World War II Stories
Our Dead Have Faces Recollections of James Hugh Powers From the photograph hung on my living room wall, the 19-year-old soldier gazes into the room, his Army visor hat on at a cocky angle, yet “regulation.†His uniform is immaculate, the Acorn (87th) Division patch showing on his left shoulder. His eyes twinkle, and a broad, engaging youthful smile greets the world. An eternal teenager and Harvard freshman,…
 What is the Price of Freedom by Delbert Lambson In World War II, America lost 414,000 killed and another 100, 000 still missing in action and unaccounted for and assumed dead. That’s over half a million of our choicest young Americans who gave their lives so that you and I can walk free in this free land. We lost 400 ships in the first year of the war…
Pacific Phase By Harold E. Guetzlaff After having spent about 17 months as ‘Base Personnel’ at Chatham Air base, Savannah, Georgia, I was informed of my transfer to the 319th Bomb Group while I was doing my job as a 911 aircraft armorer, working on the third shift. This entailed cleaning 50 caliber machine guns used by the crews of the B-24’s during their last stage of training. I…
Honor Thy Country With a Touch of Class Joseph R. Scolavino US Navy This is a true story of a 12 year old boy who lived in Brooklyn, New York at 3502 Avenue P and 35th street. He attended grade school at Quentin Road & 34th Street, Brooklyn. Joe had a bike and worked in a grocery store after school. Often times he stopped at a private airport called Floyd…
My dad, A WWII vet, received a letter from Jim Roberts about preserving the memories of WWII thought oral history to their children and grandchildren. My dad thought of his granddaughter, My daughter, Mica Michaela Grace. This summer she wrote and recorded in Nashville with Keith Follese who was country music songwriter of the year in 2004. One of her song concepts came from her experience as…
Fritz Emil Wolf, WWII Fighter Pilot Fritz E. Wolf was born in Shawano, Wisconsin on February 8, 1916. He attended Shawano High School where he excelled in leadership, character and athletics. He graduated from High School in 1933. During that year he was on the football team that was conference champions and on the basketball team that went to the state playoffs. After graduation, Fritz received a basketball scholarship…
Howard H. Allen, Lt CEC US Navy VR. Executive Officer 26th Construction Battalion. I, Howard H. Allen, LT CEG, USN VR, Executive Officer 26th Construction Battalion, landed on Guadalcanal on the 24th of December 1942. We relieved the 6th Cbs and occupied their camp. One night I asked if they ever took passengers on their missions. He said, “Sure, We have a mission out tonight at 1900. Be…
Lt. Commander H.H. Allen Story Second Special US Naval Construction Battalion Company Baker June 2 to September 1, 1944 Company B, Second Naval Construction Battalion (Special) was attached to the Third Marine Division during the invasion of the island of Guam, Mariana Islands. Personnel of the company landed on Beach Red One, after 73 days aboard the USS Crescent City in transit. Under Lt. Fick, and Ensign Berry, 51…
Fletcher M. Glenn, 22nd Bomb Group 33rd Bomb Squadron I graduated from Kelly Field, Texas, in the class of 40E as a Second Lieutenant with an “Airplane pilot†rating. The summer of 1941 found me at Patterson Field near Dayton, Ohio teaching Russian pilots how to fly the B-26s which we were giving them under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Lend-Lease program. With the Lend-Lease program we manufactured the goods and…
DON’T COUNT HIM OUT YET ! Uncle Sam’s In A Jam. But Not To Worry. Help’s On The Way From An Unlikely Source . …as told to Tony Welch An astounding number of American teenagers, both male and female, altered their birth dates in order to serve their country during World War Two. The practice reached its peak in 1943. Over time, nearly 50,000 were detected and sent home. Among the…
