Growing up in a small town, you get to know many of the people who live there. You get to know some more closely than others.
So when one of the folks you grew up with passes, you feel it. And when it turns out they were a vet – and you’re a vet yourself – you feel it a bit more. That’s especially true when that small town is near a major military installation.
And it really hits home when they were also your best friend’s dad.
Jerry Coleman – former MLB second-baseman with the New York Yankees and longtime broadcaster for the San Diego Padres – has died. He passed away yesterday at 89.
Coleman’s career in MLB was interrupted – like Ted Williams, when recalled to the USMC for service in Korea. However, unlike Ted Williams Coleman had flown in combat previously. Prior to his career in baseball, Coleman had flown combat missions for the USMC in World War II, and did so again in Korea. He was reputedly the only MLB player to see combat in both wars. He retired from the USMC Reserve as a Lieutenant Colonel, giving rise to his nickname “The Colonel” among his professional colleagues within the San Diego organization.
Coleman’s military awards included two Distinguished Flying Crosses, 13 Air Medals, and 3 Navy Citations (I’m pretty sure this was the forerunner of the Navy Commendation Medal; Navy types, correction please if I’m wrong). He was no slouch as a ballplayer or broadcaster either; he was the MVP of the 1950 World Series, and received the Ford C. Frick Award in 2005 for his contributions to baseball as a broadcaster.
Coleman was honored by the San Diego Padres with a statue near PETCO Park in 2012. When interviewed about his military career shortly before the statue was unveiled, he remarked: “Your country is bigger than baseball.”
Truly a life well-lived. Rest in peace, my elder brother-in-arms. Rest in peace.
Rick and islandofmisfittoys send us a link the sad news that 92-year-old William Overstreet Jr. has passed. According to the media, Overstreet flew his fighter aircraft between the spans of the Eiffel Tower in pursuit of a Messerschmitt during World War II which lifted the spirits of the French Resistance;
One of those French Resistance fighters was the father of Bernard Marie. A French dignitary who has hosted D-Day events every year since 1984, Marie said he met Overstreet in 1994. He knew Overstreet was well-known for his flight underneath the Eiffel Tower but didn’t understand its true importance until he spoke with his father.
“My father began shouting at me — ‘I have to meet this man,’ ” Marie said. Members of the French Resistance had seen his flight and it inspired them, including Marie’s father, he said.
“This guy has done even more than what people are thinking,” Marie said. “He lifted the spirit of the French.”
Marie was born into Nazi-occupied France and remembers the Allied troops coming to his home to liberate his family, forever giving him an appreciation for American WWII veterans. It led to a friendship with Overstreet as soon as they met.
Well, he’s flying again now and we wish him blue skies ahead.
ROS sends us the sad news that James Avery, best known for his role as Uncle Phil on “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air” passed at the age of 68. Avery served in the Navy during the Vietnam War;
James Avery was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey on November 27, 1948. He grew up there, raised by a single mother. But after serving in the Navy during the Vietnam war, he moved to San Diego where he began writing for PBS television.
“I knew I loved the arts,” Avery once said.” I knew I wanted to be a writer.” But his main focus was acting.
James Avery’s big screen debut came in 1980, with a uncredited appearance in The Blues Brothers.
LI Right sends us a link to Stars & Stripes which draws from an LA Times article about the sad news that John Pitts Spence, the first enlisted WWII frogman has passed at the age of 95.
Although he wanted to deploy as a gunner protecting merchant ships, Spence had the kind of diving experience that made him a natural for a clandestine group being organized by the OSS under the legendary Major Gen. William “Wild Bill” Donovan.
Spence became the first enlisted man selected for the group, which was trained in stealth, demolition and close-in combat tactics, with the goal of sinking enemy ships and also blowing up underwater emplacements meant to thwart beach landings by U.S. assault troops.
During the training phrase, a new word was coined, based on the green waterproof suit that Spence was wearing.
“Someone saw me surfacing one day and yelled out, ‘Hey, frogman!’ The name stuck for all of us,” Spence told maritime historian and filmmaker Erick Simmel.
Most of Spence’s adventures during the war were classified, but the veil of secrecy was lifted in the 1980s and that’s when he started talking about his wartime experiences, unlike our phonies who talk about their experiences endlessly and then tell us they’re secret squirrels and they can’t discuss it when we try to verify their claims.
Once the veil of secrecy was lifted, Spence was honored by the Army Special Forces and the Underwater Demolition Team SEAL Assn. He received a green beret from the Army and, from the Navy, a Trident, the insignia worn by SEALs. He was honored at the Naval Academy.
From Yahoo News comes the story of a soldiers last flight home. A passenger that day was riding on a flight with a fallen soldier and decided to write about it. I’ll let him tell you about it…
Delta Flight 2255 from Atlanta to Los Angeles seemed to be an ordinary flight with the exception of Candy, who was the most loving flight attendant I’ve ever encountered. Besides using her Southern charm to quickly defuse every situation, she began her welcome announcement by thanking the handful of uniformed soldiers on-board for serving our country. Her poignant message was followed by applause, and it put into perspective that none of us would be able to do what we do without these brave men and women.
But this transcontinental flight turned out to be everything but ordinary. We later learned, when the captain got on the PA system about 45 minutes prior to landing, that we were transporting a fallen soldier. The plane went quiet as he explained that there was a military escort on-board and asked that everyone remain seated for a couple of minutes so the soldiers could get off first. He also warned us not to be alarmed if we see fire trucks since Los Angeles greets their fallen military with a water canon salute.
You really should read it, the author does a better job than I could.
When the jet door opened, another military officer addressed the escort who was standing at attention. He then stepped on the plane and told us passengers “I just addressed the escort. It is a sworn oath to bring home, to the family, the fallen.” He paused and then said, “Today you all did that, you are all escorts, escorts of the heart.” And then thanked us for our time and walked off the plane.
As you can imagine, everyone was silent and no one got up, not even that person from the back row who pretends he doesn’t [understand] English so he can be first off the plane. I’m sure most had meteor-sized lumps in their throats and tears in their eyes like I did.
There is video of the water cannon salute at the story, my web fu is weak so I’m not going to try and embed it here. Take some Kleenex with you when you go to the link….
Fox News reports that Lawrence “Shine” Thornton, the crowned “Hot Tamale King” of Greenville, MS and a World War II Navy veteran was murdered in his driveway by four teens;
Greenville Assistant Police Chief Andrew Kaho told the Delta Democrat Times that Terrance Morgan, 19; Edward Johnson, 19; Leslie Litt, 18; and Geblonski Murray, 18; were all arrested Monday, and charged with capital murder, robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery.
And although little is known about the specifics of the run-in that cost Thornton his life, much has reportedly been said about the apparently momentous loss to the delta community.
The Mortimer Funeral Home of Greenville says this about his Navy career;
He was a veteran of World War II where he served in the Pacific Theater for two years as a Fireman First Class aboard the minesweeper, the USS Herald.
Wiki tells story of the the wartime history of the USS Herald (AM-101) which we can assume included “Shine”;
Herald got underway on 16 May 1943 for Dutch Harbor, Alaska, where she took part in patrols and was present for the unopposed landing on Kiska Island on 15 August. The ship resumed her patrol and escort duties; but, after suffering severe damage in a storm on 6 November 1943 returned to Seattle, Washington on 10 December for repairs.
The minesweeper returned to duty on 12 February 1944, sailing to Pearl Harbor on the 22nd. After two convoy voyages to the Marshalls, she got underway on 30 May to join the fleet at Eniwetok for one of the most important amphibious operations of the war, the invasion of the Marianas. Herald arrived off Saipan on D-day, 15 June, and performed minesweeping and escort duties. While the U.S. fleet won a great victory at the Battle of the Philippine Sea 19 to 21 June, the minesweeper protected the transport and fueling areas off Saipan. She sailed to Tarawa on 17 July to escort a group of LST’s back to Pearl Harbor, where she arrived 26 July.
In the months that followed, Herald performed vital convoy work in the Marshalls and Marianas, including patrol and some minesweeping work. In early 1945 she served as an escort ship for submarines returning to Ulithi from war patrols.
The USS Herald earned two battle stars.
Mary sends us word that James R. “Robbie” Risner has passed. Risner was an ace fighter pilot during the Korean War with 86 8 kills. His time in the Vietnam War was cut short when the second time he was shot down, Risner was captured and held by the Vietnamese for seven years. Robbie earned two Air Force Crosses during his career and retired as a brigadier general. In the picture above, he was photographed with the nine foot statue of himself at the Air Force Academy.