Deaths: Charles Sanna Built Submarines and Invented Swiss Miss Cocoa Mix

CHARLES SANNA  (1917-2019)

Best known for inventing Swiss Miss Cocoa Mix.  You can read about him in several posts I made in my Cooter's History Thing blog which you can get to in the My Blog List section to the right of this.

Graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1939 with a degree in mechanical engineering.  During World War II he joined the Navy and rose to become superintendent of submarine construction at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine.

But his thoughts after the war always returned to the submarines he built and the men who served and died on them.

"These men had to be utterly perfect, particularly mentally," he wrote near the end of his life.  "I would ask that anything said on my behalf would include a statement of tribute to the 3,505 valiant, unheralded submariners of the United States Navy who lost their lives in World War II."

--GreGen

Remembering D-Day-- Part 5: Pointe du Hoc, Through Minefields and Up Steep Bluffs

His outfit earned fame by fighting through minefields and the steep bluffs.  For his actions, John C. Raaen Jr. was awarded the Silver Star, the third-highest honor for heroism in combat in the United States.

A Georgia native, he rose to the rank of two-star general before retiring from the Army in 1979.

Raaen feels extraordinarily lucky to have lived a long and full life. D-Day, he stresses, was not the highlight; the day he married was.  But keeping young Americans alive through the longest of days comes very close.

--GreGen

Remembering D-Day-- Part 4: Pointe du Hoc "Machine Gun Fire Was Absolutely Continuous"

As his battalion approached the breach it suddenly changed direction.  "Lt. Col. Schneider, our battalion commander, was in the second wave.  he saw what was happening and said, 'I'm not going to lose my battalion on that beach.'  We moved approximately a thousand yards.  It made all  the difference."

Even so, Raaen came under fire a "tremendous amount" of small arms fire.  There was "constant noise," a ceaseless "roar."  Bullets cracked in the air, "pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, above you.  The machine gun fire was absolutely continuous."

A Rough Assignement.  --GreGen

Remembering D-Day-- Part 3: Pointe du Hoc

From the June 2019 AARP Bulletin."A Ranger Captain Recalls D-Day Carnage" by Alex Kershaw.

Retired Major General John C. Raaen  Jr. can still hear the sound of bullets cracking over his head, the wall of noise that greeted him as he landed in France on June 6, 1944.

At 97, he is one of the few alive who experienced the full horrors of Bloody Omaha, where more than 1,200 Americans died.  A 1943 West Point graduate in 1943, Raaen was a 22-year-old captain in the 5th Ranger Infantry Battalion.

His unit's target was a battery of guns at Pointe du Hoc, at the top of 100-foot sheer cliffs and heavily defended.

As his battalion closed on the beach, it suddenly changed direction as a result of a call by the battalion's commander.

--GreGen

Remembering D-Day-- Part 2: What They Said

"The first 24 hours of the invasion will be decisive....  For the Allies as well as Germany, it will be the longest day."

--Ervin Rommell, German field marshal

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"Only two kinds of people are going to be on this beach, the dead and those who are going to die."

--Col. George A. Taylor, commanding the 16th Infantry Regiment on Omaha Beach.


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"These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc.  These are the men who took the cliffs.  These are the champions who helped free a continent.  These are the heroes who helped end the war."

--President Ronald Reagan, 40th anniversary of D-Day.

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"They were the fathers we never knew, the uncles we never met, the friends who never returned, the heroes we can never repay.  They gave us our world.  And those simple sounds of freedom we hear today are their voices speaking to us across the years."

--President Bill Clinton, 50th anniversary of D-Day

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--GreGen

Remembering D-Day: What They Said-- Part 1

From the June 2019 AARP Bulletin:  "Remembering D-Day."

WHAT THEY SAID ABOUT D-DAY

**   "Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force!  You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade....  The eyes of the world are upon you."

Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, letter to the troops.

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**  They fight not for the lust of conquest.  They fight to end conquest.  They fight to liberate."

President Franklin D. Roosevelt

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**  "You get your ass on the beach.  I'll be there waiting for you and I'll tell you what to do.  There ain't anything in this plan that is going to go right."

Col. Paul R. Goode to his troops before D-Day

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--GreGen

Death of John "Jack" Lyle, Tuskegee Airman-- Part 2: "You're One of Those People That Protected Our Guys"

Recounting his war experiences, Mr. Lyle said:  "We flew 500 feet above the bombers to keep enemy fighters from hitting our guys.  I loved flying, being up in the clouds, the scenery.  I flew 26 combat missions from southern Italy to Austria and southern Germany over the Austrian Alps."

"I was shot at several times as part of the formation.  I watched bombers being torn apart, but they were performing the mission they signed up to do.  And when I had to shoot the guy who was shooting at the planes, I was protecting, I did not feel bad because that was my assignment."

Mr. Lyle told Jet Magazine:  "The airmen made a contribution to our country.  And even though there was a lot of racism then, a lot of other people think so, too.  Once, I went to a bar in full uniform and some white guys started approaching me.  I was watching them.  Then they broke into smiles and started thanking me, saying, 'You're one of those people that protected our guys.' "

His wife said, "He had no fear.  None at all."

--GreGen

Death of John "Jack" Lyle in 2019, One of the Legendary Tuskegee Airmen-- Part 1

1920-2019

From the January 8, 2019, Chicago Sun Times by Maureen O'Donnell.

He died January 8, 2019, just three days before he planned to visit Jackson harbor one final time (for his love of boating on Lake Michigan).  He loved sailing as much as he loved flying.  This was his last wish.

In 2007, President George W. Bush and Congress awarded the Congressional Gold Medal on him and other Tuskegee Airmen.  They were members of the nation's first black fighter squadron who won acclaim for their aerial prowess and bravery despite a military that segregated them and southern  "Whites Only" entrances that permitted German prisoners of war -- but blocked Blacks.

Mr. Lyle named his plane "Natalie" for his first wife, once shot down a German Messerschmitt.

--GreGen

100 Year-Old Pearl Harbor Survivor Joe Walsh Dies

From the Dec. 30, 2019, Los Angeles Times by Pam Kragen.

Back in 1987, Joe Walsh co-founded the north San Diego chapter of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association and was the last surviving active member  of the Chapter 31, which at its peak in the 1990s had 130 members.  As the long-serving president of the organization,  he organized Pearl Harbor Memorial services each December 7 at Oceanside Harbor.

He died Dec. 21, 2019, after a brief illness.

Mr. Walsh was a Marine  in the 3rd Defense Battalion and at a color guard ceremony at the Navy Yard when the planes attacked.  He and fellow Marines manned three anti-aircraft guns and battled the Japanese.

A few weeks later, he was transferred to the desolate Johnston Atoll in the South Pacific to build air defenses.  Then there was brief stint at the U.S. Navy flight school and the rest of the war with the Marine Corps VMO-8 observation squadron.

Serving nine years in the Corps, he retired with the rank of gunnery sergeant and was called back to service in the Korean War.

He married LaVonne "Bea" Phaneuf in 1946.  She had been in the Aviation Women's Reserve Squadron 21 at Brown Field in Quantico, Virginia, but they didn't meet until after the war.

--GreGen

Death of WW II U.S. Navy Veteran Oliver Hacker, 94: Also Drove the Stars and Was Security Guard to Howard Hughes

From the Dec. 31, 2019, Waco Tribune-Herald.

Died December 28, 2019, in Waco, Texas.    Was buried Jan. 2 at White Rock Cemetery in Ross, Texas.

Born Nov. 24, 1925, in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, and enlisted in the U.S. Navy and became Seaman First Class serving on the destroyers USS McKee and USS McCaffery and the battleship USS Pennsylvania.

After his honorable discharge in 1947, he moved to California where he owned and operated Limousine Service to the Stars with clients like Bob Hope, Jimmy Stewart, Red Skelton, Frank Sinatra,  and Debbie Reynolds among others.

He also worked as a security guard for Howard Hughes.

Now There Was Someone With Quite An Interesting Life.  --GreGen

The Last Hudson County (N.J.) Pearl Harbor Survivor, Frank Wasniewski, Dies at Age 100

From the January 28, 2020, NJ.com "Hudson County's last Pearl Harbor survivor dies at age 100" by Ron Zeitlinger.

Passed away January 21, 2020.  Was stationed at Schofield Barracks with the 98th Coast Artillery, 35 minutes north of Pearl Harbor.  That fateful day, he had traveled to the Navy base to pick up ammunition

He was drafted March 26, 1941,  and had planned to serve a year, but ended up serving 4 and a half years.

Every Hudson County Pearl Harbor observance had him until he was too ill to attend anymore.  Internment at Holy Name Cemetery in Jersey City, New Jersey.

--GreGen

99-Year-Old Pearl Harbor Survivor Honored in Elizabeth City, N.C.

From the Jan. 29, 2020, WAVY (Norfolk, Va.) "99-year-old Pearl Harbor survivor from Hampton Roads honored for service" by Geena Arevalo.

It is always so nice to be able to write about a living Pearl Harbor survivor instead of one who has died.

Cecil Thomas Taylor, 99, was honored Jan. 27, 2020, in Elizabeth City, North Carolina.  The Norfolk resident was 21-years old that Dec. 7, 1941, and a member of the newly-formed  27th Infantry Regiment stationed at the U.S. Army Schofield Barracks in Hawaii.

He had just returned from a night out with friends  when he saw bombs falling on a nearby  airfield and a plane flying overhead.  "Here come two streaks of machine gun fire and the bullets came right between us," Taylor said.  "Them bullets was hitting them stone walls and they were richocheting, and they were coming right by us."

He barely escaped injury and later served at Guadalcanal.

--GreGen

Pearl Harbor Survivor James Blakely Turns 100

January 11, 2020, New York Daily News "Celebrating Brooklyn WW II veteran's 100 years of courage, honor and determination" by Denis Hamel.

James Blakely survived the Japanese bombs and torpedoes at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, on  the USS St. Louis and has recently turned 100.   "I remember them poor nurses at Pearl, oh, boy, running to get back into the hospital and those Japanese planes  swooping down and firing  the machine guns at them...."

 His relatives threw him a party in honor of it in Brooklyn.

After Pearl Harbor, he was at the battles in Guam, Guadalcanal and at New Zealand.

He pulled on his USS St. Louis hat and said his secret to long life was the good Lord.  "I also never touched alcohol or tobacco," he said.  "I can't say I never touched a pretty girl.  That was my vice.  In fact,  I was raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, which was not a good place for a person of color.  One day a white guy went out of his way to step on my shoe.  So I stepped back on his.

"That didn't go over big in Arkansas so my grandfather, who had served in WW I told me to join the Navy before they strung me up."

So, James Blakely joined the segregated U.S. Navy and was assigned to the mess aboard the USS St. Louis where where he was when the attack came.

It Is Always Great to Write About a Living Pearl Harbor Survivor.   --GreGen

Marines Make New IDs for Iwo Jima Flag Raisers-- Part 4: Correcting the Identities

Two amateur historians raised questions about the identities and then a Marine panel found that a flag raiser thought to be Navy Pharmacist's Mate 2nd Class John Bradley was actually Pfc. Harold Schultz, of Detroit.   Bradley had helped in an earlier flag-raising on Mt. Suribachi, and his role took on a greater significance after his son, James Bradley, wrote a best-selling book about the flag raisers, "Flags of Our Fathers" that was made into a movie by Clint Eastwood.

The latest identification question was raised by historians Stephen Foley, Dustin Spence and Brent Westemeyer.  Their findings were confirmed by a Marine board and was aided by FBI investigators.  Foley was also one of the historians who noted the previous mistaken identity.

Getting to the Bottom of It.  --GreGen

Marines Correct Iwo Jima Flag-Raising Participants-- Part 3: Get Their Names!

The Battle of Iwo Jima began February 19, 1945, and lasted 36 days with about 70,000 Marines fighting 18,000 Japanese soldiers.  More than 6,500 U.S. service men died and about 20,000 were wounded in the battle on the small island which is 660 miles south of Tokyo and is now officially called Iwo To.  Most all of the Japanese soldiers died.

Joe Rosenthal shot the photo on February 23, 1945,  Unfortunately, he didn't get the men's names, but after the photo was released and became famous, President Roosevelt told the military to identify the flag raisers.

The Marines identified the men as Harlon Block, Rene Gagnon, Ira Hayes, Franklin Soulsey and Michael Strank.  All were Marines except for Bradley, who was a Navy corpsman.

--GreGen

Marines Correct 2nd ID in Iconic Iwo Jima Photo-- Part 2: A Silent Hero

The newly identified Marine in the photo, Corporal Harold P. Keller, died in 1979, in Grinnel, Iowa.

NBC interviewed his daughter, Kay Maurer, 70, of Brooklyn, Iowa.  She said that her father kept a framed Rosenthal phot showing 18 Marines on the summit of Mount Suribachi with the flag in the background, but he never mentioned his role in the historic event.

"He never spoke about any of this when we were growing up, she said.  "We knew he fought in the war.  We knew he was wounded in the shoulder at one point.  But he didn't tell us he helped raise the flag on Mount Suribachi."

--GreGen

Marines Correct 2nd ID in Iconic Iwo Jima Photo-- Part 1

From the October 20, 2019, by Scott McFetridge, AP.

The correct identity of a second man in that famous flag raising scene at Iwo Jima's Mount Suribachi has been released by the USMC.  One of the men was not Pfc. Rene Cagnon as previously believed, but Cpl. Harold B. Keller.  It also noted, however, that Gagnon  did help obtain the flag.

Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal shot the image during the 1945 battle between American and Japanese forces on Iwo Jima.

"Regardless of who was in the photograph, each and every Marine who set foot on Iwo Jima, or supported the effort from the sea and air around the island is, and always will be, a part of our Corps' cherished history," the Marines said in the statement.

In 2016, the Marines corrected the identity of another man in the photograph after historians raised questions.

--GreGen

AP Photo Deal With Nazis-- Part 2

Photographs of Nazis would be credited to AP, Associated Press."  They would also appear in German newspapers.

That would include:

**  One of Hitler shaking Mussolini's hand shortly after an assassination attempt in 1944.

**  Hitler drawing on a map.

**  Hitler chatting with a blinded soldier

**  Adolf Hitler shaking hands with a Hitler Youth soldier.

Distributed captions to the photos would not give credit  to Nazi or SS photographers

At least 10,000 photos went back and forth under the agreement.

--GreGen

AP Photo Deal With the Nazis Under Fire-- Part 1

From the May 14, 2017, Chicago Tribune "WW II photo deal with Nazis under fire" by Michael S. Rosenwald.

At the height of World War II, the Associated Press made secret arrangements with an SS officer to obtain pictures taken by Nazi photographers that were distributed to U.S. newspapers.  This deal was authorized by senior U.S. officials.

This is detailed by a recently released report by AP.  It was part of a deal where  the U.S.and Germany shared pictures of each other.   U.S. counterintelligence found definite proof that the Associated Press was engaged in operations that went against the "Trading With the Enemy Act."

As a result of the agreement, the June 30, 1942, Washington Post had a photo of Hitler shaking hands with ex-German officials, including one wearing a Nazi navy uniform.

--GreGen

LST-325-- Part 6: We Visited It in Dubuque, Iowa

I have been on the 325 in Evansville, but was excited to see that it was going to be nearer to home, and would be there while my wife Liz and I were on our 45th wedding anniversary in nearby Galena.  We got a room in Dubuque, Iowa, by where the ship was docked and enjoyed talking with the crew that night after it closed to visitors.

And, they had really long lines waiting to board on both the Saturday we arrived and on Sunday.  Something I was happy to see.  There were quite a few veterans and even some World War II ones who were given VIP treatment.

Tours were held from 11 am to 6 pm Thursday to Monday, August 27.  Tickets cost $10 for adults and $5 for children ages 6 to 17.  Children 5 and younger and World War II veterans get in free.

Well Worth the Experience.  --GreGen