November 9, 2007 - Veteran Breakfast

News 14 Carolina's Lisa Reyes has more on a World War II hero who will be honored Friday.

CHARLOTTE -- The Carolinas Freedom Foundation hosted its annual breakfast Friday morning to honor area veterans. The breakfast kicks off a series of events in Charlotte for the weekend.

The special honoree is a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient from World War II. Sgt. Francis Currey joined the Army at just 17 years old and on Dec. 20, 1944, his life changed forever.  "I only got a couple of minor wounds that day," the 82-year-old retired platoon leader said.

The breakfast ran from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. Friday.

The humble soldier was assigned to the 30th Infantry Division in the midst of the Battle of the Bulge. He and small squad of men were asked to guard a bridge against the German army.

"We lost practically the whole division out there," he recalled.  By the next morning, Currey said he did what he had to do.  "By that time we were surrounded by Germans and we were going to get out of there but we weren't going to leave the two wounded," he said.

Lt. Col John Falkenbury says Currey is a role model.  "It's men like Frank and the ones before him that I try to emulate," he said.

The breakfast will last from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. There will be a wreath laying ceremony at 11 a.m. at Polk Park and the parade gets under way at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Lisa Reyes,  news14.com/content/headlines

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April 18, 2007 - 'It was a job he had' - Andrew Arthur Mousin

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April 04, 2007 - Medal of Honor Recipient: Staff Sergeant Paul L. Bolden

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January 23, 2007 - OBITUARY - Col. Layton "Joe" Tyner - Army colonel was 'Southern gentleman'

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January 22, 2007 - William H. Peeck

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December 31, 2006 - Tennessee author in search of G.I. Joe

Chet Sewell, a Tennesee author, has spent the last four years searching for information about an American soldier whose cross he stumbled upon in Colleville-sur Mer, France, near Normandy. The soldier was born in Suffolk, but spent his teenage years in Camden, South Carolina, before joining the Army and heading to Europe. Sewell has been tracking the soldier’s life through research and interviews. Contributed photo

Tennessee author Chet Sewell has spent the last four years on a journey. He knows how it began, but the ending, that's still up in the air. To figure it out, he needs help from the people of Suffolk.

In June 2002, Sewell was on a family vacation in Europe. He wanted to see the World War II Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur Mer, France, where nearly 9,400 American soldiers are buried. Coincidentally, the day they visited the site was June 6, 1944 n D-Day.

While walking through the cemetery, Sewell stumbled upon one of the white crosses dotting the 172 acres. What caught his eye was the fact that the date of death on the cross was July 20, 1944. Sewell was born that day, just six years earlier.

“It was like the cross lit up right in front of me,” he said.

The marker read: HUGH P. GODWIN, Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, Service #20406906, 105th Engineer Combat Battalion, 30th Infantry Division, Entered the service from: South Carolina, Died July 20, 1944, Buried at: Plot J Row 11 Grave 35, Normandy American Cemetery, St. Laurent-sur-Mer, France, Awards: Purple Heart.  

Sewell took the information and began working backward, tracing Godwin to Camden, S.C., where he spent 11 years of his short life. For the first 12, Sewell would learn, Godwin lived in Suffolk, where he was born. Godwin's mother was Carrie Beckham and his father was J.B. Godwin.

While doing research in South Carolina, Sewell found two of Godwin's cousins, Bobby Charles Russell of Columbia, S.C., and Howard “Bill” Luther Thrower of Charlotte, N.C. Thrower could recall visiting Godwin's family in Suffolk and seemed to think his father, J.B., was in the plumbing business.

Sewell was able to learn a lot about Godwin's life in Camden, including that he had a fiancé, as well as that he was stationed in Florida before being sent to Europe. A letter from the Army explained how he was killed: Godwin was a combat engineer whose job included removing mines. While on a mission in St. Lo, he was killed by machine gun fire from the Germans and died instantly.

Sewell even found Godwin's older brother, James B. Godwin, who provided photographs, but declined to discuss his brother further. He told Sewell that was a closed chapter in his life that he preferred not to revisit. Sewell has respected those wishes, continuing on with his fact-finding mission using whatever other tools are available to him n museums, newspaper archives and more.

In the hopes of learning more about Godwin's early years in Suffolk, Sewell paid a visit here two weeks ago. He tried the Visitors' Center, Mills E. Godwin Court House, Morgan Memorial Library, R.W. Baker Funeral Home, the tax department in City Hall, Seaboard Station Railroad Museum and the Suffolk Nansemond Historical Society with no luck.

A trip to Main Street United Methodist Church (Godwin's family had been members of the Lyttleton Street UMC in Camden) proved fruitful.

Godwin, his mother and brother were members of that church while they lived in Suffolk, and old records revealed what Godwin's middle initial -- “P”  stood for: Parker. Godwin's father, however, was not mentioned.

“The father is an elusive character,” Sewell said.

He had hoped to learn more about Godwin's childhood n to possibly find the house he grew up in, the school he attended, former classmates, friends or relatives. Anything and everything could help him describe Godwin's early years.

Obviously, the big question is “Why?”

Why would Sewell go to all this trouble n thousands of hours spent making phone calls, traveling to South Carolina, Virginia and beyond n all in an effort to piece together the puzzle of a young man he never knew and is not related to?

For Sewell, the answer is simple.

“He means everything to me, my generation and America. He was a plain and ordinary G.I. Joe that gave everything so we could live the good life.

“These kids gave it all n for what? A white cross in Normandy.”

The story of WWII has been told time and again, but no one has told the stories of those thousands of young, small-town Americans who fought so bravely. Those who returned from the war went quietly back into society and built the America of today, Sewell said.

Sewell plans to write a book about Godwin, to both illuminate and pay tribute.

“It's been one of the most rewarding things I've ever done in my life.”

Suffolk News-Herald - Suffolk,VA,USA

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December 18, 2006 - A dedicated Bulldog

REDLANDS - December is a nostalgic time of year for Ed Jacobsen. More than 60 years ago at this time he was a part of the Allied offensive in Belgium and Holland during World War II.

Despite having been grazed on his buttocks by a bullet, he was ordered back to the front lines.

In the spring, during a reconnaissance patrol for the 30th Infantry Division, 119 Armored Division, seeking contact with the Russian Army as the two forces drew close to each other, he headed toward a bridge on the Elbe River that the Allies had taken over a short period before - only to discover the hard way that the Germans had quickly regained control of it.

He was captured and held in a prisoner of war camp near Magdeburg, Germany, but escaped after 17 days with three of his buddies - not knowing by then that the war had ended.

During their escape, they stole a jeep and were fired upon as they left - apparently their captors hadn't received the memo that the war was over, either. Jacobsen was shot in the left eye, though he was able to see with it for many years later, finally losing vision in that eye about 15 years ago.

"The Germans treated me OK," Jacobsen, 85, remembers. "They were scared because they knew the end was coming."

There's another reason it's a nostalgic time of year for Jacobsen, a devout University of Redlands alumnus and proud former member of Pi Chi, the university's oldest fraternity.

As the university prepares a float for the Tournament of Roses parade in January as part of its centennial celebration, Jacobsen will be reflecting on the time he and his buddy scored a touchdown at the Rose Bowl.

No, not the on the same day as Tournament of Roses.

A hip injury prevented him from ever playing at Redlands High School, but a played freshman football at the university.

"I was a center lineman" for Redlands, Jacobsen recalled. "I think we were playing Occidental, and we were supposed to be playing at a different field, but something happened and we got transferred at the last minute to the Rose Bowl - not the New Year's Rose Bowl."

According to Jacobsen, "We recovered a fumble, and as we ran toward the end zone, I remember as my buddy and I looked out at the stadium we thought to ourselves that it looked pretty empty, because 3,500 people scattered around the Rose Bowl doesn't look like very many people."

Jacobsen, a retired Realtor who still has his broker's license, now lives up the street from his alma maters at Plymouth Village.

His father, a former economics and business administration professor at the university, volunteered their family's home when once "in the mid-30s several athletes from San Joaquin brought along a bulldog that was being kept in their hotel room. We offered to keep it in our basement while they were on Christmas vacation," Jacobsen said. "As a kid, that bulldog was big to me. Sometime a year later, maybe in '33, '34 or '35 the university adopted a bulldog as its mascot."

His own children know him to be supportive, hard working and a loyal alumnus for Redlands.

"We used to go to the Homecoming games and the Feast of Lights," said Steve Jacobsen, 54, a pastor in Santa Barbara. "My mom was involved with Town & Gown. When she passed away, he created a scholarship fund in her name that he still contributes to."

According to Steve, his father did some complementary real estate consulting for the University of Redlands. "He'd never charge them" for his consultations, Steve said.

While the family lived in San Bernardino, Jacobsen was involved with the Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club.

"He always placed a premium on civic duty," Steve said. "While he was never a politician, he was involved around politics. I remember once flying up with him to Sacramento when I was 10, and he took me with him to the state Senate and I was able to sit in a senator's chair."

"He's a very solid citizen," according to former Redlands school board member and Principal Barbara Phelps, who graduated from Redlands High School with Ed Jacobsen, and later attended school with him at the university. Phelps also described her former classmate as "a dear friend. When Ed tells you you're his friend, he's your friend. He's always concerned about the people he knows, and he's always very caring and very giving."

Ed Jacobsen never seemed to navigate far from his roots. In his childhood days, Plymouth Village was nothing but orange groves. He witnessed the construction of Currier Gymnasium at the university; he "watched the president's house roll over the hill and up the other side to become the Alumni House. I watched the (Sara Grace Parker) Hall of Letters get built."

Steve said he practices some principles he observed in Ed.

"My father has always been a great listener" to Steve and his sisters, Kristen of Santa Cruz and Karen Stancer of Santa Barbara, as well as their older son Alan who died in June 2005. Ed's wife Dorothy died 12 years ago.

"He would let us learn to take responsibility from our own actions," Steve said. "Even though he might not have always thought our own decisions were the best for ourselves, he always supported them and let us take their own path. I try to remember that as my own kids grow up."  DAVID JAMES HEISS, Redlands Daily Facts - Redlands,CA,USA

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November 11. 2006 - Stockton man spent years trying to forget his war experiences

As he sat recently at the kitchen table in his Stockton home, Perfecto P. Flores opened a gallon-size Ziploc bag and emptied its contents. Out tumbled the blue boxes containing the medals he earned while serving in World War II.  A couple of others - the Purple Heart and Bronze Star - already lay on the table.

Unlike many veterans whose medals rest in display cases, Flores keeps his along with some black-and-white photos and other mementos in a box in his garage.

He acknowledges that for a long time he tried to forget the nearly three years he spent in the U.S. Army.

"He never really talked about the war," said Flores' nephew Perfecto Munoz. "I knew he had a Purple Heart because our mother told us."

Flores didn't even share his war experiences with his wife, Carmen.  "He never wanted to talk about the war," she said.

Flores' perspective began to change this year after he was interviewed for a book about his unit, Company B, 526th Armored Infantry Battalion. The unit was eventually attached to the 30th Infantry Division, which comprised mostly Mexican-Americans from Texas.

A few weeks ago, Munoz spent a couple of days talking with his uncle and taping his reminiscences.

"One thing he said was that when he came back, he was very different," Munoz said. "It was really hard for him to think about the people he lost. He saw some things that were just terrible."

Born and raised in Stockton, Flores, 83, entered the Army when he was 19 or 20. He can't remember his age, but he does recall his enlistment date - March 19, 1943.

While he could have received a deferment as the sole provider for his mother and siblings, Flores said, "I asked to go up right away."

All his friends were enlisting, he said, and he didn't want to be left behind. Prior to joining, the farthest he had traveled from home was San Francisco.

"When I crossed the California line, I cried like a baby," Flores said.

He went to Fort Knox, Ky., for training and became a member of the Special Troops, or T Force. Members had to have an IQ of 110 or more, he said. Flores' was 118.

Flores had the choice of going to officer candidates school or noncommissioned officer school. He chose the latter.

After 13 weeks at Fort Knox, Flores spent another six months in the Arizona desert training on the General Grant tank. Although three battalions trained on the Grant, Flores' was picked to go to Europe. The other two were sent to the Pacific.

The battalion arrived in Wales three months before the D-Day invasion of June 6, 1944. They set up camp in an apple orchard and began re-training.

In his European campaign, Flores survived many ferocious battles, chief among them the assault on Malmedy, Belgium, in the winter of 1944-45. "We were the first troops in Malmedy," Flores said.

According to a photocopy of an article he keeps, "dozens of GIs were gunned down in cold blood by soldiers of the 1st SS Panzer Division on Dec. 17" in Malmedy.

Flores witnessed other atrocities. He recounted how the Germans would line up prisoners and shoot them, then stack the bodies like firewood and use them as cover.

Then came Jan. 3, 1945, when Flores and his unit were advancing up a hill in Malmedy. The men had been told there weren't many Germans on the other side. The information proved wrong. Two divisions - 28,000 soldiers - waited for them, he said.

As they climbed the hill, a young soldier from the South, Gordon Blaisdell, was to Flores' left.

"He said, 'Hey, let's go get them,' " Flores recalled.  Flores told Blaisdell there were too many soldiers.

"He raised his head and got hit by a sniper's bullet" and was killed instantly, Flores said.

Instinctively, Flores went to his fallen comrade. In doing so, he was hit in the back by shrapnel.

The troops regrouped, reinforcements arrived and the Allies eventually won the battle. By then, Flores was in a hospital receiving treatment for his wound.

Luck was with him when he arrived at the combat hospital. The medic was an acquaintance from high school.

"He wiped my face and recognized me. He said, 'Doctor, doctor, he's from my hometown.' And the doctor said, 'Bring him over,' " Flores said.

Flores later found himself at a hospital in Le Havre, France.  "The doctors told me I had a million-dollar wound," he said.  In other words, Flores would be going home. He, however, wasn't ready to go.

Flores managed to steal a Jeep from the hospital. He made his way through Paris and into Belgium.

"I wanted to see who was left from my battalion," he said.

Flores was picked up by counterintelligence officers. After being taken to headquarters, he called his company commander.

"That's when I said I should have gone home," Flores said. "They didn't do anything to me. I guess they said I was loyal, or maybe crazy."

Munoz can understand why his uncle went back.

"That's my Uncle Perfecto - he always went back to family," Munoz said. "He had been with these men for (two) years and felt like they were his brothers.

"He felt he had to go back to them."

Flores would go on to travel through the major cities in the area, such as Cologne, picking up the "generals and other big shots" of the German military. Flores was then put in charge of a prison camp at Wiesbaden, Germany.

Flores was discharged on Dec. 7, 1945, as a staff sergeant. He returned to Stockton and later enrolled at California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo.

He spent his career as a foreman at Albert Paper. He married Carmen, and the couple had two daughters, Paula and Laura. In February, the Floreses will celebrate 50 years of marriage.

For now, his World War II mementoes remain tucked away in the white box with the exception of a few medals that were placed on his Army jacket for a photo.

"They look good like that," Flores said. "I'm going to have my daughters put the others on there."  Vicki Adame, Stockton Record - Stockton,CA,USA

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November 6, 2006 - Kinston may have been first city in nation to celebrate signing of WWI Armistice  Carolina Doughboys first to smash Hindenburg Line

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November 3, 2006 - Costellow seeks reelection as conservation supervisor

Earl Costellow has served 42 years as a conservation district supervisor for North Logan in various positions such as chairman, vice chairman and joint chairman. He is seeking reelection.

He serves on the following offices, organizations or positions: Conservation Districts' Awards Committee, Farm Bureau Board member, Logan Cattleman’s Association member, Gideon’s member and Chandlers Chapel Methodist Church Board member.

Costellow has served in the past as Gideon’s treasurer, Logan County Extension Board member and Southern States Cooperative Board member.

He served in the Army in the 30th Infantry Division and was in Germany during World War II.

Earl Costellow is married to Polly Anderson Costellow and they will celebrate 60 years of marriage this coming December. Earl and Polly have two sons, Kenny and Troy, three granddaughters, three grandsons and two great-grandchildren

Earl Costellow says:

"'Conservation, Development, Self-Government' is the theme of the district movement, symbolizing the dedication of district officials to purposeful, constructive action in the field of conservation, resource development, and grassroots leadership are fundamental to American growth and prosperity."

"Keeping a close relationship with the Conservation District staff and the NRCS Office is very important, and I have been fortunate to be able to work with this dedicated staff. It is so important to know the personnel that help implement the conservation programs for the landowners in Logan County.

"The Kentucky State Cost Share Program has helped so many local landowners; anytime you can help a farmer and our environment, it is a step in the right direction.

"I would like to say thanks for the opportunity to serve Logan Countians and hope to continue to do so in the future."  News-Democrat & Leader - Russellville,KY,USA

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September 10, 2006 - Local Volunteer Receives Awards

At the recent Annual Meeting of the Camp Blanding Museum & Historical Associates, one of our senior volunteers was awarded two prestigious awards and two letters of commendation, which came as a complete and overwhelming surprise

Frank W. Towers, a senior volunteer since the beginning of the Camp Blanding Museum in 1990 was totally surprised when called by Col. Kent Petelle, President of the Camp Blanding Museum & Historical Associates, to come forward to receive these awards.

First, Frank was awarded “The Florida Commendation Medal” by the Florida State Adjutant General, M.G. Douglas Burnett, for “Exceptionally Meritorious Service to the Florida National Guard” due to his Leadership, Initiative and Altruism, contributing to the preservation of the history of the Florida National Guard, as well as the history of the 9 Divisions that trained at Camp Blanding during the period of 1940 to 1943.  His ability to plan, organize and to encourage others to ensure that the sacrifices of our soldiers and airmen are not only recognized, but preserved for future generations, has been a tremendous success.

Secondly, Frank was awarded “The President’s Volunteer Service Award”, for his commitment to exceptional service to the community and contributing considerable time and resources in support of the Camp Blanding Museum for over the past 16 years, and was hereby recognized as “Outstanding Senior Volunteer”, by Order of the President of the United States, signed by President George W. Bush.

Additionally, Frank received a letter of Congratulations on receiving the Florida National Guard’s Commendation Medal from Governor Jeb Bush And lastly, a letter of Appreciation for his many years of dedicated service to the Florida national Guard and the Camp Blanding Museum, by the Adjutant General, M.G. Douglas Burnett.

Frank was so overwhelmed at this point that he was rendered “speechless” and could only say “Thanks”!

Frank trained here at Camp Blanding with the 43rd Infantry Division in 1941-1942, and having come from Vermont, he got ‘sand in his shoes’ and after his wartime service, settled near Camp Blanding for the rest of his life. Upon learning of the establishment of the Camp Blanding Museum & Historical Associates in 1989, he joined with this prestigious group of founders and became a Charter Member, and has been active in the Museum’s affairs ever since.

Later in service, Frank was assigned to the 30th Infantry Division and served with distinction with this unit in WWII in Europe.  The 30th Infantry Division was one of the 9 Infantry Divisions that trained here in 1942-1943.

So, he had a dedicated interest in two of Blanding’s Divisions, and has tried to serve in a Liaison capacity to both of these Divisions all through these past 16 years.

Frank, now 89 years of age, is married to his lovely bride, Mary-Olive Thomas, whom he met in Jacksonville in 1941, and they have been married for 63 years and have 4 children. He takes extreme pride in his work volunteering at the Museum one day each week and at other times as needed, and enjoys speaking with veteran visitors who had trained at Camp Blanding and reminiscing about those “old days”.  We just have a lot in common to talk about, he said!  He also visits schools in surrounding counties and Senior Citizens Homes, giving talks on WWII , the Holocaust and on the Camp Blanding Museum.

In  January of this year, Frank Towers was awarded the Jim McCawley Veterans Service Award for being the “Outstanding Veteran of Alachua County” as a representative of the D-Day – Normandy Association.

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July 31, 2006 - Better late than never

GENEVA - After 62 years, Geneva native John D'Agostino Jr. has received his Purple Heart.

When he was offered the medal in a hospital in England, where he was recovering from shrapnel wounds suffered in the Battle of Normandy during World War II, he turned it down.

"I'm a survivor, not a hero," D'Agostino recalled saying at the time. "The heroes are buried right there in Normandy."

D'Agostino said he still feels that way today.

"Because of those people I'm back here (in the United States)," he said.

A couple of years ago, D'Agostino was encouraged by his children and friends to pursue the Purple Heart he turned down in 1944. His girlfriend, Retha Foisy, encouraged him to obtain the award and leave it for his children, Thomas D'Agostino and Sandra Weisman.

Born in 1917, D'Agostino attended Geneva High School and spent much of his adult life in the area.

He was drafted into the Army in 1942 and inducted at Fort Niagara.

"I just waited for the letter to come in and didn't object," D'Agostino said of being drafted.

D'Agostino was part of the 30th Infantry Division, 117th Infantry Regiment, which landed on the shores of Omaha Beach on June 12, 1944. As a scout for his outfit, D'Agostino's job was to make sure the hedgerows were clear and to alert his outfit of what was ahead before they pressed on.

On July 26, D'Agostino was hit by shrapnel from an explosion caused by German artillery. D'Agostino was transported from a field hospital to the British hospital where he was offered the Purple Heart. After shuffling around hospitals in England, he eventually came back to the U.S. and received treatment at Valley Forge General Hospital in Philadelphia.

Upon leaving Valley Forge, D'Agostino was reassigned to the 112th Infantry Regiment in Mississippi. The regiment was preparing to fight in the Pacific when the war ended.

D'Agostino came back to Geneva and married his wife, the late Mary Avis Murphy of Seneca Falls, in 1946.

D'Agostino finished up his high school education with the encouragement of an old teacher. He then went to Freeman Business School on Exchange Street, where he studied accounting. He graduated from Mohawk Valley Community College in 1957.

D'Agostino worked as an internal auditor for military bases such as the Seneca County Army Depot, Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, Oneida County; Lexington Blue Grass Army Depot; and White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, from which he retired around 1980. A few years later, he followed his son to San Diego, Calif., where he has lived since.

Last month, D'Agostino received a letter stating he had been re-approved for a Purple Heart by Major Jerome E. Kuczero, acting chief of the Military Awards Branch.

"It is an honor to issue this symbol in recognition of your faithful and dedicated service to our Nation during a time of great need," Kuczero wrote.

D'Agostino said he doesn't show his Purple Heart off to anyone or display it. Not that he isn't proud.

"I'm not a medal man," he said.

D'Agostino also received the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Bronze Star, and a Battle Star in recognition for his service in the Battle of Normandy.

BRIAN LOTHRIDGE, Finger Lakes Times - Geneva,NY,USA

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July 03, 2006 - A trip to Normandy, France, four years ago changed the life of a Tennessee author.

Chet Sewell was with his wife, LaVonne, daughter, Mitzi Bradley, and son-in-law, Bean Bradley, on June 6, 2002, during a family vacation in Europe. The family wanted to take a tour of the Normandy American Cemetery Colleville Sur Mer where about 9,400 Americans are buried.

While touring the cemetery on Demolition Day, Sewell was walking with his daughter and stumbled upon a white cross that had the date of death as his birthday -- July 20. Although the years are different -- he was born in 1938 and the year of death was 1944 -- Sewell knew this was a special marking. This cross belonged to Camden native Hugh P. Godwin.

"It was like the cross lit up right in front of me," Sewell said, as he described the overcast, hazy day when he saw Staff Sgt. Godwin`s cross.

He explained that when he saw the date, he immediately stopped and wrote down everything that was written on the white cross:

"HUGH P. GODWIN, Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, Service # 20406906, 105th Engineer Combat Battalion, 30th Infantry Division, Entered the service from: South Carolina, Died July 20, 1944, Buried at: Plot J Row 11 Grave 35, Normandy American Cemetery, St. Laurent-sur-Mer, France, Awards: Purple Heart."

With the information Sewell copied off the cross, he began to work backward from Normandy, to South Carolina, and finally to Camden. He hooked up with the Camden Archives and Museum, where he was able to find Godwin`s obituary which contained Godwin's aunt's name -- Lou Beckham Russell. While Aunt Lou has died, Sewell was able to find Godwin's cousins, Bobby Charles Russell of Columbia and Howard ``Bill`` Luther Thrower of Charlotte, N.C.

Sewell met with Russell and Thrower at the beginning of this year and was able to see several family photos and find out a little more information on Godwin's life before the Army.

A Camden High School group picture from 1938 was discovered through the archives when Godwin would've been in the 11th grade. However, with a little more than 100 students listed and the decay of the photograph, Sewell's and Godwin's families were unable to identify Godwin in the picture. The picture was taken on the steps inside the CHS gym.

Thrower, who lived with Godwin, Aunt Lou and his mother on Lafayette Avenue in downtown Camden, remembered Godwin being called into the service the latter part of 1938, which was before he was able to graduate from high school.

Recently, Sewell and Thrower met in Camden to "walk the streets" where Godwin grew up.

"We are looking to find out more about Hugh," Sewell said. "It`s like pulling at the end of a ball of string -- one tidbit of information leads to another."

Although Sewell found several small pieces to fit his puzzle while in Camden, he was able to locate one large piece to the puzzle that helped him get more information -- he and Thrower found the memorial that Aunt Lou had placed in honor of Godwin in the Kershaw City Cemetery. What makes finding the memorial even more chilling is that Sewell and Thrower found the memorial exactly four years later -- June 6, 2006 -- and off by just a few hours to being the exact time it was in Normandy when he found the white cross that started his research.

Thrower originally believed Godwin's memorial was placed at Quaker Cemetery because that's where most of his other family members are buried. Later, through much research, Sewell discovered that Godwin's memorial was at the Kershaw City Cemetery with the graves of his mother, Carrie Beckham, wife of J. B. Godwin. Thrower said his mother's family was mostly from the Kershaw and Lancaster areas. His father, also known was Jeff, was believed to be in the plumbing business in Virginia, but that's the extent of the information Sewell has been able to discover about him.

Godwin was born on May 27, 1921, in Suffolk, Va., and came to Camden around the age of 12 after his mother died. He was a member of Lyttleton Street United Methodist Church. Sewell and Thrower have attended a church service to inquire about information anyone might have on Godwin, but they had no luck.

"We want to capture his life as much as possible,`` Sewell said. ``I want to know what size shirt and shoe he wore, and I know there are still people out there who grew up with him who would probably know."

While visiting Camden, Sewell and Thrower went to a meeting held at the American Legion Post No. 17 in hopes of finding more information about Godwin. While they weren't able to find out anything new, they did see Godwin's picture on the wall with his information -- information that did have some error that Sewell was able to correct.

The major problem Sewell said he has is finding connections because Godwin was stationed in South Carolina and Florida before going overseas. Thrower said that he remembers one really cold day in the fall or winter of 1943, when Godwin brought a young lady home to meet the family. Thrower later identified the young woman as Godwin's fiancé.  Godwin was then transferred overseas in February 1944, shortly after his last visit home. This young lady has not been identified or located.

Shortly after Godwin's family heard of his death, Thrower's mother wrote a letter to the company commander asking for an explanation of how he died. The family received a letter back explaining that his job as a combat engineer included removing mines. While on a mission in St. Lo, he was killed by machine gunfire from the Germans and died instantly.

"My generation was very fortunate because through their efforts, we were able to go to college," Sewell said. "They bought the ticket, and we got the ride."

Sewell has been in contact with the Army headquarters in California and hopes to find out the belongings recorded for Godwin -- the way he was, pictures he carried, etc. He said it can take six to eight months for this information to be available to him.

"There are a lot of questions that I have that haven't been answered," Sewell said. He has made hundreds of calls with about a 1,000 calls being dead-ends.

Sewell has been in contact with Godwin's brother, James B. Godwin. James helped Sewell with some information and pictures, but there are still several questions that need to be answered.

"I want to try to put a human face on a guy from so long ago ... tell the stories that haven't been told," Sewell said. "The journey through it has been half the chase."

LADONNA BEEKER, C-I Localife editor, Camden Chronicle Independent - SC, United States

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June 19, 2006 - WWII veteran recalls his military experience

Edward C. Arn of Wooster was not one to look back much on the war in which he won so many medals — the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart and others — but when he allowed himself the “luxury of introspection,” he “pondered the meaning of his World War II experiences.”

The time he spent browsing through mementos in 1976 became a memoir, according to the introduction to “Arn’s War: Memoirs of a World War II Infantryman, 1940-1946,” a book edited by Jerome Mushkat and published by University of Akron Press.

“The memoir of World War II, written by ... an infantry captain who served in Company F, 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Division, is a valuable addition to military history and social history,” said Jena Lohrbach, director of marketing for the University of Akron Press. “Arn takes readers on a wartime journey with him in the European Theatre of Operations through a clear and honest account of combat from the viewpoint of a sensitive and acute ‘civilian in uniform.’ ”

The author recalls growing up during the Depression, explains his motivation for volunteering for World War II service, remembers his basic training in the United States, and relives his duty overseas.

He was sent to France a few weeks after the D-Day invasion, and he distinguished himself in combat in the hedgerows near Normandy, the Battle of Moretain, and the push through northern France to the Elbe River. He spent 16 months on the front lines, undergoing a transformation, said Lohrbach, from a replacement soldier to battle-tested veteran.

“Arn writes in a straightforward and engaging manner that avoids false sentimentality or romanticism,” said publicity material about the book from the publisher. “Instead, he gives readers keen insights into the daily life of soldiers locked in gruesome events far beyond their experience and describes how it feels to be under fire, to suffer a wound, to agonize over the deaths of friends, to endure true suffering, to sacrifice, and to survive.”

DIGGING into MEMENTOES

The book, available through bookstores ($32.95 cloth, $19.95 paperback), is a “timeless story,” according to its editor. And its accuracy is not tied to the author’s mere memory, it’s guaranteed by Arn’s inability to throw anything away. To research the work, Arn “dug into storage boxes filled with a myriad of reminders,” Mushkat said. Scrapbooks. Photo albums. Maps. Newspaper clippings. Textbooks. Souvenirs.

With those artifacts to encourage his recollection, Arn was able to put together his story in a “matter-of-fact” manner, said Mushkat.

“He does not glorify war nor offer self-congratulations to embellish his experiences,” said Mushkat, a professor emeritus of history at the University of Akron. “He realizes that as a front-line soldier, much of the war was beyond his view. Yet he does not accept standard military histories that tell the story from the top down and all too often ignore the contributions small units made to victory. Instead, he makes the point that wars are won on the ground by the life-and-death struggles of determined foot soldiers, no matter their pain, sacrifices, fears, and often capricious deaths.”

No sense painting the author’s part in the war in heroic colors, the editor noted. There were no heroes in Arn’s war.

“A person could act with heroics in one instance, then succumb to combat fatigue in another,” explained Mushkat. “In short, the only standard to measure an infantryman rested in his ability to close with and destroy the enemy.”  Gary Brown , Canton Repository (subscription) - Canton,OH,USA

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June 6, 2006 - 'Never forget,' veteran urges

Ask Arnold Snyder if he's part of the Greatest Generation and first he squirms, then he sighs, then he shrugs.

"I did my job," he says.

Greg Lovett/The Post Arnold Snyder, now 82, landed on Omaha Beach three days after D-Day. 1943 photo courtesy of Arnold Snyder Photo courtesy of Arnold Snyder Arnold Snyder holds a Nazi flag he and other soldiers found at a small headquarters in Germany. Snyder returned home in 1945.

Snyder's job was to follow the largest seaborne invasion force in history from the coast of France through the forests of Belgium to the Nazis' German strongholds.

Sixty-two years ago today, the Allied invasion of Europe began, and with it the beginning of the end of World War II. Although it was code-named Operation Overlord, the world knows it simply as D-Day.

At 6:30 a.m., troops from the south coast of England began landing on the beaches of Normandy. By 10 p.m., more than 150,000 American, British, Canadian and French troops had moved into France from the air and sea in an invasion front that stretched 50 miles. Nearly 5,000 died in the initial landing.

Snyder followed three days later, emerging from a landing craft on Omaha Beach on June 9. He was 20 then, a college student from Philadelphia. He's 82 now, a retired pharmacist in suburban West Palm Beach.

"I couldn't fathom the depths of what was happening," he remembers. "When you're in combat, you can't fathom what's going on to your left or right. It's like you've got horse blinders on."

A second lieutenant in the 30th Infantry Division, Snyder remembers scaling the hedgerows, mounds of dirt 6 or 8 feet tall that bordered the Norman farmlands.

"I picked up a .50-caliber machine gun and fired at an armored truck with German infantry inside," he says. "The truck was open and the Germans would shoot from either side, so we didn't travel in the road."

Crossing Normandy, Snyder says, his unit was bombed twice — by American B-17s. "They bombed short," he says.

And then he was hit by shrapnel in both legs.

"I'm lying there bleeding, and this young American soldier says to me, 'What happened?' "

"I'm bleeding," Snyder told him.

The soldier began cutting Snyder's boot laces. "You won't be needing these," he said, and then he stole his boots.

"Later a medic came by and evacuated me," Snyder says. "I was only in combat a couple of weeks."

He was treated at a Canadian medical hospital in Germany, then returned to his outfit along the Belgian-German border.

"We were supposed to go on R & R, but the Battle of the Bulge intervened," he says.

"I knocked out an American tank that had been commandeered by Germans," he recalls. "I remembered they told us to hit tanks in the back where the fuel tank is, so I ran across and grabbed a bazooka."

When he returned home in early 1945, Snyder had earned three Silver Stars, two Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts. Except for his minor shrapnel wounds, he had come through World War II unscathed. But fate was not kind. In 1951, at age 27, Snyder was felled by polio and spent a year in the Philadelphia Naval Hospital.

"The Lord does not put on our shoulders what you cannot bear," he says, "so even though I'm stooped over, I do what I can."

In 2001 he founded Operation LOVE (Love Our Veterans Everyday) — a group that visits area schools to promote volunteerism and patriotism.

"What worries me is that at one time we had 16 million Americans under arms. Now 3 million are still here," he says. "I was 18 when I went in. I'm 82 now. We're not going to be around forever.

"Never forget, never forget. Remember the Alamo. Remember Pearl Harbor. . . . There's so much to remember."

Ron Hayes, Palm Beach Post - FL, United States

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June 4, 2006 - A Brief Comparison of Haditha and St. Lo

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May 6, 2006 - Thank you' from a true hero - Note from Medal of Honor recipient among Piazza's keepsakes.

SAN DIEGO -- Mike Piazza reaches into his locker and pulls out a box full of treasures. He opens it to photos of young soldiers from distant wars, of cards and letters.

"Here, look at this one," Piazza says, extending an envelope containing a thank you note signed by Francis S. Currey. "He's the man I was telling you about, the one I signed the bat for who was the Medal of Honor recipient for World War II.

"I met him at a Fourth of July ceremony last year; that's when I gave him the bat. He's pretty old now. He was real humble, just a decent, down-to-earth guy.

"I got a letter from someone who told me that President Eisenhower said [Currey's] actions shortened the war by three weeks. What an amazing person. I love being connected with people like this in some way.

"Men like this, they're the real heroes. I've been lucky to meet a lot of war heroes, and they're the best in America. They come across as regular people, just doing their job."

Sgt. Currey of the U.S. Army, Company K, 120th Infantry, 30th Infantry Division was, research shows, an automatic rifleman with the 3rd Platoon. A native of Loch Sheldrake, N.Y., he was defending a strong point near Malmedy on Dec. 21, 1944, when the enemy launched a powerful attack.

Overrunning tank destroyers and antitank guns, German tanks advanced to the 3rd Platoon's position, and, after prolonged fighting, forced the withdrawal of this group to a nearby factory. Sgt. Currey found a bazooka in the building and crossed the street to secure rockets, enduring intense fire from enemy tanks and hostile infantrymen who had taken up a position at a house a short distance away.

In the face of small-arms, machine-gun and artillery fire, he, with a companion, knocked out a tank with one shot. Eventually, after intensive fighting, the enemy, deprived of tanks and with heavy infantry casualties, was forced to withdraw.

Through his extensive knowledge of weapons and by his heroic and repeated braving of enemy fire, Sgt. Currey was greatly responsible for inflicting heavy losses in men and material on the enemy, for rescuing five fellow soldiers, two of whom were wounded, and for stemming an attack which threatened to flank his battalion's position.

For his heroism, Sgt. Currey was awarded the nation's highest military honor. In his letter to Piazza, he wrote: "Thank you for the personalized baseball bat. It will hang in an honored spot over my living room fireplace in South Carolina. It will contribute to my following your career right up to your induction in the Baseball Hall of Fame."

Piazza shakes his head in wonder. "There are some amazing people out there," he said.    Lyle Spencer, MLB.com - USA

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January 31, 2006 - 30th Division Veteran Receives Prestigious Award 

            Saturday evening the Alachua County Veterans Advisory Board held its 1st Annual Veterans Award Banquet at Santa Fe Junior Community College, which was sponsored by the Collegiate Veteran Society.

            This award ceremony was to honor those who have made outstanding contributions to Alachua County’s Veteran Community.

            The members of the Alachua County Veterans Service Advisory Board was to name the top annual veterans award, “The Jim McCawley Veterans Service Award”. The vote of this body was to honor the man who had spent the last years of his life dedicated to creating Veterans Memorials so that those who gave their lives serving their country would never be forgotten.

            After the welcoming remarks by Bob Gasche, Chairman of the Alachua County Advisory Committee, there was the Presentation of the Colors by the ‘Gator’ Detachment, Marine Corps League and Korean War Veterans, then the Pledge of Allegiance, Invocation and Posting of the Colors.

            The Keynote Speaker, Lt. Gen. John LeMoyne, U.S. Army (Ret’d), gave a short and appropriate message to fit this occasion.

            Storm Roberts of WKTK Radio Station gave a short summary of the past accomplishments of Jim McCawley, and the proposed Veterans Service Award.  He acted as the M/C for the award ceremony that was to follow the evening’s banquet.

            There are over 22,000 veterans in Alachua County, and of these veterans of the various veteran organizations, 16 were nominated for this prestigious award, and 9 non-veterans of these organizations were also nominated, all for their outstanding contributions to the Alachua County Veteran Community.  Each one was presented with  a ‘Certificate of Appreciation’ for their accomplishments during 2005 by Lt. Gen. LeMoyne.

            During the buffet, the audience of approximately 500 veterans, wives  and supporters were given a treat by the ‘Snapshot Quartet’, singing many old time popular songs and those with which the veterans of each era were familiar.         

After the banquet, the time had arrived for the determination of who would be chosen for this first time Prestigious Award, and all awaited eagerly    to hear this name announced.

The name called was ‘Frank W. Towers’, of LaCrosse, FL, a veteran of WWII who had served with distinction with the 30th Infantry Division in Normandy in June 1944. This award was presented to him by Lt. Gen. John LeMoyne, and the audience gave him a standing ovation.

The vote of the Veterans Advisory Board was unanimous in conferring  this Award.

Mr. Towers said, “I am speechless!”  Thank You!!

Mr. Towers said later that this was the second time that he ever found himself ‘speechless’, the first time being in September 1999, when he was presented with a Medal and Proclamation, inducting him as a Member of the Order of the House of Orange-Nassau by her Majesty, the Queen of the Netherlands.  

 Mr. Towers, being awarded the 1st “Jim McCawley Veterans Service Award” was cited for his activities in forming an organization, “Les Fleurs de la Memoire” in Normandy in 2000, whose members are pledged to adopt a grave  of their choice in the Normandy American Cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach in Normandy, or in the Brittany American Cemetery. In the intervening years since 2000, there have been over 7,600 graves adopted in these two cemeteries out of a total of 14,500.  Work will continue until all of these graves have been adopted.

Their website can be accessed at: http://fleursdelamemoire.free.fr   

Members adopt these graves and pledge to visit their ‘adopted son’s grave’ at least once during the year, but in all probability more often, and pay tribute to them by placing flowers on their grave upon each visit. These members have set themselves up as ‘adoptive parents’ to replace those parents and next-of-kin who have never had the opportunity to visit their own son’s grave due to financial or physical problems, and with the passing of time, these parents and next-of-kin will no longer be alive.

They proclaim: “They Shall NOT be Forgotten!”  “They gave their lives for our Freedom and Liberty!”

Additionally, Mr. Towers was cited for his accomplishments of volunteer work with the Camp Blanding Museum at Starke, FL, where he acts as a volunteer docent explaining the significance of the Museum’s existence to the visitors, as a Memorial of WWII, and being on the Board of Directors of the Museum and acting as its Membership Chairman and Manager of its Gift Shop.

Towers, at 88+ years of age said that he has to keep busy, and these   two projects fill that void, and both projects help to perpetuate the memory of our Veterans who have gone on before us.

He is scheduled to go to Normandy the first week-end of April to attend the 5th Annual Congress of “Les Fleurs de la Memoire”.  Gainesville, FL

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January 9, 2005 - Veterans share, record history

There are times when Bill Fuller wonders what his father did in certain situations and wishes he had a way to ask.

That's one of the reasons why Fuller is recording what he remembers from the Depression, his service in the 30th Infantry division Field Artillery during World War II and other events.

"A lot of people are reluctant to take the time to write their history. I encourage you to do that," he told a group of about 40 people gathered Wednesday in MacArthur Auditorium at the Indiana Veterans' Home.

Fuller was the speaker for the monthly World War II Round Table meeting, which features veterans and their stories. He shared anecdotes of his European tour of duty after he enlisted in the U.S. Army.

Having an interest in airplanes, Fuller tried to sign up for the Air Corps, which eventually became the Air Force. But he didn't realize it was a part of the Army.

After about 18 months of training and officer school, Fuller and his artillery battery were sent to England in February 1944.

He remembers being awakened by the droning of airplanes flying south on June 6, 1944, D-Day. Nine days later, Fuller's battery landed on Omaha Beach.

After his second experience under fire -- the first had him shaking like a leaf, he said -- Fuller was awarded a Bronze Star. He had been traveling with the infantry in France, and they were expecting an attack.

"Being under fire like that, it does get your attention," he said, while describing both instances. "I didn't have experiences like that very often."

Fuller was part of the Allied group that pursued the Germans back to their homeland in late August and September 1944. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge at Ardennes and was in Germany on V-E Day, May 8, 1945.

Pat Fletcher, a volunteer with the veterans' home, said it's important to record stories such as Fuller's because of the context they can provide to a significant historical event.

"The younger generations, they're going to face their own crises," Fletcher said, explaining he records his interviews with veterans for the Library of Congress. "When I take their personal histories ... you find out what they have gone through. They survived it, and it's like, 'wow.'"   Erin Smith, The Courier-Journal - Lafayette,IN,USA

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December 31, 2005 - Menorah-lighting ceremony sponsored by the Chabad Jewish Center of Monroe took place in Veteran's Memorial Park, Tuesday.

   JAMESBURG — In the sun-lit Veterans' Memorial Park on Tuesday, a crowd gathered in front of a large white menorah for a ceremony celebrating the importance of bringing light out of darkness.

   "The menorah is the universal symbol of justice and freedom," said Rabbi Eliezer Zaklikovsky of the Chabad Jewish Center of Monroe, as he welcomed war veterans, township officials and families to celebrate the third night of Hanukkah. "In a world of darkness, we strive to bring more light into the world."

   The menorah-lighting ceremony has taken place every year for the past seven years at the park, a central location in Jamesburg, and has been sponsored by Chabad for the past four.

   "The public property (of the park) is important to the message of universality," said Rabbi Zaklikovsky.

   Hanukkah celebrates the freedom of the Jews from Syrian control after the Maccabees fought for an end to persecution.

   Perhaps the idea of freedom was most personified by the many Jewish war veterans who turned out for the ceremony.

   According to Stan Hoffman, former commander of VFW Post 609 and a member of the 30th Infantry Division in World War II, the veterans have been attending the ceremony since it began.

   The veterans, who displayed many of the awards and commendations earned during their time in service, gathered in front of the menorah as Mayor Tony LaMantia, Councilman Otto Kostbar and the builder of the menorah, Neil Greenspan, turned on the three bulbs for the third night of the holiday.

   "It is heartwarming that we can have the celebration in the presence of those who are modern day Maccabees," said Rabbi Zaklikovsky about the veterans.

   Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein, whose district includes Jamesburg, also attended the ceremony and said the holiday is a celebration of religious freedom.

   "It proves you don't have to be the strongest military," she said, referring to the smaller Jewish army fighting against the strong Syrians in the story of Hanukkah. "The people with the greatest spirit can prevail."

   George Applebaum, a World War II veteran, said he looked at the ceremony as an expression of religious freedom, and that he is glad the menorah stands next to a Christmas tree, adorned with lights, in the middle of the park.

   "We have the right to have ours and others have the right to have a tree," he said.

   Besides celebrating religious freedom, many in attendance said it was commendable that the menorah was placed in Veterans' Memorial Park, a central location in the town.

   "It speaks well of American culture and brotherhood," said Mr. Kostbar. "This is the center of town."

   "It is nice that they have the tree lighting and the menorah in one place everyone can see," said Jenny Ludas, children's librarian at the Jamesburg Public Library.

   The ceremony ended with dancing and singing of holiday songs as well as jelly doughnuts and hot apple cider to warm up in the cold winter air.

   "I think it's wonderful the way Jamesburg celebrates all of the holidays," said Ms. Greenstein. "It is a community event and brings people together."   Cranbury Press - Cranbury,NJ,USA

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November 9, 2005 - Recollections of a 'just war'

Last winter during flu-shot season, decorated World War II veteran Mel Goldblatt decided to check and see if he had been awarded the Purple Heart for "a little nick" he acquired while being fired upon during the war. With the aid of Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey's office, he learned that he had not been awarded a medal for his injury, but instead found to his surprise that he had been awarded the nation's third-highest medal for valor -- the Silver Star -- for a mission in which he had taken part that provided information critical to the U. S. Army's crossing of the Rhine River as they made their way toward Berlin.

Goldblatt, now 83, was a scout and the assignment, which he calls "a rubber raft adventure across the Rhine," was to find German machine gun nests, and more specifically to evaluate whether a levee would be passable by soldiers in full combat gear.

They established that the levee was not going to be an obstacle and at some point were challenged by a German machine gun nest. "We stopped breathing and it got real quiet, the Germans eventually decided they'd just heard something weird in the river and we went on about our business and got back OK," recalls Goldblatt. That was March 21, 1945, two days later U.S. troops began crossing the Rhine River into Germany and within a few weeks the war in Europe was over.

He doesn't remember receiving the Silver Star at the time it was issued, but he recalls many of the experiences leading up to it quite well. He had enlisted in the Army for the same reason millions of others had: "I thought it was a just war and I wanted to help win it," Goldblatt says. He did his basic training in January of 1943 and joined the Intelligence and Reconnaissance platoon of the 76th Infantry Division.

His platoon was sent to England as replacement troops for the 30th Infantry Division, which had just amassed numerous casualties. "The first few weeks were a piece of cake," Goldblatt says, "but then on Dec. 17, 1944 the 30th was called into action at the Battle of the Bulge -- the largest land battle the U.S Army has ever fought and the last major German offensive on the Western Front.

"Winter was not well planned for in the Battle of the Bulge," Goldblatt says, because (Gen. Douglas) MacArthur and others thought the war would already have been won, so many soldiers were getting frostbitten from a shortage of adequate winter foot wear. But, he says, "that's nothing like the soldiers today being sent to war in Iraq in vehicles without armor." He also believes that psychologically, World War II was a lot easier than the war in Iraq because at that time we knew who the enemy was."

During that battle, Goldblatt won the Bronze Star while fighting in the frozen countryside of Malmedy, Belgium.

Goldblatt is soft-spoken when it comes to the war. For a while he kept in touch with some of his buddies from the 30th, but eventually that faded away.

"I guess I feel incredibly lucky. A lot of those guys just never came home. It was the luck of the draw, and while the things I encountered were dangerous, the odds for us were nothing like the D-Day odds," says Goldblatt.

He marvels over the logistical planning of the whole Normandy invasion: "Brilliant work. They knew they were going to lose a lot of lives, but waiting would have been bloodier," he says.

A few years ago Goldblatt and his wife Phyllis visited the cemetery at Omaha Beach in Normandy during a vacation in Europe, an experience that's not easy for him to talk about. "Cross after cross after cross, it's devastating, you know? Even though that was a very justified war," he laments.

"The war was a terrific learning experience for me. Before enlisting, I had been studying English and music at the University of Kansas City. So I went from studying liberal arts to trying to fire an M-1 rifle. It was a hell of a transition, as it was for thousands of other guys," Goldblatt says.

After the war, Goldblatt returned to his studies, first at Columbia University, and then at New School in New York City. In 1949 he formed a pioneering off-Broadway troupe, which ran successfully for three consecutive summers. Then in 1952, with the post-war building boom in full swing, Goldblatt moved back home to Kansas City and got into the family business, Goldblatt Tool Company. "I took over the advertising and we just grew like crazy for about ten years," recalls Goldblatt. He successfully expanded the company to California before the family decided to sell the business to Stanley Tools.

During the mid-1970s the Goldblatts were raising their children, Justine and Daniel, in Marin County when Mel took a job as financial controller for the rock band Jefferson Airplane. He was also producing some plays, one of which was Lonne Elder's highly acclaimed "Ceremonies in Dark Old Men," which was performed by The Negro Ensemble Company. He also produced big-name concerts, such as Duke Ellington and Carmen McRae at the Marines Memorial Opera House.

Around that time their son was getting interested in tennis and Goldblatt started thinking there was an opportunity to supply the growing tennis industry. He started First Service sports supply, which began with swim and tennis clubs and has since evolved and expanded to meet the needs of the fitness industry. His son Dan now runs the company, which has been located in Petaluma for the past nine years, but Goldblatt says he still likes to go down and get in the way sometimes.

Goldblatt is outspoken about his current views on our country. "My dad used to tell me, when the brick layers and the plasterers would come in on Saturday morning, that those who work by the sweat of their brow do not get their fair share. I think we're spinning toward feudalism with CEOs getting millions of dollars while half the country doesn't even have health insurance."

Goldblatt continues to live what has been a rather illustrious life here in Petaluma, and while this twice-decorated war veteran may not agree with current politics, he continues to display the U.S. flag in his yard nevertheless.    BURT HUTTEN, Petaluma Argus-Courier - Petaluma,CA,USA

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September 10, 2005 - Veteran shares 'War Stories'

FOR SIX days and nights, Angel "Bill" Garcia was one of about 600 camouflaged American soldiers who resisted German attacks in the area called Hill 314, a strategic position in the Battle for Mortain, during World War II.

Sixty years later, Garcia, a 44-year Burlingame resident, went back to that hill in Normandy, France where a black marble memorial for the 30th Infantry Division now stands.

He stood in front of that memorial with Oliver North for the Fox News Channel's show, "War Stories with Oliver North," last month.

The segment, "Freeing France from Hitler," will air at 5 p.m. Sept. 18.

Garcia, who was a staff sergeant and machine gunner, remembered what it was like being hidden in a fox hole from Aug. 6 to Aug. 12, 1944.

He fought in Company H, 120th Regiment, 30th Infantry Division, also known as "Old Hickory."

They only had the foliage to protect them. He was the lone machine gunner, but was flanked by riflemen.

"We were without food, water and were low on ammunition. There were no medical supplies," Garcia said Thursday. "Every night, the Germans would come up the hill patrolling, trying to find where we were. Sometimes they would attract our attention by firing and wait for us to fire back so they could locate us. But we weren't firing at that time."

But below the hill, Mortain was destroyed, he said.

"I wasn't scared, because I was mad, and when you get mad you don't get scared."

Garcia said, wearing his World War II uniform in his Burlingame home.

Eventually, the Germans were overwhelmed with American and British reinforcements.

He's also fought in other campaigns: Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, the Ardennes and Central Europe.

Garcia left Europe on April 6, 1945, serving one year, 9 months and 14 days and went home to his wife, Margaret.

He was discharged "at the convenience of the government" on July 29, 1945.

"It means they don't want you anymore," Garcia said.

He has been married to Margaret for 63 years, and they have two sons and a daughter.

A former Burlingame Planning Commissioner, Garcia is decorated with the Combat Infantry Badge, a Bronze Star, a Silver Star, two Purple Hearts from shrapnel wounds, and a Presidential Unit Citation for fighting in Mortain.

He is a member of Veteran of Foreign Wars, Post 7427 in San Mateo.

Garcia said he is excited about the upcoming show, although he's never seen a "War Stories with Oliver North" episode.

"I thought he was a gentleman," Garcia said. "Aside from what people have said about him, (North's) a great guy."

Christine Morente, San Mateo County Times - San Mateo,CA,USA

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September 01, 2005 - Time to honor those very brave men of the Infantry

During World War II, the European Theater of Operation ground forces were awarded 179 Congressional Medals of Honor. The 6th U.S. Army Corp which consisted of the following divisions the 3rd, 34th, 36th, 45th, 85th and 88th earned 57 of the 179 medals in the European Theater of Operation.

     The number represents 32 percent of these awarded, making the 6th Corp the most decorated Congressional medals of honor Corp in World War II.

     No. 1 - 3rd Infantry Division, 34 Congressional Medals of Honor

     No. 2 - 1st Infantry Division, 16 Congressional Medals of Honor

     No. 3 - 36th Infantry Division, 15 Congressional Medals of Honor

     No. 4 - 34th Infantry Division, 9 Congressional Medals of Honor

     No. 5 - 45th Infantry Division, 8 Congressional Medals of Honor

     No. 6 - 2nd Infantry Division, 6 Congressional Medals of Honor

     No. 7 - 30th Infantry Division, 6 Congressional Medals of Honor

     No. 8 - 82nd Infantry Division, 6 Congressional Medals of Honor

     No. 9 - 88th Infantry Division, 4 Congressional Medals of Honor

     No. 10 - 85th Infantry Division, 4 Congressional Medals of Honor

     The Infantry is called upon to fight without promise of either reward or relief. Behind every river there's another hill, and behind that hill is another river.

     After weeks or months in the line, only a wound can offer them the comfort of safety, shelter and a bed. Those who are left to fight on evading death, but knowing that with each day they have exhausted one more chance for survival.

     Sooner or later, unless victory comes, this routine will end as a body on two medics' litters or a bodybag and grave marker.

     The Infantry, for so indispensable a role in the American accomplishments in World War II, their numbers were small. From a population of 132 million, the military drew into service 16.3 million persons. Fewer than one million took part in extended combat. Fighting men comprised 10 percent or less of the full military complement. Infantry men, numbering only 14 percent of the American troops serving overseas, suffered 70 percent of the casualties.  Medford Transcript - Medford,MA,USA

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August 18, 2005 - Moss remembers WWII heroes, horrors

Bob Moss, of Linton, remembers the many heroes and horrors of World War II.

"I'm like a walking encyclopedia," he said.

He also remembers how the war split families, leaving mothers the lead role in raising a family and being the breadwinner for the first time in their lives.

He remembers how the word patriotic was the defining mood of the country.

He remembers how just the thought of burning the American flag would make most people mad.

Moss, a WWII veteran, knows all too well about the sacrifices that were made during the war.

"So many ladies had never worked before, but they got up and worked," he said.

During this time, Moss believes the country was at an all-time patriotic high.

"If somebody had burned a flag he wouldn't have lived to see the next day ... so many people had family in the service," Moss stressed.

There was no such thing as a protest. If you did protest the war you were just thrown in jail, he said.

"The country was probably the most together as it had ever been," Moss said.

Attitudes were different.

"Hitler had plans on how to occupy this country," he stressed.

Moss remembers over 60 years ago when he registered for the draft. It was 1944, he was a young 18-year-old, and it was the summer between his junior and senior years of high school, he explained.

He barely missed the Battle of the Bulge that started in December 1944.

As that young 18-year-old, in February 1945, he was sent to the front line. He was the youngest man in his company, making him a part of the small percentage of WWII vets who are still alive today.

His platoon was grouped according to a buddy system. Each young soldier had an older soldier as a buddy. Moss' buddy was 20 years older than he was.

He still remembers his buddy's name, Fred Sunderland, who was 38 years old at the time.

Sunderland had three children. His daughter was 16 years old, only two years younger than Moss.

"I was in Company G the 117th Infantry, 30th Infantry Division," Moss said.

"We were infantry replacements ... we went through two replacement depots, then right to the front.

"I had about 100 days of combat from February through May."

Moss remembers the front line, but he doesn't dwell on it. He knows there are many war vets that choose not to even remember at all. But he chooses to remember and to tell others who are interested in knowing.

In fact, he has an entire room that is mostly devoted to the history of not only WWII, but also other American wars. There are books upon books with notes and names. There are military contacts, some who have passed away and others who have disappeared throughout the years. War medals and military patches, some of which are even Nazi, are carefully placed throughout his room.

Moss has helped people obtain their war medals. He knows firsthand about the hardships of getting the well-deserved medals. After all, it took him 40 years to get his purple heart.

He has spoken at local schools and shared his stories.

The self-proclaimed "walking encyclopedia" remembers and is one of the few remaining WWII vets who knows firsthand of the heroes and horrors of a war that will not be forgotten.

Timberly Ferree, Linton Daily Citizen - Linton,IN,USA

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August 10, 2005 - WWII stories fresh in veteran's mind - Cleveland native to share tales of `disgusting' combat

He knows war.

More than 60 years later, Edward C. Arn still thinks of what he saw and the men who died around him.

``There is nothing glorious about war,'' said Arn, 96, of Wooster. ``It is deadly, down to earth, honest to God, disgusting in many ways.''

As the world remembers the 60th anniversary Sunday of the end of fighting in World War II on V-J Day, Arn's story is still as fresh in his mind as it was when he fought in France after D-Day, in the Netherlands, in Belgium in the Battle of the Bulge, and fought to the River Elbe in Germany, about 50 miles from Berlin, as the war ended in Europe.

And it is told in the book Arn's War, Memoirs of a World War II Infantryman, 1940-1946, to be published by the University of Akron Press in the next few months.

Arn, a native of Cleveland, was a College of Wooster graduate who worked as a salesman when he decided to join the Army at the age of 33 through a U.S. Army Volunteer Officer Candidate program.

He became an infantry instructor as a second lieutenant at Fort McClellan, Ala.

He trained infantry replacement soldiers.

``Men, no one wants to die, particularly at your age. So, here at McClellan the more you listen, learn and remember, the longer you'll stay alive, wherever you're going,'' he wrote in the book of a standard speech he gave to his recruits.

Eventually, Arn volunteered for combat.

He arrived in France on July 17, 1944, about six weeks after D-Day, and fought with the 30th Infantry across Europe for the next several months.

On his first exposure to combat, he wrote ``in split seconds, I had a thousand reservations about my ability, I was now scared as hell.''

He described the sights and smells of war.

``What was to become a familiar sort of sticky-sweet smell entered my nostrils, the odor of the uncared-for departed.''

Perhaps the most dramatic descriptions are of the Battle of the Bulge and fighting in Belgium in the winter of 1944-1945.

He called the famous battle ``a ludicrous nightmare, never to be forgotten.''

And he wrote of the ghastly winter conditions.

``Contrary to some of the movies about the Battle of the Bulge, the ever present set snow was often waist-deep,'' he wrote. ``We suffered almost as many casualties from trench foot as from enemy firepower. Trench foot is a disease peculiar to soldiers fighting in winter conditions. A combination of dirt, sweat, water-soaked shoes, wet socks, and cold weather resulted in the creation of blisters, deep sores, and, finally, infection in the feet.''

So many soldiers lost feet through amputations, he wrote, that some soldiers saw ``an oil drum full of amputated feet in a military hospital in Liege.''

In a letter home to his parents, Arn wrote of New Year's Eve 1944 and ``the only thing we're celebrating is the fact we're alive.''

He wrote of seeing the bodies of Americans who had been massacred at Malmedy, Belgium.

``I saw the frozen bodies stacked in small buildings as we passed through Malmedy, proceeding in a southeasterly direction. I can recall staring at the rows of shoes.''

By the end of the Battle of the Bulge in late January 1945, he wrote that from where he stood, ``I once again expressed my hatred of the insane Adolf Hitler.''

Arn left the Army at the end of the war as a captain, having served as a commanding officer of Company F, 2nd Battalion, 119th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division.

He was wounded twice and earned two Purple Hearts and the Silver Star.

He returned to civilian life and married his wife, Pat, and continued selling until he took a job at the College of Wooster in 1958. He retired there in 1974 as director of alumni relations.

When he returned home, he said, he suffered emotionally from what he saw.

``It was a mess,'' he said. ``I was in the thick of things and carried baggage... some dear friends didn't come home.''

While he was in combat, his company suffered 128 killed in action and 600 wounded.

``You get the idea of turnover,'' he said in an interview at his Wooster home.

Arn had to write letters to about 50 families of soldiers who died in his company.

``It is the hardest thing in the world to do,'' he said.

To this day, Arn said, he wonders ``if I hadn't sent kids to their deaths, which I had.''

His captain died in his arms.

``Few guys are in actual combat, and when they are, they come out different,'' he said in an interview.

Jerome Mushkat, an emeritus professor of history at the University of Akron who edited Arn's book, said Arn's experiences in war are significant.

``He was just an ordinary person, making a living before the war, then he goes into the service facing circumstances beyond anything that he ever anticipated,'' Mushkat said. ``He exceeded expectations and was an extraordinary person.''

Arn, Mushkat said, ``epitomizes the best qualities of Americans at war.''

Arn said he wrote the memoir over a 10-year period starting about 1976 and initially wrote it for his children and grandchildren. He and his wife have five children and one foster child, 16 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

He said his combat experience has turned him against war today.

``I've always said, `Why in the world can't man sit down around a table and solve a problem peacefully?' And apparently we never will,'' he said.

The tragic thing about war, Arn said, is this: ``It takes young men. Men that are just beginning to get organized. Oh, I hate war.''

Jim Carney, Akron Beacon Journal - Akron,OH,USA

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July 18, 2005 - 60th Anniversary of World War II
 

Sixteen million men and women served in World War II; 400,000 died; millions more survived. The war, which began on July 7, 1937 spanned across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans as well as across Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. It was not until May 8, 1945 that Germany surrendered and August 15, 1945 that Japan surrendered, turning the chaotic lives of those 16 million soldiers from wartime to calmer times.

Of those that survived, many veterans of the war now live in different parts of the country, but many live in the Harlan area. Here are the stories of three of those veterans.

HARLAN -- In October of 1944, Don Norgaard was captured for the second time as a prisoner of war (POW) in World War II. He sat in Dortmund, Germany for seven months this time, remembering being previously captured only two months earlier and freed by the French Underground.

Norgaard was considered Missing in Action (MIA) for four months while in Dortmund, separated from his company, the 30th Infantry Division of the United States Army.

In April of 1945, American soldiers liberated Norgaard from Dortmund, freeing him from the dangerous times of a POW.

"I remember when they came to liberate me," Norgaard said. "They asked if there were any Americans there and I was so happy to see them, I cried."
Norgaard spent a year and two months in a military hospital in Galesburg, Ill. recuperating from his injuries before he was allowed to return to Harlan, where he would later find himself with a purple heart and oak leaves, symbolizing two injuries in the war.

Norgaard was drafted into the U.S. Army on December 26, 1942, and left for the war with 15 other men from the Harlan area, none of whom fought in the war together later on.

"I remember the day we left," Norgaard said. "It was icy and we were on a bus. It was so icy that we had to get out and push the bus up the hill."

While serving, Norgaard toured around the United States to places like Little Rock, Ark. and Boston, Mass. but eventually found himself at Omaha Beach in France 10 days after D-Day. He went through Belgium and Germany before becoming a POW.

"The most memorable time was when I came home," Norgaard said.

When he returned from his duty in August of 1946, just short of two years after he was drafted, Norgaard tried many jobs including farming. He ran a gas station for 11 years and now has worked on small engines for the last 20 years.
But a few pieces of shrapnel that remain in Norgaard's ankle bone remind him of the experiences of being a POW in WWII.  Harlan Tribune - Harlan,IA,USA

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June 30, 2005 - Backward glances

60 YEARS AGO - PFC Robert R. Hellen, stationed with the 30th Infantry Division in Germany, was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious achievement in combat.

 

Hudson Sun - Framingham,MA,USA