World War II Veterans

[Ulitzer95 12,585]

On 26/07/2022 at 06:32, TheSpinosaurus said:

Gilbert Howland died not long after this post https://www.stripes.com/veterans/obituaries/2022-05-23/merrills-marauders-gilbert-howland-obituary-6106656.html. Russell Hamler and Gabriel Kinney are the only ones left of the Merrill's Marauders now.

 

Another crew that's down to two is that of the USS Indianapolis, with Harold Bray (94/95) and Cleatus Lebow (98) the only living survivors.

Gabriel Kinney dead at 101.

Russell Hamler, 98, is now the last of the Merrill's Marauders.

[arghton 6,702]

On 04/11/2021 at 11:32, arghton said:

https://news.yahoo.com/meet-104-old-chen-ping-160615001.html

A new "last living" member of the Flying Tigers has emerged, 103-year old (104 East Asian age reckoning) Chen Ping Ching.

Lt. Col Chen Ping Ching, possibly the last living member of the Flying Tigers, dead at 104.

[arghton 6,702]

Martti Mäkinen, Finnish front veteran of the November 1939-March 1940 Winter War (probably not that much of them left anymore) dead at 104.

[Hurri Khan 36]

On 23/12/2022 at 13:49, arghton said:

Martti Mäkinen, Finnish front veteran of the November 1939-March 1940 Winter War (probably not that much of them left anymore) dead at 104.

 

Mäkinen may have been the last living person to have witnessed the shelling of Mainila on 26 November 1939 - the false flag operation used by the Soviet Union to justify the attack against Finland. The formula has been repeated a number of times since then... Mäkinen served in the Winter War, but during the Continuation War he worked as a cutter at the Tikkakoski Factory, producing thousands of Suomi submachine guns. He was part of the factory staff - now making sewing machines - until his retirement in 1983.

 

Last Norwegian veteran from the Narvik Campaign, Eystein Røset, died on 23 December. He would have turned 104 years five days later. In the Battle of Gratangen on 25 April 1940, he saw 34 of his comrades being killed around him, and he was sure this would be his last moment as well. But he survived, and, later on, turned the bullet that hit him into a piece of jewellery.

 

[whoismakoto 328]

Oldest living Brazilian WWII veteran Ruy de Noronha Goyos, dead at 108.

[Sinbabad 1,116]

On 23/12/2022 at 12:12, arghton said:

Lt. Col Chen Ping Ching, possibly the last living member of the Flying Tigers, dead at 104.

I believe we can say all the Flying Tigers are dead. Frank Losonsky was the last American and died in 2020. If there’s a survivor, he would be a Chinese pilot. But he would be over 100 years old, so I highly doubt it.

[Cerberus 302]

Navy veteran Harry Waddingham looking amazing for 106 in this clip, shown earlier on BBC Breakfast. Upright and alert with a strong, clear voice he could easily pass for fifteen years younger. (Edit: On this morning's show he was talking about his war service, but a short section of this was also shown). 

 

 

[chel 376]

Navy veteran Vasily Dzhurzha a participant in the Great Patriotic War did not live to see his 102nd birthday.

The main event in his life was the bloody crossing of the Baltic Fleet from Tallinn to Kronstadt in August 1941. At that time thousands of our sailors perished, the vessel on which Vasiliy Dzhurja was travelling was also sunk, the crew almost all disappeared, and he was miraculously picked up on the other side.

fontanka.ru

[Sir Creep 7,070]

Douglas Petty, a former RAF flight engineer who flew more than 30 bombing missions, passed away at York Hospital on New Year's Eve. 

Mr Petty's funeral will be held at St Lawrence's Church, York, on January 11 - which would have been his 100th birthday.

SC

[Redrumours 861]

3 hours ago, Sir Creep said:

Douglas Petty, a former RAF flight engineer who flew more than 30 bombing missions, passed away at York Hospital on New Year's Eve. 

Mr Petty's funeral will be held at St Lawrence's Church, York, on January 11 - which would have been his 100th birthday.

SC

Spoilsport!

[chel 376]

04.01.2023 veteran Berkut Yeszhanov (99) died in Karaganda, Kazakhstan.

He was drafted in early 1942, but went to the front after being trained as a mechanic on the LaGG-3 aircraft. He took part in fights near Moscow and in battle near Kursk in 1943. After being wounded till the end of the war he served in the sanitary aviation, fetching seriously wounded people from the war zone.

He participated in the liberation of North-Eastern China and Mongolia from the Japanese.

In 1948 he returned home to Kazakhstan. Married, with spouse has lived 67 years, they have 8 children.

Throughout many years Berkut Yesshanov was engaged in swimming. Served as an example for younger generations.

Before the New Year he underwent a complicated surgery - restoration of a bone after break of a hip.

Photo:

1. Berkut Yeszhanov

2. With his wife Kumiszhan, children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

3. In the pool with young Karaganda residents.

ekaraganda.kz, inform.kz, csmb.kz, novoetv.kz, 

[alt obits guy 3,371]

Dennis Davis, a World War II Aussie veteran and one of the last survivors of the Rats of Tobruk, has died. He was 102.

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11126017/One-Australias-surviving-Rats-Tobruk-Dennis-Davis-dies-aged-102.html

[Ulitzer95 12,585]

On 10/11/2021 at 23:48, Ulitzer95 said:

Annette Chalut (wiki), member of the French Resistance during WWII and a survivor of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, dead at 97 (in German).

Along with Francis Huré, Hubert Germain (who just got a Telegraph obit), and Justus Rosenberg, that's four WWII resistants who had English Wiki pages dead in less than a month.

13 survivors from my Wiki watchlist:

Maria Mirecka-Loryś (b. 1916, wiki)
Monique Hanotte MBE (b. 1920, wiki)
Epaminondas Stassinopoulos (b. 1921, wiki)
Jacques Borker (b. 1922, wiki)
Selma van de Perre (b. 1922, wiki)
Valérie André (b. 1922, wiki)
Jacqueline Fleury (b. 1923, wiki)
Madeleine Riffaud (b. 1924, wiki)
Pirro Kondi (b. 1924, wiki) could be dead?
Walkiria Terradura (b. 1924, wiki)
Adolfo Kaminsky (b. 1925, wiki)
Robert Hébras (b. 1925, wiki)
Simone Segouin (b. 1925, wiki)

Adolfo Kaminsky dead at 97.

[OneManJury 84]

On 04/01/2023 at 04:58, Sir Creep said:

Douglas Petty, a former RAF flight engineer who flew more than 30 bombing missions, passed away at York Hospital on New Year's Eve. 

Mr Petty's funeral will be held at St Lawrence's Church, York, on January 11 - which would have been his 100th birthday.

SC

His chocks are really away now.

[drol 11,936]

On 27/11/2022 at 19:23, Ulitzer95 said:

Greetings and welcome!

I'll try and do my best on this one:

UK
*there are no living members of the Royal Family who served following the deaths of Prince Philip in 2021 and Queen Elizabeth II in 2022.
*there are no living former Cabinet ministers who served.
*there are 2 living former MPs who served – Sir Patrick Duffy (b. 1920) and Ben Ford (b. 1925).
*there is still 1 current member of the House of Lords who served – Lord Christopher (b. 1925); and there are 5 living formers members of the Lords who served – 21st Baron Saye and Sele (b. 1920), 11th Earl of Elgin (b. 1924), 9th Baron Walsingham (b. 1925), 8th Marquess of Ailesbury (b. 1926) and 13th Earl of Airlie (b. 1926)
*there are no living former MEPs who served.

USA
*there is 1 living former President who served – Jimmy Carter (b. 1924).
*there are no living former Vice Presidents who served following the death of George H. W. Bush in 2018.
*there are 2 living former Cabinet members who served – Henry Kissinger (b. 1923) and Ray Marshall (b. 1928).
*there are 9 living former members of the House of Representatives who served – Al Quie (b. 1923), Frank Joseph Guarini (b. 1924), G. William Whitehurst (b. 1925), Lucien Nedzi (b. 1925), Elwood Hillis (b. 1926), Benjamin B. Blackburn (b. 1927), Arthur Ravenel Jr. (b. 1927), Austin Murphy (b. 1927) and James W. Symington (b. 1927).
*there are 2 living former Senators who served – James Buckley (b. 1923) and Daniel Evans (b. 1925).
*there are 8 living former Governors who served – Al Quie (b. 1923), Jimmy Carter (b. 1924), Ted Schwinden (b. 1925), Daniel Evans (b. 1925), George Ariyoshi (b. 1926), Phil Batt (b. 1927), George Nigh (b. 1927) and Winfield Dunn (b. 1927).
*there are no living former justices of the Supreme Court who served following the death of John Paul Stevens in 2019.

Elwood Hillis dead at 96.

[Sinbabad 1,116]

What about Pearl Harbor attack ? How many survivors ?

I’m sorry if there’s already a dedicated topic or if it has already been discussed, but I couldn’t find anything using the forum’s research

[Ulitzer95 12,585]

4 minutes ago, Sinbabad said:

What about Pearl Harbor attack ? How many survivors ?

I’m sorry if there’s already a dedicated topic or if it has already been discussed, but I couldn’t find anything using the forum’s research

An official record isn't kept but in December 2021, it was reported that there were less than 75.

So definitely under 50. There are only two notable ones still about – Ken Potts and Lou Conter. They both turn 102 this year.

[Sinbabad 1,116]

7 hours ago, Ulitzer95 said:

An official record isn't kept but in December 2021, it was reported that there were less than 75.

So definitely under 50. There are only two notable ones still about – Ken Potts and Lou Conter. They both turn 102 this year.

Thank you for the answer

[The Old Crem 3,583]

With Pearl Harbour there are both military veteran survivors and civilians both on the base and outside the base - some civilians were killed outside of military land and thar would include children who witnessed it and might only be 87 or so. 

[alt obits guy 3,371]

One less Pearl Harbor survivor now. Frank Emond, who was a Chief Warrant Officer when the attack happened, has died. He was 104.

 

https://weartv.com/news/local/pearl-harbor-survivor-from-pensacola-dies-at-age-104

[Sir Creep 7,070]

23 hours ago, alt obits guy said:

One less Pearl Harbor survivor now. Frank Emond, who was a Chief Warrant Officer when the attack happened, has died. He was 104.

 

https://weartv.com/news/local/pearl-harbor-survivor-from-pensacola-dies-at-age-104

 

Pearl Harbor happened 81 years 1 month and 4 days ago. 
that same distance from Gettysburg, would have been July 7th, 1944.

So we Yanks are experiencing with our WWII vets, what people were experiencing with their Civil War vets in the 1940s. 

[alt obits guy 3,371]

Stan Van Hoose, one of the last veterans from Wisconsin who survived Pearl Harbor, has died. He was 102. Van Hoose served in the navy from 1940 to 1948.

 

https://www.weau.com/2023/01/11/wisconsin-veteran-pearl-harbor-attack-dies-102/

[arghton 6,702]

Chinese Civil War and WWII veteran, WWII war correspondant, Former Deputy Director of the Propaganda Department of the Shanxi Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China and founder of Shanxi Radio and Television Liu Jiang dead at 104.

[Sinbabad 1,116]

On 12/01/2023 at 03:13, Sir Creep said:

 

Pearl Harbor happened 81 years 1 month and 4 days ago. 
that same distance from Gettysburg, would have been July 7th, 1944.

So we Yanks are experiencing with our WWII vets, what people were experiencing with their Civil War vets in the 1940s. 

And also what American people were experiencing with their Independence War vets during Gettysburg, since the latter happened 80 years after the Treaty of Paris !

[deadsox 894]

I remember my father telling me that Civil War veterans had come to his class when he was in grade school.