Learning of the official end to World War II brought varied reactions from our soldiers. Sergeant Hobert Winebrenner was serving with the 358th Infantry, 90th Infantry Division in Northern Europe. “I can well remember the day my war ended,” Winebrenner wrote in BOOTPRINTS. “I’ll never forget it! Along an anonymous lane, I sat in the [...]
It’s getting to be an all too familiar occurrence–another of our aged World War II heroes has passed away. Edwin Persons, 87, died on Tuesday, December 27, 2011, in Tampa, Florida. Persons served as a medic in World War II with Company B, 502nd Parachute Infantry, 101st Airborne Division. With his group he dropped behind [...]
This week’s Letters From War Wednesday features a short note home, first impressions from Pvt. Eddie Wells, setting foot in Vietnam in the spring of 1968. “I got over here to Bien Hoa at 12:30 yesterday,” he wrote to his parents upon arrival. “…I can hear bombs going off in the distance. “…You couldn’t believe [...]
One last call for World War II Navy veteran, Robert Spangler, with a wonderful recap of his Memorial Service.
World War II B-24 bomber pilot, Lt. Bob Gage, certainly had a way with words. In this edition of Letters From War Wednesday, we feature another of his short notes home. Gage penned this letter in June 1944, while stationed in the South Pacific. “It’s getting pretty hot and I guess that Big Blue Ocean, [...]
In this edition of Letters From War Wednesday, we feature a short note from Navy man, Bernard Duesler. “…I’m very proud to be in our armed forces,” Duesler wrote home from training at Camp Moffett, Great Lakes, Illinois in early 1943. “It makes you feel very proud and kinda puffs you up a bit on [...]
No doubt, some of the worst Letters From War imaginable are those sent by our War Department, like the Western Union telegram received by Evelyn Black, mother of infantryman, Dennis Black, serving with the 7th Cavalry in the Vietnam War. “THE SECRETARY OF THE ARMY HAS ASKED ME TO EXPRESS HIS DEEP REGRET THAT YOUR [...]
Since the release of the movie, We Were Soldiers, starring Mel Gibson, we hear a lot about the Battle at LZ X-ray. People seem to forget the ensuing, even more brutal, engagement at nearby LZ Albany. As the Battle of LZ X-ray came to an end, survivors of the 1st of the 7th were airlifted [...]
Ah, the cold is upon us. November always brings that bitter wind and those first hints of winter. But better in your warm house than on picket guard … during the Civil War. This edition of Letters From War Wednesday features a short note home, written 150 years ago this month, from Union soldier, William [...]
In this edition of Letters From War Wednesday, we feature a note home from World War I soldier, Jesse Winebrenner, just prior to he and his brother, Ben’s, departure for the front lines in France. Given that the pair’s brother, Virgil, was killed earlier in the conflict, Jesse is attempting to prepare his mother for [...]