Editor's picks from the web 10/22/2016
As editor often get outstanding contributions from readers. They represent hard work of others who share my passion to remember! I can't put on KilroyWasHere.org as mine but they deserve wider distribution.
Shared by Allene Roberts

Wasps
Click the image
WASHINGTON - Congress has sent President Barack Obama a bill that would allow female World War II pilots known as WASPs to continue placing their ashes at Arlington National Cemetery. During the war, Women Airforce Service Pilots were considered civilians. But since 1977, federal law granted them status as veterans. In 2015, then-Secretary of the Army John McHugh ruled that WASPs never should have been allowed in and revoked their eligibility. The legislation reverses that decision. IMHO Secretary McHugh was an idiot.
One thousand-one hundred U.S. women served as pilots for the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II; 38 died while in the WASP program. Click the image Gateway to Women's History.

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Editor's picks from the web 10/02/2016
As editor often get outstanding contributions from readers. They represent hard work of others who share my passion to remember! I can't put on KilroyWasHere.org as mine but they deserve wider distribution.
Shared by Allene Roberts

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Semper Fi-nally! WWII vet gets Purple Heart after 72 years
"The Battle of Peleliu, codenamed Operation Stalemate II by the United States, was fought between the United States and the Empire of Japan in the Pacific Theater of World War II, from September to November 1944 on the island of Peleliu (in present-day Palau). U.S. Marines of the First Marine Division, and later soldiers of the U.S. Army's 81st Infantry Division, fought to capture an airstrip on the small coral island. This battle was part of a larger offensive campaign known as Operation Forager, which ran from June to November 1944 in the Pacific Theater of Operations."

Wikipedia

Wounds received in action on Peleliu
Pensaola News Journal

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Editor's picks from the web 09/25/2016
As editor often get outstanding contributions from readers. They represent hard work of others who share my passion to remember! I can't put on KilroyWasHere.org as mine but they deserve wider distribution.
Shared by Linda Tillery

Santa Barbara Beach
Click image for larger view

For more pictures click the star

The first picture picture istaken at the beach in Santa Barbara right next to the Pier. There is a veterans group that started putting a cross and candle on the beach for every death in Iraq and Afghanistan. The amazing thing is that they only do it on the weekends.

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Editor's picks from the web 09/11/2016
As editor often get outstanding contributions from readers. They represent hard work of others who share my passion to remember!, I can't put on KilroyWasHere.org but they deserve wider distribution.
Shared by Tony Welch

Jack Wendling
Click the image for MagicValley.com

Meet Jack Wendling. Born with wings, some say -- no arms. A B-24 pilot at 17, now turned 91 and still airborne going on 73 years. Join Jack in the co-pilot's seat and learn what it took -- and takes -- to stay aloft a lifetime.

Jack is not new to KilroyWasHere.org! See COMING OF AGE IN THE SKIES OVER GERMANY. Jack was 18 when flying a B-24 over Nazi Germany. He was just an 88 year old kid when Tony Welch first told his story 3 years ago. Click the title below.

MEET THE YOUNGEST KNOWN B-24 PILOT IN THE EIGHTH AIR FORCE

Quotes from Tony Welch

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Editor's picks from the web 09/04/2016
As editor often get outstanding contributions from readers. They represent hard work of others who share my passion to remember!, I can't put on KilroyWasHere.org but they deserve wider distribution.
Shared by Charlie Sanchez

"Rising like giant beasts out of the water, the towers of Shivering Sands Army Fort
stand as a remnant of World War II."
Click the image for http://www.historyfanatic.com

"These 21 Abandoned Military Bases Will Leave You Speechless! These abandoned sites are located throughout the world, sitting as stark reminders of everything from the Great World War to the Cold War and beyond. What happens to an armored tank after it sits in the hot desert sun for a decade? What haunts the halls of military hospitals?"
For more on #16 The Greenbrier, see:
http://www.kilroywashere.org/006-Pages/Bunker.html

Quotes from http://www.historyfanatic.com

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93-year-old WWII vet completes nearly 3-year run across America

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Editor's picks from the web 8/17/2016
As editor often get outstanding contributions from readers. They represent hard work of others who share my passion to remember!, I can't put on KilroyWasHere.org but they deserve wider distribution.
Shared by Jack Pittman

Click the image (http://www.coast2coastruns.com/)
Image courtesy courtesy http://www.coast2coastruns.com/

92-year-old to complete cross-country August 20!
ST. SIMONS, Ga. - A 92-year-old World War II veteran will complete his run across America later this month on St. Simons Island, Georgia.Ernest Andrus, who will turn 93 during the run, has invited other runners to join him for the conclusion of a two-year, 2,600+ mile journey to raise money for the LST 325 Ship Memorial.
Check the donation progress here.

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Editor's picks from the web 8/14/2016
As editor often get outstanding contributions from readers. They represent hard work of others who share my passion to remember!, I can't put on KilroyWasHere.org but they deserve wider distribution.
Shared by Sue Stinson

1942 poster
Click the image (YouTube Video)

NOW this is a story - interesting - Hooray for these Women. ss

NORTH PLATTE CANTEEN , NORTH PLATTE , NEBRASKA ...1941-1945
Great video. I didn't know about North Platte Canteen until I saw this video.
This is awesome. I had never heard this before. It gave me chills....
PLEASE TAKE A MINUTE TO WATCH....YOU'LL NOT REGRET A MINUTE!!

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Editor's picks from the web 08/07/2016
As editor often get outstanding contributions from readers. They represent hard work of others who share my passion to remember!, I can't put on KilroyWasHere.org but they deserve wider distribution.
Written by William Sayers (Reprint from Quora) Quora is a wonderful site where you can ask and/or read wonderful questions answered)

Click the image (https:Quora.com) then search for
Would dropping an atomic weapon over an uninhabited area have caused
Japan to surrender during WWII?
Image Little Boy courtesy http://www.dailymail.co.uk

Would dropping an atomic weapon over an uninhabited area have caused Japan to surrender during WWII?
"It was a very cruel war - more so than most people today realize - and the best way to be humane was to get it over with as soon as humanly possible."

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Editor's picks from the web 7/24/2016
As editor often get outstanding contributions from readers. They represent hard work of others who share my passion to remember!, I can't put on KilroyWasHere.org but they deserve wider distribution.
Shared by BabaMail

GI in battle
Click the image (http://www.ba-bamail.com)

These WW2 Testimonies Shed New Light on the War... Whether you lived through it, or have spent your whole life in its shadow, few of us can forget the impact the second world war has had on our own lives. How exactly people really experienced the events that happened during that dark time, however, are in danger of being forgotten by succeeding generations.

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Editor's picks from the web 7/17/2016
As editor often get outstanding contributions from readers. They represent hard work of others who share my passion to remember!, I can't put on KilroyWasHere.org but they deserve wider distribution.
Shared by Allene Roberts

U.S. Coast Guard cutter Taney courtesy www.historicships.org
Click the image (http://www.wbaltv.com)

"World War II veteran reunited with ship from Pearl Harbor attack
Trip to see U.S. Coast Guard cutter Taney paid for by nonprofit.
Howard Hayes traveled from Nevada to Baltimore for the chance to see the ship he once served on.

At 96, it has been a long time since Hayes has been on his old ship. The US Coast Guard cutter Taney is the last surviving ship from Pearl Harbor."

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Editor's picks from the web 7/10/2016
As editor often get outstanding contributions from readers. They represent hard work of others who share my passion to remember!, I can't put on KilroyWasHere.org but they deserve wider distribution.
Shared by Linda Tillery

Click the image (Townhall.com)
Fat Man replica courtesy History.com

The Horrors of Hiroshima in Context
"The bombs also cut short plans for an invasion of Japan -- an operation that might well have cost 1 million Allied lives, and at least three to four times that number of well-prepared, well-supplied Japanese defenders."

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Editor's picks from the web 6/29/2016
As editor often get outstanding contributions from readers. They represent hard work of others who share my passion to remember!, I can't put on KilroyWasHere.org but they deserve wider distribution. Shared by Tony Welch

Click the image (WorldWar2History.info)

Here's a detailed insight into the war dogs history, written by veterinarian William Putney, the creator of the Marine Corps war dog platoons. Putney published a book ("Always Faithful") at war's end.

The War Dog Platoons Marine Dogs of World War II Converted for the Web from "Always Faithful: A Memoir of the Marine Dogs of WWII" by William W. Putney

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Editor's picks from the web 6/15/2016
As editor often get outstanding contributions from readers. They represent hard work of others who share my passion to remember!, I can't put on KilroyWasHere.org but they deserve wider distribution. Shared by Jim & Bonnie Lewis

Click the image (Wikipedia)

Il Silenzio

About six miles from Maastricht, in the Netherlands, lie buried 8,301 American soldiers who died in "Operation Market Garden" in the battles to liberate Holland in the fall/winter of 1944.

Every one of the men buried in the cemetery, as well as those in the Canadian and British military cemeteries, has been adopted by a Dutch family who mind the grave, decorate it, and keep alive the memory of the soldier they have adopted. It is even the custom to keep a portrait of "their" American soldier in a place of honor in their
home.

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Editor's picks from the web 6/03/2016
As editor often get outstanding contributions from readers. They represent hard work of others who share my passion to remember!, I can't put on KilroyWasHere.org but they deserve wider distribution.
Shared by C. D.Richardson

Melvin Rector, 94, served in England with the 96th Bomb Group
in 1945 as a radio operator and gunner on B-17 Flying Fortress
bombers, including on the Memphis Belle, the first heavy bomber
to compete its 25-mission tour of duty with its crew intact.
Click the image (FoxNews)

'Memphis Belle' gunner revisits England, dies during 'final mission'
Click the Image

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Editor's picks from the web 5/28/2016
As editor often get outstanding contributions from readers. They represent hard work of others who share my passion to remember!, I can't put on KilroyWasHere.org but they deserve wider distribution. Shared by Tony Welch

Click the image from Hillsdale college

To Those who Gave the Last Full Measure of Devotion
On this Memorial Day weekend, our thoughts and prayers are with all of those who are grieving. May we, as Abraham Lincoln said, "highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain-that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom-and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Hillsdale College

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Editor's picks from the web 5/25/2016
As editor often get outstanding contributions from readers. They represent hard work of others who share my passion to remember!, I can't put on KilroyWasHere.org but they deserve wider distribution. Shared by Tony Welch

Click the image New York Times

Hector A. Cafferata, 86, Dies; Given Medal of Honor for Korea Heroics

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2016! It has been 74 years

Editor's picks from the web 5/18/2016
As editor often get outstanding contributions from readers. They represent hard work of others who share my passion to remember!, I can't put on KilroyWasHere.org but they deserve wider distribution.
Shared by B.D. Shore

Click the image
The FINAL TOAST!
Author Unknown came via email
They bombed Tokyo 73 years ago.

They once were among the most universally admired and revered men in the United States .. There were 80 of the Raiders in April 1942, when they carried out one of the most courageous and heart-stirring military operations in this nation's history. The mere mention of their unit's name, in those years, would bring tears to the eyes of grateful Americans.

After Japan 's sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, with the United States reeling And wounded, something dramatic was needed to turn the war effort around. Even though there were no friendly airfields close enough to Japan for the United States to launch a retaliation, a daring plan was devised. Sixteen B-25s were modified so that they could take off from the deck of an aircraft carrier. This had never before been tried -- sending such big, heavy bombers from a carrier.

The 16 five-man crews, under the command of Lt. Col. James Doolittle, who himself flew the lead plane off the USS Hornet, knew that they would not be able to return to the carrier. They would have to hit Japan and then hope to make it to China for a safe landing.

But on the day of the raid, the Japanese military caught wind of the plan. The Raiders were told that they would have to take off from much farther out in the Pacific Ocean than they had counted on. They were told that because of this they would not have enough fuel to make it to safety. And those men went anyway.

They bombed Tokyo and then flew as far as they could. Four planes crash-landed; 11 more crews bailed out, and three of the Raiders died. Eight more were captured; three were executed. Another died of starvation in a Japanese prison camp. One crew made it to Russia .

The Doolittle Raiders sent a message from the United States to its enemies, and to the rest of the world: We will fight. And, no matter what it takes, we will win.

Of the 80 Raiders, 62 survived the war. They were celebrated as national heroes, models of bravery. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer produced a motion picture based on the raid; "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo ," starring Spencer Tracy and Van Johnson, was a patriotic and emotional box-office hit, and the phrase became part of the national lexicon. In the movie-theater previews for the film, MGM proclaimed that it was presenting the story "with supreme pride."

Beginning in 1946, the surviving Raiders have held a reunion each April, to commemorate the mission. The reunion is in a different city each year. In 1959, the city of Tucson , Arizona , as a gesture of respect and gratitude, presented the Doolittle Raiders with a set of 80 silver goblets. Each goblet was engraved with the name of a Raider.

Every year, a wooden display case bearing all 80 goblets is transported to the reunion city. Each time a Raider passes away, his goblet is turned upside down in the case at the next reunion, as his old friends bear solemn witness. Also in the wooden case is a bottle of 1896 Hennessy Very Special cognac. The year is not happenstance: 1896 was when Jimmy Doolittle was born.

There has always been a plan: When there are only two surviving Raiders, they would open the bottle, at last drink from it, and toast their comrades who preceded them in death.

As 2013 began, there were five living Raiders; then, in February, Tom Griffin passed away at age 96.

What a man he was. After bailing out of his plane Over a mountainous Chinese forest after the Tokyo raid, he became ill with malaria, and almost died. When he recovered, he was sent to Europe to fly more combat missions. He was shot down, captured, and spent 22 months in a German prisoner of war camp.

The selflessness of these men, the sheer guts ... There was a passage in the Cincinnati Enquirer obituary for Mr. Griffin that, on the surface, had nothing to do with the war, but that was emblematic of the depth of his sense of duty and devotion: "When his wife became ill and needed to go into a nursing home, he visited her every day. He walked from his house to the nursing home, fed his wife and at the end of the day brought home her clothes. At night, he washed and ironed her clothes. Then he walked them up to her room the next morning. He did that for three years until her death in 2005."

So now, out of the original 80, only four Raiders remain: Dick Cole (Doolittle's co-pilot on the Tokyo raid), Robert Hite, Edward Saylor and David Thatcher. All are in their 90s. They have decided that there are too few of them for the public reunions to continue. The events in Fort Walton Beach marked the end. It has come full circle; Florida 's nearby Eglin Field was where the Raiders trained in secrecy for the Tokyo mission. The town planned to do all it can to honor the men: a six-day celebration of their valor, including luncheons, a dinner and a parade.

Do the men ever wonder if those of us for whom they helped save the country have tended to it in a way that is worthy of their sacrifice? They don't talk about that, at least not around other people. But if you find yourself near Fort Walton Beach this week, and if you should encounter any of the Raiders, you might want to offer them a word of thanks. I can tell you from first hand observation that they appreciate hearing that they are remembered.

The men have decided that after this final public reunion they will wait until a later date -- sometime this year -- to get together once more, informally and in absolute privacy. That is when they will open the bottle of brandy. The years are flowing by too swiftly now; they are not going to wait until there are only two of them.

They will fill the four remaining upturned goblets. And raise them in a toast to those who are gone.


Their 70th Anniversary Photo

MAY GOD BLESS THEM!

Editor's picks from the web 5/04/2016
As editor often get outstanding contributions from readers. They represent hard work of others who share my passion to remember!, I can't put on KilroyWasHere.org but they deserve wider distribution. Shared by Tony Welch


Click the image

Leadership and the Janitor - On Patrol
by James Moschgat, USAF (Ret.)
www.usoonpatrol.org
When William J. Crawford joined the staff of the U.S. Air Force Academy, it was in an unassuming role -- as a janitor. Little did the cadets know, a hero walked among them.

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Editor's picks from the web 4/20/2016
As editor often get outstanding contributions from readers. They represent hard work of others who share my passion to remember!, I can't put on KilroyWasHere.org but they deserve wider distribution. Shared by Sue

B-29s with P-51 escort
courtesy http://minkara.carview.co.jp
B-29/P-51 Actual WWII Footage
This is spectacular live footage of the 3,000 mile round trip air assault upon the Japanese mainland, with 3 bomber wings and a host of P-51's.

No matter what war footage you have ever seen before, this is the real deal and will keep your undivided attention.
The P-51 & B29 footage is remarkable. The strafing runs by the P-51 pilots were incredible.
There are several "breaks" as the film canisters are changed, just wait for the count down.
(View Full Screen/Sound On)
Click the image

For a story from one who was there click HERE

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Editor's picks from the web 4/06/2016
As editor often get outstanding contributions from readers. They represent hard work of others who share my passion to remember!, I can't put on KilroyWasHere.org but they deserve wider distribution. Shared by L. Tillery

C-130 releasing decoy missiles
Angel Flight
An incredibly moving video
"I've been on hot airport tarmacs in summer heat, cold overcast winters w. fellow Patriot Guard Riders standing flag lines waiting for young American Hero to come home. What is really hard, is to look at the soldier's family nearby, waiting for their loved one to come home on the ANGLE FLIGHT. I've also had the honor, sadly, to be pallbearers as there were not enough male family members remaining.
No matter how many escorts of hearse from airport to funeral home, standing flag lines at the funeral home & at grave site, it is so hard, so painful, to hear the honor guard 3 volleys of rifle fire, the bugle playing taps in the quiet of the cemetery. The most pain is when one hears suppressed crying from family, trying hard to keep their composure while they watch the flag folding ceremony & are saying good by, ….. forever to their loved one.
Even though I've had the great honor of attending 141 of these funerals during last 10 years & I've seen this video several times, it is still BEAUTIFUL, …… and painful. God bless our military and their families." Dick PGR

Click the image

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Editor's picks from the web 3/30/2016
As editor often get outstanding contributions from readers. They represent hard work of others who share my passion to remember!, I can't put on KilroyWasHere.org but they deserve wider distribution. Shared by L. Tillery

B-24 Liberator

It was a GM Hydramatic plant. The building was over 1 mile long!

The long hanger at Willow Run, Michigan has a 90 degree turn in it so Henry Ford would not have to pay taxes in the next county. That short end is being saved and restored today as a museum. The big hanger doors are still operational after all these years.
This is one of the best and most informative clips about a great American accomplishment, thanks to the Ford Motor Company during WWII.

A Ford Airplane! AMAZING!
Production began here 6 months BEFORE Pearl Harbor! Henry Ford was determined that he could mass produce bombers just as he had with cars, so he built the Willow Run assembly plant and proved it. This was the world's largest building under one roof at the time. This film will absolutely blow you away -- one B-24 every 55 minutes! -- and Ford had its own pilots to test them. And no recalls!

ADOLF HITLER HAD NO IDEA THE U.S. WAS CAPABLE OF THIS KIND OF THING.
Click the image

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Editor's picks from the web 3/30/2016
As editor often get outstanding contributions from readers. They represent hard work of others who share my passion to remember!, I can't put on KilroyWasHere.org but they deserve wider distribution. Shared by J. Hopkins

The Pearl Harbor P-40 boys
A short video about two American P-40 pilots who were able to get off the ground at
Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Click the image

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Editor's picks from the web 3/17/2016
As editor often get outstanding contributions from readers. They represent hard work of others who share my passion to remember!, I can't put on KilroyWasHere.org but they deserve wider distribution. Shared by Aubrey Ross

JUST A COMMON SOLDIER
An Amazing video Tribute

Editor's picks from the web 3/13/2016
As editor often get outstanding contributions from readers. They represent hard work of others who share my passion to remember!, I can't put on KilroyWasHere.org but they deserve wider distribution. Shared by Bill Lewis!

Click the image
Is a Hawaiian trip in your future? Check this out if you are there.

In February 1942, after America's first heavy bomber offensive raid of World War II, a bullet-riddled U.S. B-17E bomber crash landed in a remote swamp in Papua New Guinea
After a half-century in the soggy marsh, this once-forgotten piece of history returned to its homeland in April 2013, and is sitting on display at Hawaii's Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor
More information at Pacific Wrecks and Smithsonian.