939:  The Soviet Union invaded Poland, more than two weeks after Germany launched its assault on that country.

**  1944:  Allied paratroopers launched Operation Market Garden, landing behind German lines in the Netherlands.

The Allies, however, encountered fierce German resistance.

--GreGen

Important Dates in WW II, September 12: Sudeten, RMS Laconia, Freeing Mussolini and Germany First Time

The last several days there have been quite a few dates associated with the war in the Chicago Tribune's "This Date" lists.

ON SEPTEMBER 12

**  1938:  Adolf Hitler demanded self-determination for Sudeten Germans in Czechoslovakia.

**  1942:  During WW II, a German U-boat off West Africa torpedoed the RMS Laconia, which was carrying Italian prisoners of war, British soldiers and civilians.

It's estimated that more than 1,600 people died while some 1,100 survived after the ship sank.  The German crew, joined by other U-boats, began rescue operations.

**  1943:  German paratroopers extracted Benito Mussolini from the hotel where he was being held by the Italian government.

**  1944:  U.S. Army troops entered Germany for the first time.

--GreGen

World War II Wrecks Off NC's Outer Banks-- Part 2:

Continued from September 9, 2021.

Thirteen wrecks were located by the tam over seven days this past July.  However, a 14th wreck, the Brewster, was not found at its expected position, seven miles south of Cape Hatteras.  Maybe the data on its position is incorrect or maybe it's still there, buried under the sand.

Collecting data about the shipwrecks is the latest step in a proposal to expand the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary beyond the single Civil War wreck.  The sanctuary was created to protect the ironclad USS Monitor, but historians note that there are also internationally significant wrecks in the area from World War I and World War II.

A specific list of wrecks being considered for the expanded sanctuary has not been released, but the proposed  expansion "would constitute the largest area designated as a World War II battlefield anywhere in the United States, NOAA says.

--GreGen

Interviews with First Responders Tells Story of 9/11-- Part 3: Ladder 118

Steven Mosiello rejected other officers; suggestions to go home.  He had to be there when his boss' body was recovered.  Then he went to deliver the terrible news to Chief Ganci's widow.

Thomas Vallebuona and other exhausted fire chiefs took a break to phone home.  Some learned that there had been two other hijackings.  One hit the Pentagon, the other crashed short of the terrorists' target when the passengers rushed the cockpit.

Other first responders left to shower and rest before returning to work at the tragic site.

But Ladder 118 didn't return to its Brooklyn quarters.  Its crew were killed when the South Tower collapsed.

Ordinarily, their replacements would erase the firehouse's assignment board and sign in.  Instead  there, to this day, are the chalk-scrawled names:

Lt. Robert Regan

Leon Smith

Vernon Cherry

Scott Davidson

Peter Vega

Joey Agnello

Interviews With First Responders Told the Story-- Part 2: Last Communication with the Chief

Every September 11, I take a time out on my blogs to write about the events of that day back in 2001.

Superiors in the fire department decided that the first priority was to evacuate civilians.  That, of course, meant going into the towers.

Peter Ganci Jr., the chief of the department, rushed to the scene, told his assistant to find two ladder companies, and went inside to size up the situation.

"O.K., Chief, I have the trucks coming," Steven Mosiello recounted radioing his boss.   "I'll be there in a couple minutes.  The next thing, the second tower came down.  I'm calling, 'Chief Ganci:  Car 3A to Car 3, Car 3, Car 3' -- he never answered."

Firefighter Joseph Moela recalled:  "You heard guys -- firemen, chiefs, lieutenants, I don't know who -- yelling conflicting reports, some saying, 'Get the hell out of the tower.  get out of Tower 1.'  You know, Tower 2 fell."

Interviews With 9/11 First Responders Told the Story-- Part 1: Engine 7

From the Sept. 10, 2021, Chicago Tribune by Ron Grossman.

Fortunately the survivors of that day can speak for those they lost thanks to interviews made by the New York Fire Department shortly after 9/11.

Here are some of those excerpts:

Firefighter Thomas Spinard of Engine 7 stationed at a firehouse on Duane Street in lower Manhattan, began the day responding to a box alarm that proved false.

"As we were at the box, a plane passes us overhead real low,"  he said.  "You could hear it; you could feel it.  We turned around, and it just impacted the building, building one.  With that, everybody got on the rig.  We started driving."

American Airlines Flight 11 with its passengers and crew had been hijacked by al-Qaida terrorists after taking off from Boston.  At 8:46 a.m., it struck the 110-story north tower of the World Trade Center.

Engine 7 found a hydrant and started pumping water on the building.

"While we were still in the middle of the street, another plane comes in, makes a big circle, comes around from like the Statue of Liberty direction, and hits (Tower) 2," Spinard recalled.

Dazed by the impact and blinded by a cloud of debris and smoke, Engine 7's crew scattered.  Regaining their composure, they regrouped and resumed pumping water on the fire.

World War II Wrecks Off North Carolina's Outer Banks-- Part 1: Some Can Move

From the September 6, 2021, Independent Tribune "Shipwrecks can go 'missing' off Outer Banks.  Here's why NOAA team went hunting for 13" by Mark Price of the Charlotte Observer.

They call it the "Graveyard of the Atlantic" off the coast of North Carolina. Ships sink, but do they stay where they sank?  That's what a team set off to see recently.

The fact is, historic shipwrecks can move and appear to go missing at times.

With this in mind, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) sent an expedition to check on the status of 13 known shipwrecks, most of which were tied with acts of war.  This is also part of a proposed expansion of the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary.

Currents and storms off Cape Hatteras sometimes cover and uncover shipwrecks, even move them.

Among the best-known examples of a shipwreck "moving" off the North Carolina coast took place in 2011 when a shipwreck known as the Spar (a former Coast Guard ship sunk as an artificial reef) was moved about 200 feet by Hurricane Irene.

--GreGen

Fort Fisher Celebrates Its Lesser-Known WW II History

From the September 4, 2021, WWAY 3 ABC/CBS News by Matthew Huddleston.

Fort Fisher is celebrating the 80th anniversary of World War II training exercises that took place at the Civil War fort.  They began in 1941 when Fort Fisher trained anti-aircraft batteries.  To commemorate this, activities for all ages were held this past Saturday.

According to organizers, there was a steady turnout all day for the free activities that included reenactors in period clothing and uniforms.

Events coordinator Si Lawrence says many people are not aware of the role the fort played during the war, though most know about its role in the Civil War.

He said the event was canceled last year due to COVID, but it is normally held in September to honor the WW II history.

--GreGen

Barber Brothers Finally Home After Nearly 80 Years-- Part 2: Three Died on USS Oklahoma December 7, 1941

About 10 years ago, the government started identifying the remains using modern forensics such as DNA and have had much success.  The majority of the Oklahoma's Unknown are now known, including Malcom, Leroy and Randolph Barber.

The Barber brothers began arriving one at a time at Milwaukee this past Tuesday to Thursday.  On each occasion, six Navy sailors carried each flag-draped coffin from the plane to the hearse.  They were then conveyed to the Cline and Hanson Funeral Home in New London, Wisconsin, where they will be cremated and their urns placed at a gravesite that's sat empty all these years.

Nearly 80 years later, the Barber brothers will finally be home.

They will be buried with full military honors on September 11, 2021,  at Most Precious  Blood Cemetery in New London.

I wrote about the three brothers back in June when their identification was released.  There is a picture of the three Barber brothers to the right of this post.

The grief that poor family must have experienced losing not one but three sons at the same time is unimaginable,

--GreGen

Barber Brothers Finally Home After Nearly 80 Years. Died on USS Oklahoma December 7, 1941-- Part 1

From September 2, 2021, 2 First Alert (Wisconsin) WBAY "Barber brothers back home in New London nearly 80 Years after Pearl Harbor Attack" by Jeff Alexander.

New London, Wisconsin.

December 7, 1941, has haunted this community ever since that day in 1941.

"Even as a kid growing up we heard the story of what happened with the Oklahoma  being sunk at Pearl Harbor and the three brothers being on it at the time, and the whole town, it was twenty years before I was born, but I know it was a major event in the city," recalls Kevin Rusch, owner of Cline & Hanson Funeral Home.

Navy sailors Malcom,  Leroy and Randolph Barber died that day along with 426 other members of the battleship USS Oklahoma's crew.  Shortly before December 7, their father had written a letter to the U.S. Navy saying he was  uncomfortable about his three sons all being on the same ship and asked that they be put on different ships.

The request, sadly, was too late, but it changed Navy policy forever.  No longer are brothers allowed to serve on the same ship.

It took the Navy a long time to get the Oklahoma upright and by the time they did, and could start recovering the bodies, there wasn't much left to identify the dead.  They were buried in Hawaii as "Unknowns".

--GreGen

Wilmington's WW II Heroes-- Part 6: 'The Greatest Adventure of Their Young Lives'

Ensign LEON STEIN, USS LST-703, saw action at Balikpapau. Borneo, and  in the Philippines landings.

First Lieutenant JOHN KELLY, late of Company I, 120th Infantry Regiment, wrote from Okinawa:  "We are really giving the yellow devils a fit.  Hope to be on Front Street again."

First Lieutenant LEON ANDREWS, late of the 252nd Coast Artillery, led a tank battalion on Okinawa.

His brother, 1st Lt. JAMES ANDREWS, fought in New Guinea and Luzon.

And so, they went to war, and came home.

"During squadron reunions when they gather to fight the Burma campaign once again,"  P-38 pilot BILLY BROADFOOT's 459th Fighter Squadron history book reads, "they realize that they, particularly the pilots, were bonded together forevermore during the greatest adventure of their young lives."

At this 76th anniversary of the war's end, Wilmington admires their greatest adventures.  We forever thank them.

Wilmington native, author, military author and retired Navy captain WILBUR JONES grew up here during World War II.  UNC Wilmington presented him with its Distinguished Citizen  Award for 2021 for his history preservation efforts and  support or UNC-W.

What this man has done for the history of Wilmington during World War II is amazing.

--GreGen