Thanks for the encouragement from some of you to continue keeping up with the old soldiers. It's nice to know that people are reading up on these folks and their triumphs, tragedies and adventures.

Although I can slog through a few other languages, I can't do it well enough to successfully browse the non-English press. Since you LibraryThingers are everywhere and many of you are multi-lingual please feel free to add news of old soldiers that we may not otherwise hear of. I would like to be as all inclusive as possible. After all, the greatest honor an old soldier can receive is the respect of his former enemy.

We've lost a few remarkable soldiers in the last month.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/us/11k...
General Harry W. O. Kinnard died January 5 at the age of 93. He is famed for his response of “Nuts” to a German demand for surrender at the Battle of the Bulge.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...
Polish Air Vice-Marshal Alexsander Maisner, CB, CBE died December 21 at the age of 87. He was captured by the Russians during the invasion of 1939. He survived the Gulag system, made his way to England and joined the RAF.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...
Air Commodore Peter Brothers, DSO, DFC & Bar joined the RAF in 1936. As a fighter pilot he saw the most action in the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain. Although he shot down at least 16 aircraft, he was likely responsible for more. He died December 18 at the age of 91.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...
Major-General W. Michael E. Hicks, CB, OBE was best known as the Cold Stream Guards Commander whose battalion contained protestors following Bloody Sunday in Londonderry. After retiring from the army he became Secretary of the Royal College of Defence Studies. He died on December 27, at the age of 80.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...
Brigadier Sydney Thomson, DSO, MC died November 8 at the age of 93. He commanded the Seaforth Highlanders in the First Canadian Corps of the Eighth Army during the Battle of Ortona.

I think we should add Joan Bright Astley to your list of "old soldiers"; she was responsible for organising Churchill's cabinet and the many trips he went on during the war. She died on 24 December 2008, aged 98

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...
Col. David Smiley, LVO, OBE, MC and Bar died January 8 at the age of 92. He was commissioned into the Royal Horse Guards (the Blues) in 1936. During WWII he was active in Palestine, Egypt, Abyssinia, Iraq, Persia, Siam, Syria, Malta and Albania. He was awarded his MC and bar for his missions in Albania. He recorded his memoirs in three volumes, Arabian Assignment, Albanian Assignment and Irregular Regular.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...
Vice-Admiral Sir David Clutterbuck, KBE, CB died December 13 at the age of 95. He began his career in the merchant navy in the early 1930s and served throughout WWII on the Ajax and the Newfoundland. He was present on the USS Missouri when the Japanese instrument of surrender was signed. He ended his career with the NATO Supreme Allied Command.

Message edited by its author, Jan 15, 2009, 5:57pm.

British Rear Admiral Edward Gueritz, CB, OBE, DSC and Bar, died December 21 at the age of 89. He began his naval career in 1938. He earned his first DSC in 1942. By 8:00 am on D-Day he was on land and fought for nineteen days before being wounded. Those actions earned his Bar. He was appointed OBE for his command of ground forces trying to secure the Suez Canal in 1956. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Message edited by its author, Jan 20, 2009, 10:43am.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...
Major General Nigel Gribbon, OBE, ACOS died January 9 at the age of 91. He was responsible for putting down a pro-German coup against the British in Iraq in 1941 and ended his career as Assistant Chief of Staff (intelligence) at SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters, Allied Powers, Europe).

I hope it goes without saying that old soldiers includes old sailors too.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...
John Cyril Edmondson, Commander the Reverand Lord Sandford, DSC, died January 13 at the age of 88. During WWII he served on the cruiser Ajax in operations against the Italians and protecting convoys to Malta. He was awarded the DSC while serving as a gunnery officer on the destroyer Eskimo which in May of '43 helped block the Axis escape from Tunis. He was second in command of the Hunt class destroyer Carristock during the D-Day invasion and was wounded in August '44. He was wounded again in the Corfu incident after the war.

Lest I be accused of an anglophile bias, you may have heard me complain that the American press is neglectful of our old soldiers when they pass while the British press still remembers soldiers from the far flung corners of the former Empire. Hats off to the Brits for always remembering. I wish we were as attentive.

Message edited by its author, Jan 22, 2009, 1:45pm.

Thank you for keeping this posting going. I've noticed mostly the small town papers in the United States post obituaries about their local veterans, but not the major papers.

Message edited by its author, Jan 23, 2009, 8:19pm.

I know, but I feel that they should be remembered by more than just their home towns. But maybe someone is listening.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/26/washin...

Former U.S. Marine fighter pilot James Swett died January 18 at the age of 88. He received the Medal of Honor for shooting down seven Japanese aircraft over the Solomon Islands on April 7, 1943 from his Wildcat fighter, before being shot down himself and ditching in the Pacific. His story was told by Edward H. Sims in his book the Greatest Fighter Missions.

Sir Russell Wood joined the Royal Navy as an aviator on his 18th birthday in 1940. In 1942, he joined the 809 Squadron where he was told the average survival time was only five months. Despite participating in numerous major air battles he made it through the war as their longest surviving member. He died on December 15 at the age of 86. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Message edited by its author, Jan 26, 2009, 1:57pm.

Later in life James Brady was known as a celebrity columnist and newspaperman most notably for Parade magazine, but as a young man he found himself leading a platoon of Marines through some of the heaviest combat of the Korean War. From that experience he wrote The Coldest War: A Memoir of Korea, The Scariest Place in the World: A Marine Returns to North Korea, Why Marines Fight, The Marine: A Novel of War from Guadalcanal to Korea and The Marines of Autumn. Just prior to his death on January 27 at the age of 80, he managed to complete The Life of Legendary Marine John Basilone which is scheduled to be published this fall. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/29/arts/2... Sorry, but I can't seem to snag the right James Brady's touchstone.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Neil Wheeler, GCB, CBE, DFC, DSO & Bar, AFC, first joined the RAF in 1935. He initially was involved in the training of other pilots before moving into photo-reconnaissance and developing new attack strategies which he used with great effect on Axis convoys. He died January 9 at the age of 91. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Message edited by its author, Jan 29, 2009, 8:43am.

Col. Jean Sassi, French special forces veteran, Commander of the Legion of Honor and holder of the Croix de Guerre, died January 9 at the age of 91. He participated in the Jedburgh Special Operations in France folowing the Normandy invasions and later fought in Indochina. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Thank you, Varielle, for posting the death notice of General W.O. Kinnard. Otherwise I might well not have known.

General Kinnard was my commanding officer at Fort Benning Georgia, in 1963-64, during the organization of the 11th Air Assault Division (Test), the organization of which was not at first funded directly by congress. Troops and technicians were flown in from all over the world, along with hundreds of helicopters, so the job of organizing that motley crew into a crack fighting force fell primarily on Kinnard's shoulders. This was nearly two years before the Gulf of Tonkin "incident", but we all knew that the division's ultimate destination was Vietnam.

It was in November 1963, under Kinnard's leadership at our Harmony Church/Fort Benning base, that the full garrison fell out in a downpour to honor the slain President Kennedy. To this day I can feel the heavy drops of rain pelting my face. It was as if the whole earth were weeping tears of sorrow.

This is from last August but I just heard about it. Been a little busy myself since last June. Ed Freeman made one last flight on 20 AUG 2008.
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You're an 18 or 19 year old kid. You're critically wounded, and dying in the jungle in the Ia Drang Valley, 11-14-1965. LZ Xray , Vietnam .

Your infantry unit is outnumbered 8 - 1, and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100 or 200 yards away, that your own Infantry Commander has ordered the MediVac helicopters to stop coming in.

You're lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns, and you know you're not getting out. Your family is 1/2 way around the world, 12,000 miles away, and you'll never see them again. As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day.

Then, over the machine gun noise, you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter, and you look up to see an un-armed Huey, but it doesn't seem real, because no Medi-Vac markings are on it.

Ed Freeman is coming for you. He's not Medi-Vac, so it's not his job, but he's flying his H uey down into the machine gun fire, after the Medi-Vacs were ordered not to come.

He's coming anyway.

And he drops it in, and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load 2 or 3 of you on board.

Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire, to the Doctors and Nurses.

And, he kept coming back...... 13 more times..... and took about 30 of you and your buddies out, who would never have gotten out.

Medal of Honor Recipient Ed Freeman died last Wednesday at the age of 80, in Boise, ID .....May God rest his soul.....

(Oh yeah, Paul Newman died that day too. I guess you knew that --

He got a lot more press than Ed Freeman.) . (while
looking up the citation he received, it was actually 21 times over his service time in Vietnam and he brought back over 70 men. Just think of all the lives he effected by doing this)
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For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty:

Captain Ed W. Freeman, United States Army, distinguished himself by numerous acts of conspicuous gallantry and extraordinary intrepidity on 14 November 1965 while serving with Company A, 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). As a flight leader and second in command of a 16-helicopter lift unit, he supported a heavily engaged American infantry battalion at Landing Zone X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley, Republic of Vietnam. The unit was almost out of ammunition after taking some of the heaviest casualties of the war, fighting off a relentless attack from a highly motivated, heavily armed enemy force. When the infantry commander closed the helicopter landing zone due to intense direct enemy fire, Captain Freeman risked his own life by flying his unarmed helicopter through a gauntlet of enemy fire time after time, delivering critically needed ammunition, water and medical supplies to the besieged battalion. His flights had a direct impact on the battle's outcome by providing the engaged units with timely supplies of ammunition critical to their survival, without which they would almost surely have gone down, with much greater loss of life. After medical evacuation helicopters refused to fly into the area due to intense enemy fire, Captain Freeman flew 14 separate rescue missions, providing life-saving evacuation of an estimated 30 seriously wounded soldiers -- some of whom would not have survived had he not acted. All flights were made into a small emergency landing zone within 100 to 200 meters of the defensive perimeter where heavily committed units were perilously holding off the attacking elements. Captain Freeman's selfless acts of great valor, extraordinary perseverance and intrepidity were far above and beyond the call of duty or mission and set a superb example of leadership and courage for all of his peers. Captain Freeman's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the United States Army.

http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/vie...

From one old soldier to another, I salute you Sir.

Rear-Admiral Courtney Anderson CB, died December 8 at the age of 92. He went to sea in 1934 and was in command of a motor torpedo boat located in Portsmouth when war broke out in September 1939. His war memoir is called Seagulls in my Belfry.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Distinguished publisher Alfred A. Knopf, Jr., died Feburary 14 at the age of 90. He was so inspired by the movie I Wanted Wings that he joined the U.S. Army Air Force and was called up in December 1941. He attained the rank of Captain and earned the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions with the 446th Bomb Group in the Eighth Air Force. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/16/books/...

Because sometimes old soldiers (and sailors) come back from war and do other things too....

Peacefully in his 89th year, the Honourable Donald F. Graham, son of Kingsley Graham Q.C. and his wife Eileen. Donald was born January 31, 1921. After completing high school at Upper Canada College, he graduated from University of Toronto in 1942. There ­ after having completed the requirements of Naval College he joined the Royal Canadian Navy and participated with both distinction and heroism throughout the Second World War first as a sub lieutenant and then promoted to full lieutenant. After the war, he attended law school at Osgoode Hall and was called to the bar in 1948. After graduation he joined the office of the Crown Attorney in 1949 and remained with that office until his elevation to the bench as a magistrate in 1957. He presided first as a magistrate and then in 1968 as a Provincial Court Judge in the criminal courts of the Old City Hall, Toronto, for the next 37 years, making him one of the longest serving judges in the commonwealth.

Message edited by its author, Feb 16, 2009, 2:49pm.

General Sir Peter Leng, KCB, MBE, MC, Master-General of the Ordnance 1981-83, died on February 11 at the age of 83. He saw distinguished service in the European theatre during 44-45 and later in his career was instrumental in improving security in Northern Ireland. He retired from the British army in 1983. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Hey! Do Old Sailors count as Old Soldiers? Perhaps we need another classic saying such as "Old Sailors never Die, they just Evaporate and leave behind a Puddle of Salt".

SUSAN HIBBERT, 84
BRITISH SERGEANT TYPED GERMANY'S SURRENDER

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/s...

RAF test pilot Air Vice-Marshal Geoffrey Carns, CBE, AFC, died February 6 at the age of 82. A few of the aircraft he tested were the Hawker Hunter, Supermarine Swift, Gloster Javelin, Lightning and the Harrier. He became the last man to fly a service Spitfire at that models retirement in 1955. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

As commander of the American forces in the Atlantic, Four Star Admiral Wesley McDonald organized the invasion of Grenada under Pres. Reagan. As a naval aviator on the carrier Ticonderoga he led the first air strike on North Vietnam after the Gulf of Tonkin incident. He later served as Supreme Atlantic Commander for NATO. He graduated from the Naval Academy in '47 and trekked to the South Pole with Richard E. Byrd. His many decorations include three Navy Distinguished Service Medals, two Legions of Merit, two distinguished Flying crosses and five Air Medals. He died on February 4 at the age of 84. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/23/us/23m...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...
Bob Doyle was the last survivor of the Irish International Brigade known as the Connolly Column that fought in the Spanish Civil War. He died January 22 at the age of 92.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...
WWII code breaker Alan Stripp died February 18 at the age of 84. He was the author of The Code Snatch, Codebreaker in the Far East and Codebreakers: The Inside Story of Bletchley Park.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...
Lt. Col. Thomas Carew, DSO, Croix de Guerre, as a member of the Special Operations Executive fought behind the lines in France and Burma in 1944-45. He died February 16 at the age of 89.

Message edited by its author, Feb 25, 2009, 3:07pm.

Lt. Commander Geoffrey Brooke, DSC was the author of a memoir Alarm Starboard!: A Remarkable True Story of the War at Sea , Singapore's Dunkirk and a yachting book for children Radar Mate. He served upon the battleship The Prince of Wales during its actions against the Bismarck. He was still serving on board when it was attacked by the Japanese and sunk off Malaya. He was picked up as he abandoned ship and escaped from Singapore in 1942 on a Yangtse river steamer that soon foundered and landed him with his companions on a desert island. They sought help from four Chinese junks that helped them reach a Dutch controlled island. The Dutch gave them opium to pay off the Chinese sailors and that was just the beginning of his adventures. Read more about him below. He passed away on January 6 at the age of 88. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Message edited by its author, Mar 3, 2009, 2:08pm.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...
Czech pilot Petr Uruba joined the RAF to free his country from the Nazis. He was captured in France and spent years in a concentration camp. After the war he then fell afoul of the Communists. He died March 1 at the age of 92.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...
Major General Antonin Petrak, MBE, MC escaped the Nazis through the Balkans in 1939 making his way first to France, then to Britain after France fell. His First Czechoslovak Armored Brigade Group participated in the Normandy invasion. He like the gentleman above also fell afoul of the communists. He died February 8 at the age of 96.

Message edited by its author, Mar 9, 2009, 3:40pm.

I just saw this today, but I believe Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Heaven died in January 10 of this year.

He earned the Military Cross as a mountain battery commander in Italy.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituari...

3rd Officer Audrey Cunningham Roche was one of three Wren officers (WRNS) on board the submarine depot ship Medway when it was torpedoed in the Mediterranean in 1942. The 1,100 passengers were thrown in the sea. For her actions in rescuing fellow sailors she was recommended for the Albert Medal on the spot. However, it was ruled that since she was a strong swimmer she hadn't put herself in sufficient danger to warrant it and therefore was given a mention in dispatches. She died January 13 at the age of 90. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Not a soldier, but... Mary Thomas, one of the longest living survivors of Japanese internment after the fall of Singapore, died February 9 at the age of 102. Her memoir of her captivity was called The Shadow of the Rising Sun. I can't seem to grab the right touchstone. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Message edited by its author, Mar 15, 2009, 8:25pm.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Academic Gordon Philo, CMG, MC was called up in 1940 and served in the West African Frontier Force and later took part in the Normandy campaign. He spent the rest of his post-war career with the Secret Intelligence Service. He was commissioned to write a history of the SIS. Later he wrote a series of whodunit mysteries under the name of Charles Forsyte. With his wife he wrote The Decoding of Edwin Drood. He died January 24 at the age of 89.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Wartime bomber pilot Squadron Leader Thomas McPhee, DFC, DFM, AE, died February 22 at the age of 91. He joined the RAF in 1938. In February 1944, he and his fellow Mosquito pilots took part in a bombing raid on a Gestapo prison in Amiens which breached the walls and freed several hundred French resistance members who were scheduled to be executed the next day.

Patrick Kinna was Winston Churchill's confidential assistant during the Second World War and accompanied him across the Atlantic several times for meetings with Roosevelt and also to Moscow and Yalta for meetings with Stalin. He died on 14 March 2009, aged 95

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...
Arthur Marment MC and Bar, died January 17 at the age of 91. During World War II he was a Territorial Army officer with the 15th Punjab Regiment of the Indian Army. He was wounded twice fighting in the Arakan Campaign and in the advance from Kohima in '43 and '44. He was awarded his second Military Cross fighting in Burma in 1945.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Lionel Altman served the British Army in India during the war, then went into broadcasting for the secret service. His post-war business career was successful, but his claim to fame was being instrumental in erecting two notable monuments. The first was the Battle of Britain Monument and the second a memorial to Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg. Mr. Altman died Feburary 6 at the age of 86.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment... Col. David Wood, MBE, died March 12 at the age of 86. He was the last surviving officer of the coup-de-main Pegasus Bridge operation that captured bridges on the Caen Canal and the River Orne on D-Day.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment... British Army chaplain Rev. Sam Davies nee Stanley James Davies, was captured with his troops during the Korean War. He was awarded the MBE for his efforts to keep up the spirits of his fellow POWs. His memoir of the war and imprisonment was called In Spite of Dungeons. He died March 15 at the age of 91.

Message edited by its author, Mar 29, 2009, 6:17pm.

British Lt-Col. D.L. P. Danger, MBE, MM died February 27 at the age of 85. During the war he was an SAS Radio operator who fought behind German lines and later in Cyprus. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Cyril Watney, MC died january 23 at the age of 86. As a member of the SOE (Special Operations Executive) working in conjunction with the French Resistance, he was responsible for some of the most effective acts of industrial espionage to occur in occupied France. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

RAF squadron leader Ted Wass, one of the few remaining members of the 617 Dambusters Squadron died Feb. 20 at the age of 88. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

RAF war time squadron leader Richard Muspratt, DFC flew many missions over France in his Spitfire, especially equipped for photo reconnaissance. He went on to serve as a test pilot. He died January 15 at the age of 91. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Message edited by its author, Apr 2, 2009, 2:14pm.

South African fighter and bomber pilot Col. S. F. "Rosy" du Toit, CBE, DFC & Bar and US DFC, died Feb. 13 at the age of 90. He and his squadron flew a variety of obsolete aircraft in the fighting in Abyssinia, the Western Desert and North Africa. He actually won two DFCs and the US DFC came from his actions flying support for the US in Austria. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Commander Norman Tod, DSC died March 6 at the age of 98. He served as an officer on the cruiser Ajax at the Battle of the River Platte during which the German battleship Admiral Graf Spee was scuttled in 1938 and went on to serve as navigator on the cruiser Norfolk which shadowed the Bismarck as it broke free in 1941 and witnessed the destruction of the Hood. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Message edited by its author, Apr 6, 2009, 1:51pm.

British physician Major General Patrick Crawford, GM died February 21 at the age of 75. He was awarded his George Medal in 1964 while serving as medical officer during Indonesia's confrontation with the new Federation of Malaysia for rescuing his Major following a helicopter crash. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

In January 1945 Sgt. Russell Dunham was leading a platoon in the US Army 30th Infantry, 3rd Infantry Division in Alsace. He single-handedly charged a snowy hillside and captured, wounded or killed 18 German soldiers. For his actions he received the Congressional Medal of Honor. He died on April 6 at the age of 89. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/10/us/10d...

During WWII Michael Stern joined the US Army as a war correspondent. His units went through Algeria, Sicily, up the boot of Italy and he and another correspondent entered Rome one day in advance of the allies. He was the author of The White Ticket: Commercialized Vice in the Machine Age, Flight from Terror, Into the Jaws of Death, No Innocence Abroad and An American in Rome. He died April 7 at the age of 98. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/12/nyregi...

Message edited by its author, Apr 12, 2009, 7:28pm.

Prolific French man of letters Maurice Druon died April 14 at the age of 90. In 1943, he was a cavalry officer with the Free French forces under Charles DeGaulle in London when he wrote Chant des Partisans or Song of the Partisans which became the anthem for the French Resistance. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/16/world/...

Canadian by birth, Kay Gimpel became an SOE Liaison officer during WWII and rose to becoming the head of the Air liaison section. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Royal Marine Lt. COl. Geoffrey Sherman's WWII service ranged through many combat zones from Iceland to the Mediterranean to Ceylon and he ended up organizing the Japanese surrender of Singapore in 1945. He died March 22 at the age of 93. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

General Goitom Ghebrezghi, Chief of the Eritrean Police Force and leader of the Eritrean ex-patriot community in the US died on March 3 at the age of 83. His actions in 1974 averted a massacre of the citizens of Asmara and caused the opposition to mark him for death. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

British Major Frank Hamer, MC served as an artillery survey officer during WWII earning two Military Crosses and a Bar. He earned the first MC at El Alamein in 1942 and the bar during the invasion of Sicily. He landed at Gold Beach on D-Day. in 1946 he was asked to testify at war crimes trials as to what he witnessed as his troops helped liberate a concentration camp at Sandbostel. He died April 2 at the age of 89. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Message edited by its author, Apr 21, 2009, 1:22pm.

Sir John Griffin, KCVO, press secretary to the late queen mother Elizabeth, joined the 24th lancers when he turned 18 in 1942. He was wounded during the D-Day invasion, but recovered sufficiently to return to fighting in Italy. He died April 1 at the age of 85. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Ray Nance, the last of the Bedford Boys died April 19 at the age of 94. At the beginning of WWII, 30 young men from Bedford, Virginia joined the national guard together. They were eventually absorbed into Company A of the 116th Infantry of the 29th Infantry Division which suffered heavy losses on Omaha Beach. Only 8 of the 30 boys survived the D-Day invasion. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/23/us/23n...

Air Marshal Sir Michael Gedings, KCB, OBE, DFC, AFC and bar, died April 5 at the age of 88. He flew throughout WWII, notably in a Spitfire in the defense of Malta in the summer of '42. After the war he became a test pilot and V-bomber commander. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Message edited by its author, Apr 27, 2009, 6:15pm.

Working as a gardener while a prisoner of war in Stalag Luft III, Alex Lees helped dispose of the soil dug from the tunnels for the Great Escape in March 1944. He died April 22 at the age of 97. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

British Cold War intelligence head, Lt. General Sir David Willison, KCB, OBE, MC died April 24 at the age of 89. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

WWII night fighter navigator Wing Commander Douglas Oxby, DSO, DFC, DFM and Bar, died April 10 at the age of 88. With 22 interceptions during the war he was the RAFs top scoring radar operator. This obit has a very good slide show with some pics shot from his plane. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Message edited by its author, Apr 30, 2009, 1:57pm.

My Stepfather, Everard (Ev) Herbert de Courcy Manning passed away yesterday morning (3 May 2009) at the age of 80. You will not find any special obituary for him but he was a good man. He fought as a Private with the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR) in Korea. He'll be sorely missed by his family and many friends.

Former Commandant General of the Royal Marines, Lt. General Sir Martin Garrod, KCB, CMG, OBE, died April 17 at the age of 73. He saw significant service in North Ireland and the Balkans, particularly Mostar. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Soviet General Valentin I. Varennikov, known for his attempt to bring down Gorbachev, died May 6 at the age of 85. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/08/world/...

U.S. Col. Harold E. Fischer, Jr., was a fighter pilot in the Korean War who was captured and tortured in a Chinese prison during and after the war, becoming a symbol of the Cold War. He died on april 30 at the age of 83. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/08/us/08f...

Message edited by its author, May 8, 2009, 9:57am.

WWII Royal Navy destroyer Capt. Terrence Herrick, DSC & Bar, died April 15 at the age of 97. His memoir was called Into the Blue. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Wing commander Ernest Millington, DFC won his Distinguished Flying Cross with the RAFs Bomber Command in WWII. He died May 9 at the age of 93 and was the last surviving MP with wartime experience sitting in the House of Commons. He wrote several books including The Royal Group of Docks, A Geography of London and National Parks. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

India's 7th Chief of Naval Staff since independence, Admiral Sardari Mathradas Nanda, died may 11 at the age of 95. He played an essential role in India's victory in the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

British WWII Captain Frank Gregory-Smith, DSO & Bar, DSC & Bar, was the principal beachmaster on Gold Beach on D-Day, four years after nearly having his ship sunk under him while evacuating troops from Dunkirk. He died May 4 at the age of 99. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Not a farewell, but a salute to Frank Buckles, the oldest surviving US veteran of WWI, still fighting the good fight at 108. http://abcnews.go.com/WN/story?id=765877...

Christopher Randolph commanded a mortar battery in Vietnam and later on became head of the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation, which assisted the children of Marines in obtaining a higher education. He died May 22 at the age of 64. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/28/nyregi...

Physiologist Lucan Pratt, OBE was appointed Surgeon Commander over the Royal Navy's physiological lab in 1939. His research into underwater explosions was invaluable in the preparation for the Normandy invasion. He died March 24 at the age of 102. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Australia's last WWI veteran died on June 3 at the age of 110. John "Jack" Ross enlisted in the Australian Imperial Forces in January 1918. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090603/lf_n...

Message edited by its author, Jun 3, 2009, 1:28pm.

Vice-Admiral James F. Calvert commanded the U.S.S. Skate when it became the first nuclear powered submarine to surface at the North Pole in 1958. He later became Superintendant of the U.S. Naval Academy. He was the also the author of a number of books including Silent Running: My Years on a World War II Attack Submarine, Surface at the Pole; The Extraordinary Voyages of the USS Skate, A Promise to Our Country: "I Pledge Allegance...", and The Naval Profession. He died June 3 at the age of 88. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/16/us/16c...

Not farewell, but salute to British WWI veteran Henry Allingham, who has just become the world's oldest man at 113. He is one of only two surviving British WWI veterans and the last surviving founding member of the RAF. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090619/lf_n...

Message edited by its author, Jun 19, 2009, 2:33pm.

Florian Garcia fought in the Spanish Civil War on the Republican side, then became an anti-Fascist guerilla. He died Apriil 17 at the age of 92. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

I believe this may be our first Kiwi. New Zealand pilot and squadron leader Denis "Dusty" Miller, DSO, DFC went to Britain in 1941 to fly with the Bomber Command. He died March 24 at the age of 90. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Though not a soldier, the efforts of aeronautical engineer Thomas Somerville, CBE, on the design of gliders used during the D-Day invasion proved to be a significant contribution. He died April 30 at the age of 93. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Tuskegee Airman Lt. Roger "Bill" Terry died June 11 at the age of 87. In 1945 he was involved in a protest in which black officers tried to enter a white officer's club which ultimately resulted in his dishonorable discharge. The attention drawn to this and other events eventually led to Truman's integration of the US armed forces. He was pardoned and his rank restored in 1995. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...
Field Marshall Waldemar Levy Cardoso, the last surviving Marshall of the Brazilian Army, died May 13 at the age of 108. In WWII as a colonel, he commanded artillery in the Brazilian Expeditionary Force in Italy from 1944-45.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...
British Counsel Officer Stephen Alexander survived as a Japanese POW and was involved in building the Bridge on the River Kwai. His book about his wartime experiences was called Sweet Kwai Run Softly. He died June 14 at the age of 89.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...
Harold Dudman, as a Lance Corporal with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, landed on Sword Beach during the Normandy Invasion. This year he visited Sword Beach as part of the 65th D-Day Anniversary. He was to receive a medal from the mayor of Bayeaux that day, but passed away in the early hours of June 6 at the age of 86 before receiving his medal.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/columni...
Bleddyn Williams trained as a fighter pilot in Arizona and then got switched to gliders as the big push in Europe got under way. Having fought through the flak and smoke to crash-land his valuable cargo of medical and radio supplies for the Rhine crossing, he spent a week sleeping in ditches before bumping into his commanding officer, Hugh Bartlett DFC - the dashing Sussex batsman - one Friday morning. "Williams aren't you meant to be at Welford Road tomorrow playing for Great Britain against the Dominions? They need you. Go now!" Williams caught the last supply plane to Brize Norton that night. He couldn't win the match but did score a glorious try.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...
Squadron leader and WWII Spitfire pilot Leonard Feltham, DFC, died June 4 at the age of 87. He joined the RAF when war broke out at the age of 17.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...
Australian naval officer Lieutenant-Commander Max Shean, DSO and Bar, died June 15 at the age of 90. He volunteered for the midget submarine service and saw action in both the Pacific and Atlantic theatres.

General Bela K. Kiraly led the 1956 Hungarian revolt against the Soviets. He died July 4 at the age of 97. He was the author of East Central European Society and the Balkan Wars and Insurrections, Wars and the Eastern Crisis in the 1870s. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/08/world/...

Ted Kenna VC.
The last Aussi WWII VC.

http://www.defence.gov.au/media/Departme...

We only have 2 left. One Vietnam and
a new Afghanistan one.

Message edited by its author, Jul 9, 2009, 4:21am.

Earl Haig, OBE died July 10 at the age of 91. His began his military career with the Royal Scots Greys in Palestine during WWII and later moved as a liaison officer with New Zealand troops when his tank was hit in North Africa and he was captured by the Germans. He was initially interned in a POW camp in Italy, but was eventually transferred to Colditz for safe-keeping as he was the son of the WWI Field-Marshal Haig. His memoir was called My Father's Son. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Diplomat Peter Lake, MC was stationed in Fernando Po in 1942 when through discreet largesse, bribery and fiddling with the dock lights, he managed to lure most of the sailors of a German and Italian ship into the town long enough for their ships to be captured. Later as a member of the SOE (Special Operations Executive) he was awarded the Croix de Guerre and his MC for his work with French Resistance guerrillas. He died June 26 at the age of 94. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Message edited by its author, Jul 13, 2009, 2:36pm.

Back in message 61 we recognized Mr. Henry Allingham as Britain's oldest veteran as well as oldest man, and only one of the 2 remaining WWI survivors. Mr. Allingham passed away on July 18 at 113. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/world/...

British WWII ace Wing Comannder Kenneth MacKenzie, DFC, had seven combat victories during the Battle of Britain. He was shot down over France in the fall of 1941. He became a POW in Stalag Luft III where he feigned insanity and managed to be repatriated. He died June 4 at the age of 92. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Milan aristocrat Renata Clewes joined the Italian resistance during WWII where she funneled intelligence to the Americans and created fake identities for Allied soldiers trapped behind enemy lines. After being captured by the Gestapo, she managed to bribe her way free and continued her work until the end of the war. She died June 11 at the age of 88. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

British Major General John Carpenter, CB, MBE and former chairman of the Dunkirk Veterans Association died on July 8 at the age of 88. As an 18 year old second lieutenant he led his platoon into the sea near Dunkirk where they gained a lifeboat and started rowing across the Channel. Although some of his men were wounded, all of them survived. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Message edited by its author, Jul 20, 2009, 9:55am.

The very last of the British "Tommies" who fought in the trenches of WWI has died. Harry Patch passed away on July 25 at the age of 111. He was conscripted into the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry at the age of 18 in 1916. There he became known for his marksmanship. Much more about him here... http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Military historian Edgar O'Ballance "Paddy", died July 8 at the age of 90. He wrote over 30 military history books on conflicts from the middle east to Vietnam and ancient history. He enlisted in the Queen's Royal Lancers at the age of 16 in 1934, but was later discharged for being underage. He re-enlisted in 1935, still under age eventually seeing service in France, Nigeria, Burma, India and Palestine. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Message edited by its author, Jul 27, 2009, 3:39pm.

WWII RAF Wing Commander John Smith-Carrington died June 25 at the age of 87. He flew a Mosquito during most of the war and took part in a raid on Nazi headquarters at the Hague that freed underground workers. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Fleet Air Arm Aircrewman Reginald Samples, CMG, DSO, OBE, was awarded his DSO for gallantry based on his actions during a toropedo attack in the English Channel in 1942. He died July 31 at the age of 90. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Royal Navy Hydrographer, Rear-Admiral Sir David Haslam, KBE, CB, died appx. August 2 at the age of 86. He first went to sea in 1942 taking part in convoy operations. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Just out now is 'Operation Husky; the Canadian Invasion of Sicily' by Mark Zuehkle. It is very detailed.

Message edited by its author, Aug 19, 2009, 2:39am.

Here's a war story that you seldom hear much about. Wartime nurse Joy Smith died July 13 at the age of 86. She volunteered as a theatre sister in an experimental plastic surgery burn unit at Queen Victoria Hospital. Their objective was to try new techniques on soldiers with serious burns and disfiguring injuries. Eventually she married one of her patients. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Israeli war hero and former chief of the Mossad, Meir Amit died July 17 at the age of 88. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Sometimes fame eclipses the fact that someone was once a soldier. Writer Dominick Dunne was drafted into WWII when he was a senior in high school. He fought at the Battle of the Bulge and earned a Bronze Star for sneaking past Nazi sentries and carrying back a wounded comrade. He died August 26 at the age of 83. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/27/arts/t...

The Right Rev. Mark Green, MC, died August 2, at the age of 92. He joined the British Army Chaplains Department in 1943 and took part in D-Day with the 24th Lancers Armoured Brigade. He was the author of Diary of Doubt and Faith. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Message edited by its author, Sep 2, 2009, 3:05pm.

Chief Petty Officer Leonard Berey, DSM, died July 20 at the age of 94. During WWII with the Royal Navy he became a torpedo charioteer, riding astride explosives moving into enemy harbors. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Wing Commander Jack Coates, CBE, DFC, died July 16 at the age of 88. He flew reconnaissance and convoy escorts during the war for the RAF over the North Sea, the Mediterranean and North Africa. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Air Commander Paddy Forsythe, CBE, DFC, died August 28 at the age of 89. As a bomber pilot he flew 30 sorties over Germany, participated in the attack on Dresden and later food drops to the starving Dutch. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Message edited by its author, Sep 3, 2009, 2:56pm.

British Lt. Co. Robert Walker-Brown, DSO, MBE and Special Air Service veteran, died August 16 at the age of 90. He earned his MBE for his escape from a German POW camp in 1942. He went on to join the SAS. In Operation Gallia he led a guerilla action in support of the American 5th Army's offensive in Northern Italy. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Former head of Oxfam, Guy Stringer, CBE died July 4 at the age of 88. He volunteered for the British Army at the beginning of World War II and was stationed in India and Burma where he worked behind the enemy to cut Japanese supply lines. He was eventually wounded and returned home, but went on to serve with UN Forces during the Korean War. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Message edited by its author, Sep 10, 2009, 2:24pm.

Roderick Romain became a lawyer in 1939, but only made it to court four times before being commissionined into the 27th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery. He became part of the British Expeditionary force in Belgium and France and was rescued from Dunkirk in 1940. He spent from 1942 on serving in Egypt, Libya and Italy where he was assigned to the Judge Advocate General. In 1946 and '47 he conducted two war crimes trials as a judge advocate, one of which concerned the Neuengamme forced labour camp. He died September 11 at the age of 92. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Wing Commander Gordon Pryor, DFC and Bar, was an RAF special duties pilot who airdropped supplies to partisans in Italy and the Balkans and in 1944 to insurgents of the Warsaw Uprising. He died September 3 at the age of 88. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Brigadier Vera Rooke, former Matron-in-Chief and Director of the Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps, died September 13 at the age of 84. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Wing Commander Les Harland, DFC and bar, died July 20 at the age of 89. He was a bomber pilot and later in his career a helicopter pilot. He joined the RAF in 1940 and flew most of his sorties in North Africa and the western desert. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Lieutenant-Commander Tadeusz Lesisz escaped to Britain on board a destroyer the day before the Germans invaded Poland in 1939. He served as a gunnery officer on Polish warships under command of the Royal Navy throughout the war. He participated in the Battle of the Atlantic, numerous convoys, Operation Torch and the Normandy landing. He died September 23 at the age of 91. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Message edited by its author, Sep 30, 2009, 2:07pm.

Cardiologist Dr. Marek Edelman was the last surviving commander of the Warsaw ghetto uprising against the Germans. He died October 2 at the age of 90. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/03/world/...

Message edited by its author, Oct 5, 2009, 3:04pm.

At the age of 15 German born Jew Richard W. Sonnenfeldt fled his native Germany. As a private in the U.S. Army he helped liberate Dachau. Because of his fluency in German and English he was picked out of an army motor pool to first serve as an interpreter and later as interrogator of the defendants at Nuremberg. His autobiography was called Witness to Nuremberg. He died October 9 at the age of 86. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/nyregi...

Erik Greenwood joined the British Corps Military Police in 1939 and because of his fluency in Russian was recruited into the Special Operations Executive (SOE) in 1942. He saw service in the South Caucusus, Norway and after parachuting into Yugoslavia spent a trying time trying to encourage Chetniks into action and eventually succeeded in blocking the Danube for a brief time. He died September 6 at the age of 93. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Message edited by its author, Oct 13, 2009, 2:30pm.

After his sixth place finish in pole vaulting at the Munich Olympics in 1936 (the highest a Britain has ever finished in pole vaulting), Brigadier Dick Webster began his distinguished military career in 1937. He was part of the British Expeditionary Force evacuated from Dunkirk and was mentioned in despatches for his war time service in North Africa and Italy. He served his later career all around the world including Korea and Egypt where he helped train two future Egyptian presidents. He died September 28 at the age of 94. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Prior to becoming a distinguished plant scientist, Professor Hubert Rees, DFC, FRS, left school to join the RAF's 75 Squadron (RNZAF) to fly Lancaster bombers. He was awarded his DFC after 30 operations, then volunteered for a second tour. When his aircraft was damaged over Germany he was able to maintain enough control for all his crew bale and survive. Upon their capture they were sent to Stalag Luft 1 until liberated by the approach of the Russians in May 1945. He passed away September 13 at the age of 85. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

British Lt. Col. Norman Field, OBE died September 10 at the age of 92. He joined the Royal Fusiliers in 1937. WWII started for him with a telegram to his wife tellling her he was dead. Though wounded, he was rescued from a beach near Dunkirk and soon put her mind to rest. He saw service all over Europe and for a time was attached to HQXVII US Airborne Corps. For this assignment and his work in northeast Europe he was awarded a U.S. Broze Star and mentioned in despatches. His war ended when he was sent with a delegation to accept the German surrender. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

RAFVR Flight Lieutenant Jim Rosser, DFC was called up in 1939 and served with the 72 Spitfire Squadron. He flew in the Dieppe Raid of 1942, was a front line flight Commander after the Normandy Invasion and flew in Operation Market Garden. He died October 13 at the age of 92. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Commander of the first New Zealand fighter squadron 485 RNZAF, John Pattison, DFC, DSO, died September 11 at the age of 92. He volunteered for the RAF service in New Zealand in 1939. His first combat flights were during the Battle of Britain. He was wounded in '40, but returned to fly his Spitfire throughout the war with some notable attacks on V1 rocket sites. In 2004, during the 60th anniversary of the Normandy invasion he was awarded the Legion d'Honneur by Jacques Chirac. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Edited because I can't spell today.

Message edited by its author, Nov 2, 2009, 10:10am.

Air Vice-Marshal Ranjan Dutt became one of three Indian officers to be posted to the RAF’s 32 Squadron in 1941 and became one of the few Indian officers to serve in the European theatre. He went on to serve in the Burmese and Indian theatre. He later became an Indian Air Force Chief. He died August 13 at the age of 87.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Rear-Admiral Rodney Sturdee, CB, DSC, died October 6 at the age of 89. He was serving as a midshipman in 1939 on the Exeter during the Battle of the River Plate during which the German warship the Admiral Graf Spree was destroyed. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

British General Sir Patrick Howard-Dobson, GCB, began his military career with the 7th Hussars covering the retreat from Rangoon to India in '42 and the Allied advance in Italy from '44-45. His final appointment was as Vice-Chief of Defence Staff in the 1980s. He died November 8 at the age of 88. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

In 1940, RAF flight Lieutenant Iain Nicholson, DFC, DFM, volunteered for service at the age of 17. He flew 96 sorties over Europe from ’43-’45 as a navigator in Bomber Command and took part in the Peenemunde raid that delayed production of the V2 rocket. He received a medal from the Dutch for his part in Operation Manna to bring food to their starving population in 1945. He died September 14 at the age of 86.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Lieutenant-Commander Edgar Lee, DSO, VRD was the last surviving aircrewman of the doomed 825 Squadron Air Fleet Arm that took on Hitler’s Channel Dash in 1942, flying biplane “stringbag” Swordfish torpedo bombers. He died October 29 at the age of 88. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Not that all these guys aren't extraordinary, but this one is a super dude.

Descended from veterans who had fought in all U.S. wars since the Revolution, U.S. Army veteran of three wars, Col. Lewis Millett died November 14 at the age of 88. He went AWOL from the Army in 1940 to join the Canadians so he could fight the Nazis sooner. Eventually all was forgiven. He stood out on the battlefield by virtue of his gigantic, red, handle-bar moustache. He is best known for having led the Bayonet Hill charge during the Korean War in 1951 while Captain of the 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. Historians regard this as the most complete bayonet charge by American troops since Cold Harbor. He received the Medal of Honor from President Truman later that year. He lost a son in 1985 who was returning from a peacekeeping mission in the military aircraft crash in Newfoundland. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/us/19m...

After her husband's ship was torpedoed off Dunkirk, Anne Waterston initially began working with evacuated British children. Wanting to be more directly involved in the war she volunteered for the British relief teams dealing with the refugee situation in Europe. She was one of the few remaining survivors of the team who entered the Belsen Concentration Camp. She died November 14 at the age of 97. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Message edited by its author, Nov 19, 2009, 1:59pm.

American veteran of the Spanish Civil War, Clarence Kailin, served with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Exempted from WWII service because of the wounds he received in Spain, he still trained U.S. Military radio operators. He was a social activist in his later life. He died October 25 at the age of 95. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Here's a bit of wartime history one doesn't really hear about. Olga Kevelos was one of 45 Inland Waterways Boatwomen who signed on to work Britain's Wartime Canals. She died October 28 at the age of 85. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Message edited by its author, Dec 4, 2009, 3:10pm.

German politician Otto Lambsdorff was drafted into the German army in 1944 and lost a leg in an Allied air raid. He was elected to the German parliament in 1972 and led a program to pay reparations to hundreds of thousands of Nazi-era slave laborers. He was the author of Liberty: The Best Remedy against Poverty. He died December 12 at the age of 82. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/world/...

Sir Richard O'Brien, DSO, MC and Bar, won two Military Crosses for his actions during WWII in North Africa and Italy before becoming a personal assistant to Montgomery in 1945. He died on December 11 at the age of 89. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Message edited by its author, Dec 15, 2009, 3:36pm.

In 1944, Inga Haag was an employee of the German Foreign Ministry. She was also involved in the German resistance and one of the few plotters of the failed bomb plot to assasinate Hitler who managed to survive the following purge. She died December 10 at the age of 91. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...

Dear varielle,

Once again I would like to thank you for ALL the work you have done this year.

I remember when you wanted to throw in the towel in 2008 and how a tiny few
peoples persuaded you otherwise.

I HOPE you will continue this work in 2010.

Your, appreciative friend, Guido.

I second Guido47; you do a really worthwhile job locating and posting these notes about former servicemen. Please keep it going.

Never fear, I will be keeping track of the 2010 old soldiers and sailors and airmen and other heroes as soon as I can get the holidays behind me.

Unfortunately, a few are still determined to leave us before the end of the year. One of the most highly decorated veterans of the Vietnam War, Col. Robert L. Howard, died December 23 at the age of 70. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star, eight Purple Hearts and was awarded the Medal of Honor for rescuing his fellow Green Berets while under fire. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/25/us/25h...

Message edited by its author, Dec 28, 2009, 7:15am.

Dear V.

Our OLD soldiers are unfortunately becoming too close to my era.
Vietnam. NO I didn't serve, but I do have many friends who did!

And wait, 60'ish is not yet old, is it?

To this end I would like to share a poem.
......................................................................................
Limits

Of all the streets that blur in to the sunset,
There must be one (which, I am not sure)
That I by now have walked for the last time
Without guessing it, the pawn of that Someone

Who fixes in advance omnipotent laws,
Sets up a secret and unwavering scale
for all the shadows, dreams, and forms
Woven into the texture of this life.

If there is a limit to all things and a measure
And a last time and nothing more and forgetfulness,
Who will tell us to whom in this house
We without knowing it have said farewell?

Through the dawning window night withdraws
And among the stacked books which throw
Irregular shadows on the dim table,
There must be one which I will never read.

There is in the South more than one worn gate,
With its cement urns and planted cactus,
Which is already forbidden to my entry,
Inaccessible, as in a lithograph.

There is a door you have closed forever
And some mirror is expecting you in vain;
To you the crossroads seem wide open,
Yet watching you, four-faced, is a Janus.

There is among all your memories one
Which has now been lost beyond recall.
You will not be seen going down to that fountain
Neither by white sun nor by yellow moon.

You will never recapture what the Persian
Said in his language woven with birds and roses,
When, in the sunset, before the light disperses,
You wish to give words to unforgettable things.

And the steadily flowing Rhone and the lake,
All that vast yesterday over which today I bend?
They will be as lost as Carthage,
Scourged by the Romans with fire and salt.

At dawn I seem to hear the turbulent
Murmur of crowds milling and fading away;
They are all I have been loved by, forgotten by;
Space, time, and Borges now are leaving me.

Jorge Luis Borges
...............................................................

Perhaps just an acknowledgement of our mortality?

Guido.

Norwegian resistance fighter Knut Haugland was decorated by the British for helping to prevent the Nazis from obtaining heavy water. A few years after the war he went on to crew Thor Heyerdahl's Kon-Tiki across the Pacific. He died on Christmas Day at the age of 92. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/27/world/...

General Sir Jack Harman, GCB, OBE, MC died December 28 at the age of 89. He began his military career commissioned into the Queen's Bays (2nd Dragoon Guards) in 1940. He won his MC in '43 for his skills as a tank squadron leader in North Africa and Italy. He wrapped up his military career as Deputy Supreme Commander, Europe to US General Alexander Haig. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...