Tag Archives: world war II

World War II Veteran Recalls God’s Grace

A local paper on the Fisher House covers the story of Jesse Claude Cooper Jr., a Merchant Marine during World War II.  His ship was torpedoed and sank, and he described his reaction to that event:

He credits God with sustaining his life.

“No other explanation, but that God had a reason for me to live and serve another day,” Cooper credited. “I was, you see, the last man to get in the last little life-rescue boat to leave the ship.”

“I was already a Christian, having been reared in church down in native Decatur, Alabama. But if I had not been a Christian, Read more

Air Force Tanker Pilot Awarded 19th Air Medal

A US Air Force article highlights the story of Major Josh Brown, a KC-135 pilot who has earned his 19th Air Medal:

Brown flew his final combat sortie for this deployment July 30, qualifying him to receive the 18th oak leaf cluster for his Air Medal.

The Air Medal is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievements while participating in aerial flight in support of operations…

In layman’s terms, Air Medals are handed out for one of two things:  unique, heroic events…or for flying a certain Read more

Air Force Nuclear Training Misrepresented. Again.

The coincident timing of the recent US Air Force ICBM training “scandal” with the upcoming anniversaries of the nuclear bombing of Japan has lent additional wind to the sails of this manufactured controversy.

Rev. Tyler Wigg-Stevenson, writing at the Washington Post column “On Faith,” demonstrates how the “Air Force nuclear training” addressed over the past week has been woefully (or willfully) misconstrued.

Wigg-Stevenson says  Read more

Group Seeks to add Monument to Arlington’s Chaplains Hill

Three monuments stand on Arlington National Cemetery’s Chaplains Hill (text).

The oldest, standing in the center and installed in 1926, memorializes by name the 23 Chaplains who lost their lives in “the World War.”

To its left, the second monument, installed in 1989, memorializes by name the Catholic Chaplains who lost their lives in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.

The final monument, raised in 1981, memorializes by name the 134 Protestant Chaplains who lost their lives in World Wars I and II.

The absence of a monument to the 13 Jewish Chaplains Read more

Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, 2010

A surprise attack by Japan on the Hawaiian Islands (which were not yet the 50th state) awoke the “sleeping giant” 69 years ago today, bringing the United States into World War II.  Millions had already perished in a war that had consumed the world, though the US had largely stood by.  They would do so no longer, and the world would be better for it.

The United States did not engage in war in the 1940s merely to avenge an attack or remove a threat.  It sought a decisive and just end to conflict in uncompromising terms — it defended an “absolute right” in the face of a continuing wrong.

Those who recall the date that “lives in infamy” are becoming fewer in number.

As an aside, it is interesting to note the attack on Pearl Harbor lasted approximately 2 hours, and resulted in 15 Medals of Honor — 5 to living recipients — among other citations.  By contrast, the 9-year conflict in Afghanistan has resulted in 4, one to a living recipient.

WWII, Korean War Ace Slips the Surly Bonds

Ret. Col. Walker “Bud” “Honest John” Mahurin, credited with 24.25 kills in both WWII theatres and the Korean War, passed away on May 11 at the age of 91.  Besides shooting down aircraft in three theatres, Mahurin had the dubious honor of being shot down in each one.  He escaped France with the aid of the French resistance (as did Chuck Yeager).  Yeager talked his way into continuing to fly in Europe (despite his exposure to the underground); Mahurin went to the Pacific theatre instead.  In the later conflict, Mahurin was a Korean POW for 16 months.

For those who are wondering, “honest John” Read more

WWII Pilot, Winged Astronaut Dies

Air Force Maj Gen (Ret) Robert White died in Florida this past week.  He was a P-51 pilot in World War II before eventually becoming famous as an X-15 pilot.  He also served during the Korean War and flew combat sorties in Vietnam.

White achieved Mach 6 in the X-15 and also became the first “winged astronaut” when he flew the X-15 to a height of 314,750 feet, more than the 50 mile requirement for the Air Force to bestow astronaut status.

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