Category: War Bonds

War Bonds

Never Forget

Cindy Hval

Wayne said, “We followed a lot of fighting as we went up the island. The Japanese were still strafing Kadena.”
But he did as he’d been taught and laid face down in a bunker when under fire. He didn’t lose any of his wire team. “We lucked out,” he said. “The other part of the company lost a couple guys.”

He grew quiet and glanced out his living room window. “Some parts you don’t remember– some parts will be in your mind forever.” ~ Wayne Best.

From chapter five of War Bonds. Thank you to our veterans. May we never forget.

War Bonds

Greatest Generation = Greatest Sense of Humor

Cindy Hval

Betty Driscoll Ratzman low resBetty Driscoll Ratzman

Caught up with this lovely War Bonds bride this afternoon while returning the photoss she’d loaned me for the book.
I told her the publisher is still hoping for a Valentine’s Day release of War Bonds.

She replied, “Well, they better hurry up with that. Dean just told me he never wanted a 90-year-old wife. I told him, ‘Well, I never wanted to be one!'”
They’ve been married 68 years!

War Bonds

Naval Aviator and WWII hero Robbie Robinson, dies

Cindy Hval

Chpt 35 Robbie Robinson - Copy

Just learned that Naval aviator Robbie Robinson passed away last week.
Robbie survived a horrific plane crash in the Pacific during WWII. Here’s an excerpt from his chapter “Wings of Gold.”

Robbie took off from his ship, the U.S.S Manila Bay with a full payload of bombs. The crew didn’t spot any enemy activity and at dusk they headed back to the ship.

The weight of the explosives made an already tricky landing more difficult. As they made their approach, Robbie knew they were in trouble. “Without warning the plane lurched and trembled. Like a goose hit in the wing by a volley of shot we plummeted into the Pacific with terrifying finality.”

The plane smashed into the water, shattering on impact. Cascades of water tossed him about like limp seaweed. Blown from the aircraft and barely conscious, he tripped the release on one side of his May West lifejacket, and it partially inflated, supporting his head.

He was plucked from the sea by the crew of a nearby destroyer. Later that night he learned that his radioman, George Driesback Jr., and his gunner, Harold Eckert, had been killed on impact. “They never had a chance,” he said. “They were in the belly of the plane.”

RIP Robbie Robinson. Thank you for your service and for sharing your story with me.

 

War Bonds

Long before e-mail, there was V-Mail

Cindy Hval

V-Mail from Ray, low resDuring WWII V-Mail (Victory Mail) was the primary way servicemen were able to communicate with their loved ones back home.
In this note, Ray Stone writes to his wife “I think about you always Betty. The feeling and the love I have for you has grown into something much deeper than small talk & sayings.”
He wrote this from Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge.

The horrors of war became most apparent to the young paratrooper when  he and his company liberated Camp Wobbelin in Germany. They found 1,000 dead– mostly Jews and another 3,000 dying prisoners in the compound.

Stone went on to become a lifelong educator, eventually serving as mayor of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and received the Raoul Wallenburg Award, as well as the Eisenhower Liberation Medal.

Ray and Betty Stone’s story is featured in a chapter titled, “Fireworks.”

 

War Bonds

Every Two Minutes a Memory Disappears

Cindy Hval

According to the National WWII Museum, approximately every two minutes a memory of World War II – its sights and sounds, its terrors and triumphs – disappears.

That’s because our WWII vets are dying at a rate of 555 a day. By 2036, it is estimated there will be no living veterans of World War II left to recount their experiences.
I am so grateful to have been able to meet and interview so many of these amazing veterans. Their stories are important and deserve to be shared.

War Bonds

Fundraiser for WWII vet who died destitute

Cindy Hval

This story from the Huckleberries Online newspaper blog broke my heart. That one of our heroes should die alone and destitute seems unthinkable. Bless the generous donor who paid for his fune

A brave combat veteran of the storied 10th Mountain Division who recently died destitute will be honored with a “Beer and Brats” fundraiser on November 2, 2014 at St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church in Post Falls. Jim Ayers, who served in the 10th Mountain Division during World War II as the United States Army fought its way across Italy, recently died destitute and without any surviving family members and his funeral costs were paid by a generous anonymous donor. St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church is holding a memorial “Beer and Brats” fundraiser to reimburse this donor for those costs/Jennifer Dancy, of St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church, Post Falls. More here.

This fundraiser will be held on Sunday Nov. 2nd from 1-3 PM at St John the Baptist Orthodox Church in Post Falls located at 4718 E. Horsehaven Avenue. Visit http://www.stjohnorthodox.org/directions.html for directions.

 

War Bonds

Rest in peace Harvey Shaw

Cindy Hval

Harvey Shaw at the wheel, low res

Harvey Shaw at the wheel of the USS Kwajalein, 1944

Just received word that this handsome sailor died October 7. Harvey Shaw was a kind and gentle man who dropped out of high school during WWII and enlisted in the US Navey because he liked to swim!

He was proud to have served his country, but even prouder of his 64-year marriage to his wife, Bonnie and of their six children.

Rest in peace, Harvey. Thank you for your service and for sharing your story with me.