I guess that I grew up on Carl Reiner’s comedy, or at least the comedy that he influenced, so I feel fortunate that our friends at the Conan Show sent us this link to an interview that he did with Conan talking about his service in the Army towards the end of the Second World War and how he just missed going to Iwo Jima.
I especially liked the “throwing papayas”.
The Associated Press tells the story of how our buddy, Zach Fike who founded Purple Hearts Reunited, an organization that returns medals to families, set out to reunited a Purple Heart with a family and ended up reuniting families who had never met. The story centers around Eugene Victor Call, a soldier from New Hampshire, who was killed during the Battle of the Bulge while he was assigned to the 2nd Platoon, Company C, 643rd Tank Destroyer Battalion, 83rd Infantry Division. His Purple Heart made it to his widow, who then passed the medal on to her daughter. When the daughter died, her widower contacted Zach to get the medal back to Call’s family.
The search led to a namesake great-nephew in Newport, New Hampshire, and to grandchildren in California.
Ceremonies honoring Call are planned in Newport on Monday and California on Thursday.
In Newport, Eugene Victor Call Jr., 49, knew he had a great-uncle who died in the service.
“I knew I was named after him, but other than that, nobody really said too much,” said Call, a truck driver. His father also had the same name.
One thing he didn’t know was that his great-uncle had a young son who was taken to California at 8. That son, David Eugene, lost contact with the family and died in 2004. He left three sons and a daughter.
Before I begin I want to thank Jonn Lilyea, for allowing me to write here. It was this access that allowed all of the things below to happen.
Yesterday was simply an amazing day. I do not think that one could have planned it any better from start to finish. It started at the 12th Training Wing at Randolph Airforce Base after being escorted by the 12th Wing’s Staff Officers. The Wing was called to attention as Uncle Tommy entered the building. There was short tour going through the history of the unit from the photos on the walls. There was a presentation on what training is conducted at the 12th Training Wing and answered any questions that we had.
Then we took a short break by going outside to T-38 Talon trainer and talking more about the aircraft that were being used on the base. After that we back inside and started talking about the history of the two men, the event in February 1952 and the unusual series of events that allowed this reunion to happen. There was a lot of history there to say the least.
We left the 12th Training Wing to go to where the air show was being held. The crowds were not there because we were invited to the air show rehearsal the day before. What was there was a static display of a P-51C Mustang and a T-33 Shooting Star. We managed to take many photos of Uncle Tommy with both aircraft. At this time we met with a reporting team from KSAT12, a local news group. They were filming as we were taking photos with each aircraft. ( I credited this website and Jonn for his part, I have no idea if they will link or not.)
The Wing Commander 12th greeted us on the flight line.
A few minutes later we watched the USAF Thunderbirds perform from the best seat in the house. There was some concern that the Thunderbirds were not going to be able to fly due to the weather. But the weather cleared up enough for the rehearsal to start and it was quite a show.
After the conclusion of the Thunderbirds, we went inside to where Uncle Tommy and Mr. Jerry Swartz were interviewed by KSAT12. After that was over, we left the base to go to my parents’ house to celebrate Uncle Tommy’s 92nd Birthday. Mr. Jerry Swartz had managed to locate photos of the Squadron members that were with Uncle Tommy. As Mr Swartz went over each photo, Uncle Tommy would recall their call signs and stories about the crazy things that they did back then. I am going to coordinate with Mr Swartz about adding those photos to Wiki Commons with their names to help out of anyone else is looking for family members that served with the 160th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron. Mr Swartz also found the original Flight Safety magazine that contained that storyboard write up.
Before everyone left, Uncle Tommy was able to facetime with my son and hear my son sing happy birthday. The only down side to all of this is “what to do for his 93rd birthday.”
Update November 2nd 2015: The 12th Training Wing added more photos of the event on their facebook page.
The folks at Lovell/Fairchild send us the news that Faith of Our Fathers, a movie about sons of Vietnam Veterans will be released July 1st;
FAITH OF OUR FATHERS—a moving story of faith and friendship in time of war, and for generations—premieres nationwide July 1 as the nation commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War.
A Downes Brothers production in association with Pure Flix, FAITH OF OUR FATHERS stars Stephen Baldwin, Kevin Downes, David A.R. White, Candace Cameron Bure, Rebecca St. James and Si Robertson, Duck Dynasty’s “Uncle Si,” who is a Vietnam veteran. Carey Scott directs. Pure Flix and Samuel Goldwyn Films distribute.
SYNOPSIS With the Vietnam War raging in 1969, two young fathers report for duty. A man of great faith and a doubtful cynic. A quarter-century later, their sons, Wayne and John Paul (David A.R. White and Kevin Downes), meet as strangers. Guided by letters handwritten from their fathers from the battlefield, they embark on an unforgettable journey to The Wall—the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Along the way, they discover the devastation of war cannot break the love of a father for his son.
Here’s the trailer;
Stars & Stripes took a poll of their readership for the best war movie ever. I guess “Saving Private Ryan” won their poll, and even though I liked the movie, I think it wasn’t the best. Their list was pretty incomplete;
I don’t see my favorites, The Lost Battalion, Battleground (1949), Band of Brothers, and A Bridge Too Far. Some of their choices are questionable. I walked out of Apocalypse Now, Platoon and Full Metal Jacket because they were pieces of crap and I couldn’t stand the stereotypes.
My favorite Hollywood platoon sergeants were Gunny Highway (Clint Eastwood – Heartbreak Ridge), Clell Hazard (James Caan – Gardens of Stone) and Sergeant Kinnie (James Whitmore – Battleground).
So who did I miss? What are your favorites? I haven’t seen American Sniper yet, so I can’t judge that one.
USAToday tells the story of Dave Brown and Roger Watson who served together during Vietnam, lost touch, and then found each other;
The two men — who came from the same northwest Detroit neighborhood, were drafted on the same day in 1966, trained together at Ft. Hood in Texas, served in the 9th Infantry and were combat engineer demolition specialists — never saw or heard from each other again.
Until right before Halloween this year.
That’s when the two men — more than 40 years older than the last time they saw each other as young soldiers in training — walked across their kitty-corner backyards in Berkley and met at the chain-link fence.
For 18 years, the two Oakland County men had lived nearly back to back and didn’t even know it.
I can see that happening. Its the nature of being veterans, I guess.
Thanks to Chief Tango for the link.
