US Army vet, born 1925. 'Undesirable' discharge for being gay, 1948. Hid the anguish from his family, until he married his partner of decades in 2009 and fought years for an honorable discharge, which came at the age of 91 in 2017
WWII - Contemporary witness of the Port Chicago disaster (largest US mainland munitions explosion, July 17, 1944, Naval Magazine, Port Chicago, CA; 320 dead, 390 wounded, followed by mutiny that changed segregation in the Navy.)
WWII: British soldier of the 56th (Highland) Medium Regiment who survived 4 days under fire at the beaches of Dunkirk and was evacuated on board J86, the minesweeper HMS Salamander
Is a former officer in the United States Marine Corps and the proprietor of The Globe and Laurel Restaurant in Stafford, Virginia. He served in the Marine Corps for over 29 years and is called 'the living historian of the Marine Corps'
WWII: Gunner on the USS Yorktown (CV-5, 'Fighting Lady') . Battle of the Coral Sea (May 1942), Battle of Midway (June 1942), when he spent 10 hours in the Pacific before being picked up. Later served on submarine USS Jack
US Navy vet, born 1940. Assigned to the USS Lake Champlain in 1961, participated in the recovery of Alan Sheperd and Freedom 7. Helped make the bed that the recovered capsule was set upon
US Navy 'Atomic Veteran', born 1928. Operation Crossroads atomic tests witness in 1946. Enlisted 1945, but recruiter held him off since he had four brothers serving. But ended up exposed to radiation, fighting skin cancers later in life
A British Royal Air Force meteorologist who notably persuaded General Dwight D. Eisenhower to change the date of the Allied invasion of Europe in World War II, from the 5th of June to the 6th of June 1944
WWII - D-Day Utah Beach, 359th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division. Also fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Before that, he was sent to the Pacific Theater, where he survived the sinking of the SS President Coolidge on 26 Oct 1942
Charles 'Chuck' Ollin Stalnaker was a WW2 Veteran in the Navy from 1945 to 1946 as an anti - aircraft gun loader on the USS Boise. After he worked on building ships until 1947 (B: March 16, 1927)
WW2 POW 31st Infantry Regiment U.S. Army, was captured & shipped to Yokkaichi city in Japan where was forced to shovel coal at copper mill/suffered post-traumatic stress disorder, but recovered & held career as corrections officer in Conn
WWII - Navigaor and OOD (Officer of the Deck) of the USS Missouri. It was his job to greet US and Japanese military officials as they boarded to sign the papers of surrender, and his job to set up the ceremony
WWII - D-Day, Battle of The Bulge, Nuremberg Trails. 1st Infantry Div, 26th Infantry Regiment. 1st wave on Omaha Beach. Occupational duty of guarding the top 12 high ranking German officials, including Hermann Goering and Rudolf Hess
Michael Dane Steele (born September 15, 1960) is a retired colonel of the United States Army. He was a company commander in the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment during the Somalia mission Operation Gothic Serpent
Centenarian (1901-2006). US vet of WWI and WWII. 4 WWI battles in France. Named Provost Marshal of Hawaii, living through Pearl Harbor. Oldest living West Point grad (1925) and only WWI vet still on (honorary) active duty at his death
US WWII Navy vet, born 11 Jan 1921. Served on the USS Wichita, part of the Murmansk Runs to Russia, incl. the disastrous Convoy PQ-17. Later in the Pacific
WWII - Yeoman aboard the submarine USS Wahoo (SS-238); sole survivor of the sinking of the Wahoo (11 Oct 1943) as he was miraculously transferrd just 45 mins before Wahoo sailed on her last and fatal voyage. Author of 'Wake of the Wahoo'
WW2/Member of Ritchie Boys, a military intelligence unit composed of German, Austrian, & Czech refugees & immigrants to the US, mostly Jewish. Member of (interrogators of prisoners of war) Team 37. For this he gained the Bronze Star Medal
Member of The Ritchie Boys was responsible for uncovering more than half the combat intelligence on the Western Front during World War II. Holocaust survivor born 1922
(Born December 24, 1918) is an American World War II battalion commander during World War II who is the oldest living graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point
WWII: ETO. 345th Bomb Squadron, 98th Bomb Group, 9th AF. B-24 Liberator 'The Sandman' (#42-40402). Pilot & Squadron Commander. 50 Combat missions. DFC for Operation Tidal Wave (1 Aug 1943), the bombing of the oil refineries at Ploesti
Vietnam/Fall of Saigon/Drove bus through Saigon & pick up eligible to leave. Saw anger growing among those on the streets as people realized the end was near & U.S. was pulling out. A rocket hit near the bus & was shaken by shrapnel
WWII Dunkirk/D-Day: British soldier of the Green Howards; was blown up at Dunkirk (1940), had his ID tags taken off and left for dead, but then saved by the men around him. He was wounded again when his landing ship was blown up on D-Day+2
One of the 591 American prisoners of war who were returned during Operation Homecoming, in 1973; featured in the Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph 'Burst of Joy' taken on March 17, 1973 at Travis Air Force Base in California
Cpl, USA, E Co., 2nd Bn., 33rd Armor Regiment, 3rd Armored Div.
M4 Sherman Tank Gun Loader
Purple Heart
First unit to pierce the Siegfried Line
Normandy, Northern France and Rhineland Campaigns
Chief Electrician USS Darter (SS-227) in October 1944, during Ambush at Palawan Passage. Then, Bill was the Chief Electrician when the Menhaden was commissioned in June of 1945
WWII: Pearl Harbor survivor, 7 December 1941. Was aboard USS Pyro (AE-1) (moored at West Loch in Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked) and hardly survived being strafed; later served on submarine USS Bumper (SS-333)
WW2 veteran and one of the escapers from German PoW camp 'Stalag Luft III' in 1944, which inspired the Hollywood movie 'The Great Escape'. He is now 89
US Airman First Class who helped avert a massacre when an armed attacker began shooting on a train from Amsterdam to Paris; received the US Soldier's Medal and France's Legion of Honor
WWII: Pearl Harbor survivor, 7 December 1941. Schofield Barracks, 65th Engineer Battalion, Company B, 25th Division. Later served in Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands), Luzon (Philippines), New Guinea a.o. places
WWII: ETO. Veteran of the 5th Army, Company F, 142nd Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry 'Texas' Division. He fought in Naples and the battle of Monte Casino, where he was taken a POW on February 14th, 1944
WWII - Bombing Squadron Pilot (VB-11, sister quadron to the famous Sundowners VF-11) of Carrier Air Group 11 in the Pacific Theater; served on the USS Hornet and at Guadalcanal
WWII - Pilot of the B-17 'Big Yank', 483rd Bombardment Group, 840th Bombardment Sq. Base: Sterparone, Italy; on March 24, 1945, they flew the longest escorted European bombing mission to Berlin, credited for destroying 3 Me-262's
Vietnam war veteran. Straub spent 14 months in Vietnam, taking part in the Tet offensive. Now 73, Straub is fighting in Ukraine, quite possibly the oldest of the foreign volunteers to join the resistance forces there
Vice Admiral Bernard M. Strean executed the United States Navy's first circumnavigation of the world by nuclear-powered surface warships from July 31, 1964-October 3, 1964
WWII: ETO. D-Day. Company E, 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. He is the man Eisenhower talks to in the famous pre-D-Day photograph
Centenarian (1905-2008), witness of 2 major aviation events. In the 1909 crowd that watched O.Wright demonstrate his plane for the US military. Married to WWII Marine, lived on hill near Pearl Harbor in 1941, first bomb hit nearby house
American author, pastor, and former US Army Ranger who was involved in the Battle of Mogadish. He was awarded a silver star for his actions. In the film based on the battle, Black Hawk Down, Struecker is portrayed by Brian Van Holt
WWII: PTO/ETO. Pearl Harbor survivor, Hickam Field. Flew B-17 known as 'Jack the Ripper' over Germany (1943-44) and was shot down close to Munster. He was a POW in STALAG LUFT 1
WWII Red Cross worker, Gold Star Widow, born 1921. Raced last minute to marry fiance night before he shipped out, soon killed by a land mine. Signed up for Red Cross in 1945, sent to Guam at war's end to entertain and lift troop spirits
WWII: ETO. Top Turret Gunner of B-17 'Fifinella' (42-107030); 322nd Squadron, 91st Bomb Group. Flew 20 missions from June 17, 1944. Was shot down on the Aug. 13, 1944 south of Paris. Spent 314 days as a POW, mostly at Stalag Luft IV
General Gordon Russell Sullivan-Retired Army general officer, who served as the 32nd Chief of Staff of the United States Army & member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff/Army Distinguished Service Medal, Bronze Star, Purple Heart & Legion of Merit
WWII: PTO. Served on the USS Oakland from 1942 to 1946. Was in many battles in the Pacific incl. Coral Sea, Guam, Iwo Jima and Okinawa; near the USS BUnker HIll when she was hit by 2 Kamikaze; watched the surrender ceremony in Tokyo Bay
English former footballer, who played in the successful Manchester City side of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Starred in the WWII movie, ESCAPE TO VICTORY
WWII: PTO. Served on the USS Mahan (DD-364) and survived the Kamikaze attack on Dec. 7, 1944 (Battle of Ormac Bay) between Leyte and Ponson Island, when 3 out of 7 Kamikaze hit the ship
Centenarian (1896-2004). One of the last US Navy veterans of WWI. Served on the USS Charleston transporting supplies/soldiers across the Atlantic, and played sax in the ship's band
WWII: PTO. Served on the USS Bunker Hill (CV-17); survived the Kamikaze attack on May 11, 1945 (Battle of Okinawa) when 390 sailors and airmen were killed and 264 wounded
WWII: US Navy veteran who served on the USS Russell (DD-414); the ship fought in 16 major engagements incl. the Battle of Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway where she picked up survivors of the carriers USS Lexington resp. USS Yorktown
WWII: Fighter pilot of the VMF 451 ('Blue Devils') stationed aboard the aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill (CV-17). Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Tokyo raids. Survived Kamikaze attack at the Bunker Hill (11 May 1945). 3 victories, 2 assists. Flew F4U Corsair
Pearl Harbor Attack Survivor; was at Hickam Field with the Army Air Corps. Later also survived the Battle Of Midway when his B-17E Flying Fortress was shot down on 5 June 1942 and he was one of three survivors
B.1927 Former FBI Special Agent from 51-77, author FBI Secrets & To Kill a President/Served Navy during WW2/Began career doing "black bag jobs" on Communists in Chicago. In Kentucky & NYC, spent years doing serious criminal investigations
United States Army Air Force pilot who flew Bockscar carrying the Fat Man atomic bomb to the Japanese city of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. Author of War's End: An Eyewitness Account of America's Last Atomic Mission
Vietnam Army pilot with 118th Assault Helicopter Co. stationed Bien Hoa, Republic of Vietnam. During his flying combat missions, awarded 2 Distinguished Flying Crosses, Bronze Star, 23 awards of The Air Medal, & Vietnam Cross of Gallantry
Vietnam Marine/POW Hanoi Hilton/Shared prison cell with John McCain/Awarded two Silver Stars, 2 Bronze Stars, 2 Purple Hearts, Legion of Merit with Combat 'V' Prisoner of War Medal/Retired at rank of lieutenant colonel
Former USMC that served in the US Marine Corps Surveillance and Target Acquisition/Scout-Sniper Platoon during the Gulf War. He was apart of STA Platoon 2 Blatoon 7th Marines. Author of Jarhead and many novels
US WWII Army vet, born 1924. Through the UK, France, Belgium, Germany and meeting the Soviets at Elbe. After, served as a guard at the Nuremburg Trials
Dust bowl survivor and WWII veteran, born 1917. Fought in campaigns including Tunisia, Sicily, and Rome (where he met the Pope), and later helped liberate the Dachau concentration camp