World War II Veterans

[alt obits guy 3,090]

Joe Vandever Sr., one of the last remaining Navajo Code Talkers during World War II, has died.  He was 96.

 

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2020/01/31/navajo-code-talker-joe-vandever-sr-dies-96/1460044001/

 

[Ulitzer95 10,930]

We’ve been getting “one of the last Navajo Code Talkers/Tuskegee Airmen” for well over a decade now. The truth is the U.S. media are clueless as to how many are actually left. 

[Ulitzer95 10,930]

On 29/01/2020 at 17:34, Ulitzer95 said:

Given that he was the only one well enough to attend any of the recent commemorations it isn’t unthinkable that the remaining Few will pass this year.

Edit: For clarity, there are now just TWO surviving Airmen:

1) William Clark b. Apr 1919
2) John Hemingway b. Jul 1919

We seem to have missed this one. 
 

John Thornett Lawrence, another member of The Few died on 18th December aged 99. 
 

The fact that we had at least two deaths last year of Airmen who weren’t listed on the Battle of Britain Memorial site’s survivors page suggests to me that there may be some others still out there besides the two listed above.

[alt obits guy 3,090]

John McGlohon, a World War II veteran who took  iconic pictures of the Hiroshima bomb mushroom cloud while flying his B-29 bomber, has died.  He was 96.

 

https://www.wfmynews2.com/article/news/local/john-mcglohon-asheboro-wwii-veteran-dies-96-hiroshima-bomb-photo-mushroom-cloud-world-war-2-retired-fire-chief/83-5616ab63-9f14-4568-bd21-f7b4727e8287

 

[drol 10,027]

On 08/12/2019 at 03:48, arrowsmith said:

https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/06/us/pearl-harbor-survivor-uss-arizona-trnd/index.html

 

This article gives names and ages:

Donald Stratton 97

Lou Conter 98 (attended the anniversary in 2019)

Ken Potts 100

 

Donald Stratton dead at 97.

[YoungWillz 18,941]

Barely scrapes into it, but death notice for Sir David Evans, Canadian pilot in the war who rose to the rank of Air Chief Marshal in the RAF: http://announcements.telegraph.co.uk/deaths/239805/evans

[gcreptile 10,211]

D-Day veteran Harry Billinge has become an MBE and, according to this photo, he must be one of the few still living people the Queen has to bow down to:

[Redrumours 814]

2 hours ago, gcreptile said:

D-Day veteran Harry Billinge has become an MBE and, according to this photo, he must be one of the few still living people the Queen has to bow down to:

Now wash yer gloves in hot water and soap.

[The Immortal 528]

Thought it is worth mentioning about George Yankowski an American baseball player and WW2 veteran who died last month. He fought in the Battle Of The Bulge and earned a Bronze Star. Yankowski also recently got a baseball card and more notably he was one of the oldest living baseball players until his death and later in his life he was denied pension and fought hard for his and other MLB players pension. The link below has more information about him.

http://www.cambridgeday.com/2020/03/05/yankowski-won-medals-in-battle-of-the-bulge-but-couldnt-fight-mlb-for-a-players-pension/

 

The oldest living major league baseball player is currently Eddie Robinson.

[TomTomTelekom 3,594]

American Army General and Frederick James Kriesen Jr. died at 97 years:

https://www.ausa.org/news/former-vice-chief-gen-frederick-kroesen-dies

[CastAway 475]

https://mazainside.com/world-war-two-tail-gunner-dies-of-coronavirus/

 

RAF tail-gunner Harry Mercer, who also spent 60 years volunteering with the NHS, dead of the corona at age 97.

[Death Impends 7,360]

On 22/10/2018 at 22:25, Death Impends said:

 

Another of the last living Monuments Men, Harry L. Ettlinger, dead at 92.

 

Not yet updated for Ettlinger's death, but the Monuments Men Foundation website helpfully notes the remaining survivors:

 

• Richard M. Barancik (b. 1924)
• Nicholas Defino (b. 1924)
• Motoko Fujishiro Huthwaite (b. 1927)
• Rouben Sami (b. 1921)

 

The last surviving Monuments Woman, Motoko Huthwaite, dead of coronavirus aged 92.

 

Also, Sami died last year and Defino this year, leaving Richard Barancik as the very last Monuments Man.

[CastAway 475]

Leroy Tonic, last living D.C. government employee who served in WWII, dies of Covid-19 at age 95:

https://wjla.com/news/local/last-living-dc-government-employee-wwii-dies-covid-19

[roaming_comrade 454]

4 minutes ago, CastAway said:

Leroy Tonic, last living D.C. government employee who served in WWII, dies of Covid-19 at age 95:

https://wjla.com/news/local/last-living-dc-government-employee-wwii-dies-covid-19

Isnt George P. Shultz a D.C. government employee that served in WWII?

 

[arrowsmith 330]

32 minutes ago, roaming_comrade said:

Isnt George P. Shultz a D.C. government employee that served in WWII?

 

The article specifies city employees. The original post is poorly phrased. 

[Ulitzer95 10,930]

37 minutes ago, roaming_comrade said:

Isnt George P. Shultz a D.C. government employee that served in WWII?

 

There’s more than just Shultz. Sign up age in U.S. was younger so there are people born as late as 1930 who served.

[Ulitzer95 10,930]

For anyone interested, Absolute Radio have set up a one day only Radio 40s station you can find here.

They're playing records from 1920s–1940s, news clips from the day and talking with veterans. A lot of it is very entertaining stuff.

Jim Radford and Captain Tom Moore appeared earlier. Though had to turn it off temporarily when Frank Skinner came on to play a George Formby song on his uke – just awful.

[Ulitzer95 10,930]

On 29/01/2020 at 17:34, Ulitzer95 said:

Given that he was the only one well enough to attend any of the recent commemorations it isn’t unthinkable that the remaining Few will pass this year.

Edit: For clarity, there are now just TWO surviving Airmen:

1) William Clark b. Apr 1919
2) John Hemingway b. Jul 1919

Sad that this news should come today of all days.

Flight lieutenant William Clark, died yesterday at the age of 101. Source.

John Hemingway is now the last surviving RAF airman of the Battle of Britain.

[Ulitzer95 10,930]

Noted on BBC News that Philippe de Gaulle, who is 98, was supposed to attend the wreath laying ceremony today in France but pulled out due to ill health.

[YoungWillz 18,941]

William Terry Clark Times Obit: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/william-terry-clark-7g56nqdkn

[The Old Crem 3,164]

2 hours ago, Ulitzer95 said:

Noted on BBC News that Philippe de Gaulle, who is 98, was supposed to attend the wreath laying ceremony today in France but pulled out due to ill health.

Surely a 98 year old man was not going to be allowed to travel anywhere.

[Toast 14,793]

4 hours ago, Ulitzer95 said:

Noted on BBC News that Philippe de Gaulle, who is 98, was supposed to attend the wreath laying ceremony today in France but pulled out due to ill health.

 

An excuse to bring out the possibly apocryphal story about his mum.

When CdeG retired, a British journalist asked Mme de Gaulle what she was most looking forward to in retirement.

She replied, "A penis".

Her husband leaned across and said,

"I think, chérie, zat ze English pronounce it 'appiness."

[Youth in Asia 1,020]

On 04/05/2020 at 06:52, TomTomTelekom said:

American Army General and Frederick James Kriesen Jr. died at 97 years:

https://www.ausa.org/news/former-vice-chief-gen-frederick-kroesen-dies

 

His surname is spelt Kroesen and he should be on the List of the Missed, since I picked him on the DDP in both 2016 and 2017.

[The Great Cornholio 818]

Does anyone know just how many WWII vets are left in the UK? 

[Arsewipe 191]

1 hour ago, Kenny McCormick said:

Does anyone know just how many WWII vets are left in the UK? 

Probably low five figures I would imagine although the youngest have to be in their early 90s now.