I am continually amazed by the chance meetings of friends, or even brothers, serving in different units, during wars. Coincidence? Maybe it really is a small world after all. Several come to mind, but one in particular has stuck with me. Bob and Jim Gage were brothers, and both bomber pilots fighting for the 13th [...]
Over the past week, we’ve logged multiple posts on Pete DeBrular and the Garveston Twelve, who served with the 492nd Bomb Group out of North Pickenham, England. Just 25 miles to the southeast set the Tibenham Airfield, home to the 8th Air Force’s 445th Bomb Group. In this edition of Letters From War Wednesday, we [...]
In May 1864, General Grant launched his Overland Campaign, a relentless war of attrition aimed at forcing Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia into submission and ending the American Civil War. This Letters From War Wednesday features a note from infantryman Charles Fall, who served in Grant’s army with the 26th Michigan of Hancock’s II Corps. [...]
As most followers of this site know, the History Junkie loves unit reunions. Next week, August 28-31, “Spanglermates” from the USS Spangler DE-696 will be getting together in San Diego. A tour of the USS Midway, a harbor cruise, a silent auction and plenty of great stories are just some of the planned activities. By [...]
B-24 Bomber Pilot, Bob Gage, possessed a wonderful sense of humor. In this edition of Letters From War Wednesday, we feature a November 1942 note home from San Antonio, Texas, where Gage was continuing his pilot training. “Here I am again with another change of address. I’m in the Pre-Flight school now. This is really [...]
Yesterday, we took a look at the tragic end to the promising young life of Bruce Eamick, an American infantryman during the Vietnam War. On August 6, 1969, just two days before his death at Fire Support Base Washington, Eamick wrote a short note home to his parents. It would be his last. “…We’re working [...]
Even amid war, tragedy strikes us off guard. All were shocked at the recent loss of 30 American military personnel, when their Chinook chopper went down over Afghanistan. They say time heals the pain. But for family members, the loss of a loved one in war never really goes away. Infantryman Bruce Eamick served in [...]
Richard Winebrenner was drafted into the U.S. Army Air Corps in April 1942. He married his high school sweetheart, Daisy Weber, at Kelly Field in San Antonio, Texas in November of the same year. Following a stint in South America, Winebrenner served as a top-turret gunner aboard the B-29 bomber, The One You Love in [...]
Vietnam War infantryman, Bruce Eamick, served with Company B, 3rd Battalion, 22nd Infantry, 25th Infantry Division. His group worked the volatile Central Highland jungles near the Cambodian border. “We’ve been pretty busy lately,” Eamick wrote to his mother on July 13, 1969. “For the last week we’ve been building a platoon size patrol base and [...]
Hump day, and time again for Letters From War Wednesday. This note from World War I, dated December 8, 1917, comes from the grieving parents, AJ and Ella, of Virgil Winebrenner, killed by an enemy bullet in the trenches of France. The letter was addressed to the community and printed in a local newspaper. “We [...]