Merry Christmas to all!
May you all enjoy this celebration of Jesus birth, death and resurrection.
(yes I know he was most likely born in the spring)
TOLEDO, Ohio - J. Russell Coffey, the oldest known surviving U.S. veteran of World War I, has died. The retired teacher, one of only three U.S. veterans from the "war to end all wars," was 109.
Coffey died Thursday at the Briar Hill Health Campus in North Baltimore, where he had lived for the past four or five years, said Gaye Boggs, nursing director at the nursing home. No cause of death has been determined, she said Friday. His health began failing in October.
"We're sure going to miss him," Boggs said. "He was our most famous resident, that's for sure."
More than 4.7 million Americans joined the military from 1917-1918. Coffey never saw combat because he was still in basic training when the war ended.
The two remaining U.S. veterans are Frank Buckles, 106, of Charles Town, W.Va.; and Harry Richard Landis, 108, of Sun City Center, Fla., according to the Veterans Affairs Department. In addition, John Babcock, 107, of Spokane, Wash., served in the Canadian army and is the last known Canadian veteran of the war.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071221/ap_on_re_us/obit_coffey
**First off - thanks to all these men listed for their service. Especially J. Russell Coffey....may you rest in peace.
Secondly - and I don't mean this to sound disrespectful but where it says "No cause of death has been determined"....now, I'm no expert on these matters but I think it's pretty safe to assume that the fact that he was 109 years of age was most likely a contributing factor to his demise. But hey, that's just my thought. God bless 'em.**
Ed Chlapowski can still see the white smoke rise into the sky right before the USS Arizona exploded.
On that infamous day of Dec. 7, 1941, Chlapowski realized his best friend, Brutus West, was on that ship.
"It hurt terrifically when it happened. You never recover from it," he said.
As the years grow longer and the number of survivors of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor becomes smaller, there's urgency to preserve those memories.
For Chlapowski, 85, the chronology of that Sunday morning 66 years ago may sometimes get the better of him, but the events have never left him.
"Brutus West is still on the Arizona as far as I'm concerned," he said.
As a 19-year-old radioman, Chlapowski had a year of Navy life behind him when the Japanese launched their surprise air attack on the naval base in Hawaii.
He had been stationed at Pearl Harbor for just more than two months under the command of Adm. Husband E. Kimmel, commander-in-chief of the Pacific Fleet. But Chlapowski had been stationed on the Arizona before that, a fact that makes the loss of the ship even more powerful to him.
The morning of the attack, Chlapowski had been on watch from 4 to 7 a.m., when he took his breakfast break in the submarine base cafeteria.
"I saw the roof blow off at Hickam (Field), and I saw the planes flying in," Chlapowski said. "The plane turned, and I saw the 'meatballs' on the wings and the hair on the back of my neck stood up. It still does. I knew it was the Japs."
http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/12/07/news/local/
18-pearlharbor_v.txt
**I realize I just posted two stories on Pearl Harbor but I did that because I really love putting a face (or two) onto history. Besides, I couldn't decide between the two.**
After 66 years, some survivors wonder if they are the last reminders of the attack that led the U.S. into war.
Their ranks thinned by age, Pearl Harbor veterans today are commemorating the 66th anniversary of the Japanese attack and wondering whether Americans will remember one of the most defining moments in history after they die.
"When we're gone, we're gone," said 87-year-old Jack Ray Hammett. "We're already just a paragraph in the history books. Will even that disappear when the last one of us dies?"
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in a speech to Congress, immortalized the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and other military installations on Oahu, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941, as a "date which will live in infamy." Today, those words are remembered mostly by the generation that lived through World War II.
It is a generation in steady decline. About 16 million Americans served in uniform during the war. The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates 2.7 million are living, but they are dying at the rate of about 1,000 per day.
The exact number of Pearl Harbor survivors, though unknown, is smaller, and they are older than the average WWII veteran. Hammett, a former Costa Mesa mayor, said he liked to think of his buddies as "walking, living history."
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-pearl7dec07,0,4471368.story?
coll=la-home-local
The network has posted an ad seeking a reporter to cover the “eco beat” – with some interesting requirements.
“CBS is expanding its coverage of the environment,” the ad reads. “We seek a talented reporter/host for Internet video broadcast. We are looking for smart, creative, hard working up and comers, who can bring great energy, creativity and a dash of humor to our coverage. A deep interest in the environment and sustainability issues will serve you well.”
So you would think such a job would require a science background or years of covering environmental news? Not exactly.
lol