Tag Archives: WWII
Marine Veteran’s Final Mission: Helping Comrade’s Family Understand Their Loved One’s Supreme Sacrifice
Marine veteran Albert Bonin had one last hill to take — one last mission to carry out — as his health began to fail in 2008. This one involved memories and words instead of bullets, mortars, and grenades. The Irvine resident, then in his late 80s, deemed it nearly as important as what he and […]
VETERANS WELL REPRESENTED AMONG CALIFORNIA HALL OF FAME’S 2023 CLASS INDUCTEES
An Asian American woman who became a World War II Army pilot and a physicist. A World War II Army veteran who became the first openly gay man to run for public office in the United States. A Tuskegee Airman and Olympic 400 meters champion who went on to enjoy a long and successful career […]
MISSING IN ACTION BUT ALWAYS IN OUR HEARTS: THE SEARCH CONTINUES
As Memorial Day approaches, families will plan to gather at consecrated grounds— such as Arlington National Military Cemetery in Virginia. In California, they will visit any one of the 14 national or military cemeteries up and down the state, including CalVet’s cemeteries at Igo, Yountville, and Seaside. It is the day each year where we […]
MAY A MONTH OF REMEMBRANCE FOR THREE-WAR VET AT REDDING HOME
May is a month of remembrances for 96-year-old U.S. Navy veteran Don Windle. On May 5, 1944, the Navy launched his ship, the USS Aaron Ward (DM-34), a destroyer minelayer commissioned in October of that year. On May 3, 1945, two days shy of a year of its launching and during its first and only […]
80 YEARS AGO, MARINE PILOT SHOT DOWN SEVEN JAPANESE PLANES IN ONE DAY, EARNED MEDAL OF HONOR
CalVet’s Medal of Honor Wall includes 177 names of soldiers, sailors, and Marines, either from California or with California ties, who received the nation’s highest honor for heroism and valor. Each recipient and the circumstances that led to awarding the honor is a story in its own right. This time, we tell the story of […]
YES, TEACHER, GRANDMA REALLY WAS A SOLDIER, SPY, GUERILLA, AND SILVER STAR RECIPIENT
As the story goes, when Corporal Magdalena “Maggie” Leones’ granddaughter wrote a report about her grandma for a school assignment, the teacher simply didn’t believe it. Believe what? Or, was the girl simply a grandchild with an overactive imagination? Prove it, the teacher told her. Prove it, Maggie’s granddaughter did. She brought the Silver Star […]
GLIDING INTO 2023, 70 YEARS TO THE DAY MILITARY GLIDERS SAILED OFF INTO RETIREMENT
As we glide into 2023, we pay tribute to the military glider – one of America’s silent weapons of World War II – that was removed from the U.S. Army’s air fleet on this day 70 years ago. Gliders were lightweight, engineless airplanes towed by cables into the skies by much bigger, motored aircraft, then […]
PEARL HARBOR REMEMBRANCE DAY: IMAGES LEFT TO TELL THE STORY ONCE THE FINAL VOICES GO SILENT
On Veterans Day last month, USS Arizona Navy veteran Lou Conter told a gathering in Grass Valley about the fateful events of December 7, 1941—the day the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service attacked Pearl Harbor. Of the 2,403 Americans killed, 1,177 were his Arizona shipmates. The attack also damaged or destroyed 19 ships including eight […]
Parachute that Brought Supplies to American Pows Now Dressing up Display at Redding Veterans Home
A yellow toddler’s dress might be the last thing you’d expect to find showcased at a veterans home. Photographs, medals, battlefield souvenirs, or old newspaper clippings? Sure. But a little yellow silk dress? Yet, there is displayed in the Hall of Honor deep inside the Veterans Homes of California-Redding, on loan from the family of […]
SEABEES BUILDING BASES, ROADS, AIRSTRIPS, AND REPUTATION FOR PAST 80 YEARS
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor drew the United States officially into World War II, the Navy determined it would need to build bases, roads, and airstrips in combat zones – and at warp speed. But who would build them? Civilian contractors who built facilities at Wake Island were captured by Japanese soldiers 15 days […]
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