Category: Blue Skies

Bobo sends us the sad news that Donald Malarkey, one of the members of Easy Company, of “Band of Brothers” fame has passed;

Malarkey fought across France, the Netherlands and Belgium and with Easy Company fought off Nazi advances while surrounded at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944.

He was often praised for his actions during the war. In 2009, he was presented with the Légion d’Honneur – the highest honor awarded by the French government.

Malarkey was haunted by memories of combat and the devastation of losing fellow soldiers and friends, his family members said. Still, the release of Band of Brothers was cathartic for him and helped him come to terms with the emotional scars of battle, Hill said.

He was 96 years old.

We get the sad news that Mildred “Duke” Caldwell, a pilot for the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) has passed at the age of 99 on Friday morning. She earned the Congressional Gold Medal for her service with the WASPs which only existed from 1943 – 1944. From the PJ Star;

WASP women piloted military planes in the United States in varying capacities to free up male pilots to fly combat missions in the war.

Stymied for decades by military indifference, the 1,100 women who served as WASPs were bestowed veteran status by Congress in 1977 and were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal when President Barack Obama signed legislation in 2009.

Caldwell was born in Caanan, Conn., and graduated from college in Troy, N.Y. A dream to fly airplanes took her to a job at the Piper Airplane Company in Lock Haven, Penn. It was there where she learned to fly.

Bobo sends us the sad news this morning that the Playboy founder, Hugh Hefner has passed at the age of 91 years.

Wiki tells us that Hefner was a World War II veteran and that he worked as a reporter on a military newspaper from 1944 – 1946.

From Military.com;

Upon graduation in 1944 he enlisted in the Army as an infantry clerk; during Basic Training he won a sharpshooter badge for firing the M1 and made it through “Killer College,” in which troops went through maneuvers while throwing real grenades. Posted at Camp Adair in Salem, Oregon, and Camp Pickett in Virginia, Hefner contributed cartoons for Army newspapers.

Bobo sends us the sad news that Harry Dean Stanton has passed at the age of 91. He was featured in hundreds of movies in his 60-year career including Cool Hand Luke, Kelly’s Heroes, Dillinger, The Godfather Part II, Alien, Escape from New York, Christine, Paris, Texas, Repo Man, Pretty in Pink, The Last Temptation of Christ, Wild at Heart, The Straight Story, The Green Mile, Alpha Dog, and Inland Empire.

Like most of his generation, he was a veteran – he served as a cook on a Landing Ship Tanker during the battle of Okinawa. His last performance in “Lucky” will be released later this month, according to TMZ.

He was also a musician, and here’s him and his band (the Harry Dean Stanton Band) doing the Cancion Mixteca;

This from Red Dawn;

David sends us the sad news that Jerry Pournelle, American science fiction writer, essayist, and journalist had passed on Friday, in his sleep, according to USAToday. According to Wiki, he was also a veteran of the Army during the Korean War.

Pournelle wrote many bestselling science fiction novels, both on his own and with Larry Niven. Of these, Lucifer’s Hammer and The Mote in God’s Eye, both major bestsellers, are probably the best known, though I think that artistically, Inferno — a reboot that I think Dante Alighieri himself would have approved — was the best.

But Pournelle didn’t just write fiction. His 1970 book with Stefan Possony, The Strategy of Technology, outlined a strategy for winning the Cold War (with among other things, an emphasis on strategic missile defense) that was largely followed, and successfully, by the Reagan administration. He was a driving force behind the Citizens Advisory Council on National Space Policy in the 1980s that helped lay the groundwork for today’s booming civilian space launch industry. And, for me, his wide-ranging columns in Galaxy Magazine, back when it was edited by star editor James Baen, were particularly influential.

His real name was William Szathmary. During the 60s and 70s, he was called Bill Dana. If you were around then and you watched the Ed Sullivan show, you knew his tagline “Hello. My name José Jiménez”. He died last week at the age of 92. Like most of his generation, he was a veteran, according to Wiki;

During World War II he served in the United States Army with the 263rd Infantry Regiment, 66th Infantry Division as a 60mm mortarman and machine gunner, as well as an unofficial interpreter.

The Congressional Medal of Honor Society announces that Medal of Honor recipient Arthur J. Jackson has passed at the age of 92.

From his citation;

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with the 3d Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on the Island of Peleliu in the Palau group, 18 September 1944. Boldly taking the initiative when his platoon’s left flank advance was held up by the fire of Japanese troops concealed in strongly fortified positions, Pfc. Jackson unhesitatingly proceeded forward of our lines and, courageously defying the heavy barrages, charged a large pillbox housing approximately 35 enemy soldiers. Pouring his automatic fire into the opening of the fixed installation to trap the occupying troops, he hurled white phosphorus grenades and explosive charges brought up by a fellow Marine, demolishing the pillbox and killing all of the enemy. Advancing alone under the continuous fire from other hostile emplacements, he employed similar means to smash 2 smaller positions in the immediate vicinity. Determined to crush the entire pocket of resistance although harassed on all sides by the shattering blasts of Japanese weapons and covered only by small rifle parties, he stormed 1 gun position after another, dealing death and destruction to the savagely fighting enemy in his inexorable drive against the remaining defenses, and succeeded in wiping out a total of 12 pillboxes and 50 Japanese soldiers. Stouthearted and indomitable despite the terrific odds. Pfc. Jackson resolutely maintained control of the platoon’s left flank movement throughout his valiant 1-man assault and, by his cool decision and relentless fighting spirit during a critical situation, contributed essentially to the complete annihilation of the enemy in the southern sector of the island. His gallant initiative and heroic conduct in the face of extreme peril reflect the highest credit upon Pfc. Jackson and the U.S. Naval Service.

According to the Army Times, the Department of Defense reported that Army Specialist Etienne Murphy, of B Company, 1st Battalion, 75th Rangers was killed in a vehicle rollover yesterday in Syria;

Murphy was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and enlisted in the Army from his hometown of Snellville, Georgia, in June 2013, according to USASOC. After training at Fort Benning, Georgia, Murphy served in 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, which is part of the 10th Mountain Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team, at Fort Drum, New York.

In October 2015, Murphy volunteered to serve in the 75th Ranger Regiment, successfully completing airborne school and Ranger Assessment and Selection Program 1.

Our condolences to his family and to his fellow Rangers. We all feel your loss.