"Jake was led by love of country"....1st. Sgt. Vesser
In Memory of PFC Jacob Frank Derrico "ABSOLUTE INFANTRY"
Attachment 93620
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"Jake was led by love of country"....1st. Sgt. Vesser
In Memory of PFC Jacob Frank Derrico "ABSOLUTE INFANTRY"
Attachment 93620
Both 1st cousins who died in service, Edwin in Vietnam and John's death is classified to this day.
EDWIN FRANCIS TURK JR, SP4 - E4 - Army - Selective Service 11th Armored Cavalry
Length of service 1 years
His tour began on Jan 30, 1969 - Casualty was on Jun 18, 1969
In BINH LONG, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY - ARTILLERY, ROCKET, or MORTAR
Body was recovered
Panel 22W - Line 82
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God Bless all
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Sergeant Pilot Henry Archer "Harry" Womack, RCAF
Spitfire Pilot
1919-1941
Killed practicing air combat maneuvers near Upton-by-Chester, Cheshire, England
Buried at St. Deiniol's Church, Flintshire, Wales, near his station, RAF Hawarden
Probably the first war casualty from Tennessee, USA
Bob
God bless every one who ever served in any branch an were for any reason front line back line they all served.
To go on a bit with Bob's post during world war II the casualty rates at the OTU's at times got to 50%+ I have a vid here on Lancaster crews training in Canada then going onto operations in ETO in one segment you see a Lancaster vertically plummeting behind trees with a great gout of flame & black smoke rising up killing all on board.
They had to train like it was the real deal just like they do today but even though the training was extensive it never really prepared them for the real deal when they were above say the Ruhr valley being coned by a master searchlight and getting pounded by flak & night fighters scraping through hoping to get to their 30 missions and out of the firing line.
I read from both sides in the air where at least the Allies had a rotational system but for the Luftwaffe their face was well and truly pressed to the grind stone till they died and allot of them did but that's why their aces were miles ahead in their kills than the allied pilots because some of them had been flying combat missions since the Spanish do with the Condor Legion.
So when we get to France they were probably due for a rest but thrown straight into fighting again except this time they encountered fighters nearly their equal the only thing that was not quite up to speed were the skill of the Brit's but they did not stay niave for long and held the Luftwaffe off fairly well at Dunkirk though allot of Army chaps cursed the RAF for a no show.
That's because they were engaged 30-40+ miles inland keeping the hordes away from the beach head so the evacuation could take place "Stuffy" Dowding did the right thing in withholding sending more fighters to France lest they leave Britain exposed with being unable to replace the losses there.
In parting those that serve and have served will always be remembered and respected in this household.
"Auspicium melioris aevi"
Definition - augury of a better age — motto of the Order of St. Michael and St. George
Korean War
There was no mention of the Korean War one TV or the newspapers.
Veteran of WWII (USN), Korea(USAF) and Cold War (SAC B-47's)
FWIW
The Korean War was a brutal war; fought against a barbaric enemy in a primitive country under the worst environmental conditions US forces were ever asked to endure. Another Memorial Day and the Korean War remains, the Forgotten War. 33,652 KIA, 103,284 WIA,~8000 MIA (still) in three years of warfare..
FWIW
A point I just found out Cosine America's greatest loss of life was not from any war abroad but from The Civil War within 600,000 casualties in 4 years with barbaric conditions all around amputations deemed easier than treatment of the wound without any anesthetic.
But I respect and wholly agree with you even here the Korean war is not well respected god forbid it took the Vietnam vets years to be respected they received a not so glorious welcome from a public that should have known better........
I have a book about current flying WWII aircraft that has an essay on the U.K. during the Battle of Britain and the Blitz. There's a memorable quote about one of the larger fighter training centers, RAF Hawarden, where my uncle trained. The quote is simply, "Life was cheap at Hawarden and many trainees died."
One of my uncle's contemporaries was John Gillespie Magee, Jr. who wrote the sonnet, High Flight in 1941, after high altitude training on the Spitfire with 53 OTU at RAF llandow, in Wales:
"Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air....
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace.
Where never lark, or even eagle flew —
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
– Put out my hand, and touched the face of God."
Magee was posted to No. 412 Squadron led by "Cowboy" Blatchford. He died in an operational accident in Lincolnshire on 11 December 1941, only ten weeks into service.
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Bob
19 years of age flying Spitfires, my sons 19 and just into riding road bikes I cringe at that let alone one flying a fighter aircraft state of the art it may have been but it was a desperate time for the world indeed.
Thanks for the posts Bob....
For Cinders
I remember one incident with the RAAF. We were flying a rare daylight formation of 61 B-26’s attacking Kumwa, where the CHICOMS had broken through the II Corps line in June of 1953. On 15 June 1953 I was in the left aircraft in the lead element of the second group and we were under heavy FLAK (being the second group) headed west to east. I saw some Meteors of the 77 Squadron approaching from south to north when one was hit by FLAK; there was a blinding flash, a big explosion and a huge column of black smoke. I learned later that it was flown by FltSgt David Pinkstone of 77 Squadron out of K14. I learned later that he survived and was exchanged on operation Big Switch. I do not know how he survived.
My narrative as reported to Intel debrief:
85mm's were active and numerous.
"Yeah, and that’s where we are heading," said Wallie. "Looks like someone is flying Flak Suppression though." As we looked out of the front of the cockpit, we could see fighter-bombers diving at ground targets.
“Looks, like Meteors. Must be the RAAF."
Just then, one of the FBs passing in front of the formation took a hit and flame started coming from the A/C. The aircraft continued on to our left then exploded in a burst of orange flame and Black smoke.
"I'm hit - My God I'm on fire - I'm going in- I'm going to die." came the cries from the stricken pilot in a heavy Australian accent in a rising crescendo.
"Oh for Christ's sakes- die like a bloody fxxxing man!" came the reply from one of his unsympathetic fellow pilots.
Well, I don't know whether he died like a man- but die he did as the Meteor plunged into the ground and exploded in a large orange flame, accompanied by a huge cloud of black smoke so typical of a fuel based explosion. (I subsequently discovered that the pilot was FltSgt David Pinkstone, RAAF that he survived the crash, and was repatriated during Big Switch)
"Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth..
..Put out my hand, and touched the face of God"
John Gillespie Magee, Jr
That kind of wisdom from a 19 year old..... Amazing.
God Bless and RIP
Bob,Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Womack
Below I found this about HA Harry Womack,
I see he called Johnson City home.
I have many family ties in the area.
His Gravestone Inscription reading :
Because I live, ye shall live also.
St John XIV. 19
Sgt Henry Archer “Harry” Womack, Jr
BIRTH 3 Feb 1919
Huntington, Cabell County, West Virginia, USA
DEATH 1 Jul 1941 (aged 22)
Upton-by-Chester, Cheshire West and Chester Unitary Authority, Cheshire, England
BURIAL
Hawarden Churchyard
Hawarden, Flintshire, Wales
PLOT North Section
MEMORIAL ID 68025373 · View Source
Pilot Sergeant Henry Archer "Harry" Womack Jr was Washington County, Tennessee first overseas casualty of World War II. Harry served with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), Number 57 Operational Training Unit, Service Number R/67722. He called Johnson City, Tennessee, United States of America (USA) his home.
Harry died in a training accident while practicing aerial dog fighting out of RAF Hawarden, Flintshire, Wales, along with Pilot Officer John Melvin Milmine, RCAF . They now rest side by side in the Hawarden (St. Deiniol) Churchyard, Flintshire, Wales, United Kingdom.
The aircraft crashed at Mill Lane in the village of Upton, a part of Upton-by-Chester, which is a civil parish and a large suburb on the outskirts of Chester, Cheshire, England, United Kingdom.
Harry was 22 years old and the son of Henry Archer Womack and Nellie Parsons of Johnson City, Tennessee, USA.
Civil Registration:
Deaths Sep 1941 Womack Harry A 21 West Cheshire 8a 646.
He is commemorated at Monte Vista Memorial Garden, Johnson City, Washington County, Tennessee, U.S.A. Section F, Lot 348, Space 9. (Find A Grave Memorial# 16726786)
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God Bless
Info Link: Sgt Henry Archer “Harry†Womack, Jr (1919-1941) - Find A Grave Memorial
Cosine ~ A pretty basic laconic response from one Aussie to another Aussie....
All,
I once read a book by none other than Roald Dahl. Ol' Willy Wonka himself was a fighter pilot during WWII and he wrote a short book titled "Over to You: Ten Stories of Flyers and Flying."
I found enjoyable and a quick read. Worth looking up.
Enjoy!
How did this post turn from honoring American military deaths on Memorial Day? If you feel compelled to answer please send me a PM.
A lot of people from a lot of countries died.
Not sure why we can't remember them all on the same day/week.
Those generations were in it together I am quite sure the US forces across all services lost people in training accidents and in the ETO/PTO I also wholly agree we owe allot to the US for gaining victory in WWII but lets not forget some of the allies had been hard at it since 1939 the US only came in after December 7th 1941 by the Japanese attack on Pearl.
And yes as sure as eggs Yamamoto's words came back to haunt the Japanese Forces "I fear we have awoken a sleeping giant."
https://www.va.gov/opa/publications/...ricas_wars.pdf
From Wiki ~ World War II fatalities of the Soviet Union from all related causes numbered more than 20 million both civilian and military, although the exact figures are disputed. The number 20 million was considered official during the Soviet era. The Russian government puts the Soviet war dead at 26.6 million based on a 1993 study by the Russian Academy of Sciences. This includes 8,668,400 military deaths as calculated by the Russian Ministry of Defense.
The figures published by Russian Ministry of Defense have been accepted by most historians outside Russia. However, the official figure of 8.7 million military deaths has been disputed by some Russian historians who believe that the number of dead and missing POWs is not correct and new research is necessary to determine actual losses. Officials at the Russian Central Defense Ministry Archive (CDMA) maintain that their database lists the names of roughly 14 million dead and missing service personnel. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in 2009 that "data about our losses haven't been revealed yet..We must determine the historical truth." He said that more than 2.4 million people are still officially considered missing in action. Of the 9.5 million buried in mass graves, 6 million are unidentified. Some Russian politicians and journalists put the total number of losses in the war, both civilian and military, at over 40 million,.
What we suffered in casualties sorta pales to what they had.
Thank you kindly, Charlie! The men of my family visited the grave at Hawarden on a cold morning in November, 1996.Quote:
Originally Posted by painter777
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That's me on the right with my father, Harry's little brother, beside me. What you can't see in the expressions is that my father was left the lone male in his family by Harry's death and the accidental death of his father soon after. He suddenly became the man of the household. He ended up giving away his sisters at their weddings. Nevertheless he joined the Navy and served in WWII. The visit to the grave shown above was his and his family's first. He grew very silent. That evening in our hotel room he told me that he'd been forced to sort of put Harry's death to the side and be strong for his mother and sisters. Standing at the grave, the finality of it all hit him for the first time.
If you look closely at the foot of the stone you can see a poppy from the recent Remembrance celebration. His was the only stone in the area that was decorated. A girlfriend, perhaps?
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This picture shows the inscription that is engraved to commemorate Harry on the reverse side of my grandparents' joint grave stone in their home of Johnson City.
Bob
For Cinders
OFF Topic but may interest you. I saw him go down and do not know how he survived.
The Squadron broke its own sortie record on 15 June 1953 when it flew a total of 88 sorties in the one day, accounting for 90 hours and five minutes of flying time. The only 77 Squadron casualty sustained during these raids was Sergeant D. Pinkstone (A77-982) who was hit by anti-aircraft fire when attacking an enemy vehicle and was forced to bail out of his stricken jet. He parachuted to safety landing successfully in a nearby rice paddy. Other members of his flight saw Pinkstone fold up his parachute and run for the cover of some high ground near a small village. A rescue helicopter was called in but was forced away from the downed pilot by intense enemy ground fire, leaving Pinkstone to be captured and interned as a prisoner of war
FWIW