Wilmington's WW II Heroes-- Part 3: USS Cole, Tunisia, Saipan, Leyte, Solomons

MEDITRRANEAN THEATER

Lieutenant EDWARD  HINES, JR. was on the destroyer USS Cole in the invasion of North Africa, November 1942.

Squadron Leader Major JOHN CAREY flew in the theater for  two years in four invasions, landing behind enemy lines in Tunisia and capturing 97 Germans.

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PACIFIC THEATER

Lt. (jg) GEORGE MITCHELL, JR., serving on a LST (landing ship tank) for sixteen months during  the Saipan, Tinian, Emirau, and Green Islands Campaigns.

Seaman 2nd class ROBERT LOCKAMY saw action at Surigao Strait, Leyte, Luzon, Iwo Jima and Okinawa after also seeing Atlantic convoy protection duty.

Staff Sgt. GEORGE BROWDER , 11th Airborne Division squad leader, led the assault on  Nichols Field, Philippines, suffering two wounds.

Lieutenant CARL WELKER, with the 470th AAA Battalion defending New Guinea airfields, downed a Japanese airplane by himself.  Later, he fought at Manila with the 37th Infantry Division.

B-17 bomber crewman Tech Sgt. WILLIAM BUTLER flew more than 200  combat flights against the Solomons, Rabaul and New Guinea, 1942-1943.

--GreGen