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Attack on Pearl Harbor: December 7, 1941

December 2, 2021 by Jenny Ashcraft | 2 Comments

Eighty years ago this month, a surprise attack by Japanese forces occurred at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The attack killed more than 2,000, injured 1,178, and led to America’s entry into WWII. During the attack, six U.S. battleships were sunk, and more than a dozen others were damaged. The Japanese also destroyed 300 airplanes. The attack lasted less than two hours, and the following day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan.

*The USS Shaw explodes after a Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941*

The volunteers at Stories Behind the Stars are working on an ambitious project to tell the story of each Pearl Harbor casualty. As we mark the 80^th anniversary of that fateful day, here are a few stories they’ve gathered:

Radioman 3^rd Class Theodore Q. Jensen was born in a small Utah farming town. His father was an immigrant from Denmark and instilled a love of country and patriotism in his children. After graduating from high school, Theo and seven other young men from his tiny community enlisted together. Theo served in the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Oklahoma. On the morning of December 7^th, he was granted a day pass and was gathering his gear aboard the ship when it was hit by several torpedoes and capsized. Theo was among those killed. There were mass casualties that day, and many of the fallen were buried without proper identification, including Theo. Back home, Theo’s family and the entire community mourned his death. They named the local American Legion post in his honor. In 2015, Congress authorized an initiative to exhume unidentified remains, and properly identify them through DNA analysis. On December 17, 2020, Theo’s remains were identified, and last June, he was reinterred in Delta, Utah.

Jack G. Smalley grew up in Toledo, Ohio, in a family that had a love for the sea. All four Smalley brothers served in the U.S. Navy. One died of an illness in 1932 during active service, but the tragedy did not keep Jack from enlisting. Shortly after his 18^th birthday, Jack enlisted in the Navy in Detroit, Michigan. For a time, both Jack and his brother Bud served on the USS Arizona. Their reunion lasted nearly a year until Bud was reassigned to a ship in the Atlantic. Jack stayed on the Arizona and was near the portside anti-aircraft gun when the Japanese attacked. Eight armor-piercing bombs penetrated the ship. One fell on the deck near turret No. 2, causing a large explosion that sent Jack into the rolling waters of Pearl Harbor. News of his death did not reach his parents for five days. Jack’s body was recovered, and he was laid to rest at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. Jack’s mother, Gladys Smalley, channeled her grief by immersing herself in wartime efforts. She sold war bonds, stitched chevrons on sailors’ uniforms, served sandwiches at the USO, and knit blankets for servicemen. She was also the director of a mother’s club that provided money for poor sailors to buy basic provisions. Her husband, Vern Smalley, said, “I guess that doing all the work she can for servicemen and organizations, and for the bond drives, is her way of showing how she feels about Jack.”

Jack Foth served as Electrician’s Mate 1^st Class. He was born in 1919 in Kansas City, Missouri, and enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1938. On the morning of December 7^th, he was serving aboard the USS West Virginia. The West Virginia was tied alongside the USS Tennesseand absorbed much of the damage from the attack. The ship was struck by torpedoes a total of nine times. As water flooded in and the ship began to list, Lt. Commander John Harper ordered counter flooding to keep the vessel from capsizing. Fires broke out across the ship, and eventually, her crew sought safety aboard the Tennesse, where they continued to fight the flames. The fire burned for 30 hours before the hull finally crinkled, and the ship sank to the bottom, taking 66 sailors trapped below deck with her. Later, officials decided to salvage the West Virginia and return her to service. During salvage operations, crews began to work through the compartments, removing the remains of the 66 sailors. In one compartment, they found marks on the wall indicating that some sailors survived for as many as 16 days. They had access to food and water but died when their oxygen supply ran out. Jack’s cause of death was drowning. After the war, his remains were buried on Oahu. In 1947, his remains were reinterred in Kansas City, Missouri.

To read more stories about those who died at Pearl Harbor, see Fold3 Memorials created by volunteers from Stories Behind the Stars here. If you would like to join their ranks of volunteers as they try to document all of America’s WWII fallen, visit Stories Behind the Stars here. Search additional WWII records on Fold3® today!

New UK Royal Navy Records Added!

November 26, 2021 by Jenny Ashcraft | 17 Comments

We have added a new UK collection of Royal Navy Officer Patrol Service Cards to our archives. These cards are dated 1904-1970 and can provide insights for those who served in the Royal Navy Patrol Service (RNPS). These records were created from microfilm held at The National Archives, with the original paper records located at the Imperial War Museum.

The RNPS was a branch of the Royal Navy whose origins date back to the Great War when the British Admiralty first realized the threat of mine warfare. The RNPS operated during both the First and Second World Wars.

The RNPS had roots in the fishing industry. Officers in the RNPS were often recruits from the Royal Naval Reserve who started as fishermen during peacetime. They were accustomed to operating the winches and warps used by trawlers as they dragged their fishing nets across the bottom of the sea. During times of war, with fishing fleets inactive, the trawlermen were utilized for minesweeping and anti-submarine operations.

The RNPS operated a flotilla of small auxiliary vessels, primarily along the British coast. They protected coastal waters, merchant ships, and accompanied naval convoys in all theatres of war, including the Arctic and the Mediterranean.

The records in this collection consist of two cards per record. They are organized alphabetically by name and include additional information such as:

Birthdate
Birthplace
Name of parents
Physical description
Service dates
Names of the vessels
Additional details and remarks.

*Royal Navy Officer Patrol Service Card for Peter Cormack*

Explore this new collection of Royal Navy Officer Patrol Service Cards here and search additional UK military records on Fold3®.

100th Anniversary of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier: November 11, 2021

November 3, 2021 by Jenny Ashcraft | 97 Comments

On November 11, 1921, President Warren G. Harding presided over the dedication of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. The monument honored fallen U.S. servicemen from WWI whose remains were unidentified. The ceremony took place the same day the country was celebrating the newly declared Armistice Day holiday.

During WWI, the chaos of battle resulted in scores of unidentified dead servicemen. The creation of the memorial, also known as the Tomb of the Unknowns, was proposed in 1920 by New York Congressman and WWI veteran Hamilton Fish. Both Great Britain and France had dedicated similar monuments in 1920, and in March 1921, Congress approved the plan to build America’s tribute to unidentified fallen soldiers.

*Construction begins on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, 1921*

Officials wanted to choose one unknown serviceman and reinter him in a tomb at Arlington. To select that soldier, the bodies of four unidentified U.S. servicemen were exhumed from different American military cemeteries in France in October 1921. They were placed in identical caskets and brought to the city hall in Châlons-sur-Marne, France, where American war hero Sgt. Edward F. Younger selected one casket. With the backdrop of a dignified ceremony, officials placed the casket on board the USS Olympia to begin the journey home, arriving at the Washington Navy Yard on November 9, 1921.

After arrival, the Unknown lay in state in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol, where on November 10, some 90,000 visitors waited in line to pay their respects. On the morning of November 11, a large funeral procession proceeded from the Capitol to Arlington. President Harding, former President Woodrow Wilson, and General John J. Pershing were among the dignitaries that participated in the procession.

*Remains of the Unknown Soldier are lowered into the ground in 1921*

After reaching Arlington, Americans across the country observed two minutes of silence. President Harding gave a speech and bestowed the Medal of Honor and Distinguished Service Cross on the Unknown Soldier; other nations also bestowed their highest awards. The funeral ended with the playing of Taps and a 21-gun salute.

At the time of burial, the tomb had yet to be completed and consisted of a simple marble slab. In 1932, the marble structure that now stands was installed. The tomb bears the inscription, “Here Rests in Honored Glory an American Soldier Known but to God.”

The tradition of guarding the tomb began in 1926, and in 1937, soldiers transitioned to a 24/7 presence at the memorial. The changing of the guard is a moving ceremony and takes place every 30 or 60 minutes, depending on the season.

In 1958, unknown soldiers representing the fallen of WWII and the Korean War were laid to rest at the monument. In 1984, a soldier from the Vietnam War was also interred in the tomb. However, through DNA testing, the body was positively identified in 1998 and returned to his family. The crypt designated for the Vietnam War Unknown remains vacant, and in 1999, it was rededicated to honor all missing U.S. service members from the Vietnam War.

As we mark the 100^th anniversary of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, we honor all who have served and sacrificed for their country. Search our archives for records on the military heroes in your life on Fold3® today.

Women Who Lost Their Lives During WWII

October 25, 2021 by Jenny Ashcraft | 52 Comments

During WWII, more than 500 U.S. military women lost their lives while serving their country. Our friends at Stories Behind the Stars are compiling their stories, and we’d like to share just a few.

Aleda E. Lutz was the first American woman to die in combat during WWII. Lutz enlisted in the Army Air Forces Nurse Corp on February 10, 1942. She served in the 802^nd Medical Air Evacuation Squadron and was part of a highly classified unit that used unmarked C-47 cargo planes to fly to the battlefront with supplies and return with the wounded. On November 1, 1944, 28-year-old Lutz was flying on a Medevac C-47 with nine wounded American soldiers and six wounded German POWs from Lyon, France, to a hospital in Italy. The pilot lost control in a violent storm, and the plane crashed near Saint-Chamond, France. There were no survivors. At the time of her death, Lutz had the most evacuation sorties (196), the most combat hours flown by a flight nurse (814), and the most patients transported by any flight nurse (3,500). Lutz was the recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross, the first given to an Army Nurse in WWII. She was also honored with the Air Medal with 4 Oak Leaf Clusters and a Purple Heart, in addition to other commendations. The Aleda E. Lutz Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center was named after her by Congressional decree.

Cornelia C. Fort was a young civilian flight instructor from Tennessee. On the morning of December 7, 1941, she took off from John Rodgers Airport in Honolulu with a student. Fort noticed a military plane approaching from the sea. Suddenly, she realized that the plane was headed straight towards her on a collision course. Fort wrenched the controls from her student and managed to pull up just in time to avoid a collision. Just then, she noticed the red sun symbol on the plane and saw smoke rising over Pearl Harbor. Fort had just witnessed American’s entry into WWII. The following year, Fort joined the newly established Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Service (WAFs). She was thrilled to join the war effort and flew planes from factories to military airbases. Her work freed up male pilots for combat missions. On March 21, 1943, Fort was ferrying an airplane to Love Field in Dallas when another male pilot’s landing gear clipped her plane, sending it plummeting to earth. Fort died on impact. She was one of 38 female pilots who died flying military airplanes during the war.

Blanche F. Sigman was working as a public health nurse in Brooklyn when she enlisted in United States Army Nurses Corps in 1942. She was assigned to the 95^th Evacuation Hospital as a Chief Nurse. On September 13, 1943, Sigman was serving aboard the hospital ship for the Eighth Army, the HMHS Newfoundland, in the Gulf of Salerno, Italy, when German planes bombed the ship. She survived the attack and went on to serve in Italy during the Anzio campaign. Along with some 200 nurses, and while being bombarded, Sigman cared for 33,000 patients at Anzio. On February 7, 1944, a Luftwaffe pilot fleeing from a British fighter dropped a load of bombs on the hospital where Sigman was caring for the wounded. Sigman died in the attack. Fellow soldiers temporarily interred her body on the Anzio beachhead next to her patients. In 1948 she was reinterred in her hometown of Byesville, Ohio. A US Army Hospital Ship was named the Blanche Faye Sigman in her honor.

To see more stories of heroic women who lost their lives while serving during WWII, click here. These stories have been compiled by volunteers dedicated to telling the story of every fallen WWII soldier. If you would like to get involved, visit the Stories Behind the Stars website here. To learn more about WWII, search our complete collection of WWII records on Fold3® today!

Reflections of a Civil War POW

October 4, 2021 by Jenny Ashcraft | Comments Off on Reflections of a Civil War POW

More than 3 million soldiers fought in the Civil War, and each had a story to tell. Some of those stories have been preserved through personal journals. We recently came across the journal of Union Soldier William Hosack. William spent nine grueling months as a POW, first at Libby Prison and later at Andersonville and Florence Prison. His journal is housed in Special Collections at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Our special thanks to IUP for sharing William’s story with us.

William Hosack was born on February 10, 1843, in Indiana County, Pennsylvania. His father Samuel died when he was just 6, so the seven Hosack siblings were farmed out to various family members and neighbors. William lived with his grandfather until age 17, then moved to the nearby town of New Alexandria to learn the blacksmith trade before enlisting in the Union Army.

In 1861, William enlisted in the Pennsylvania 11^th Reserve Infantry. He was just 18 and small in stature. Military officials refused to swear him in without the written consent of his mother, which he obtained. His first skirmish happened along the Potomac River near Washington, D.C. He was serving on picket duty and recalled that Union soldiers were on one side of the river and Confederate soldiers were on the other side.

“We were on friendly terms, and we met in the river and done trading until that Regiment was relieved by a South Carolina Regiment. The next morning as some of our men went to wash as usual, a comrade of Co. G was shot in the leg which was a signal for hostilities when a lively skirmish opened.”

During 1862, William’s Regiment fought in fierce battles, including the 2^nd Battle of Bull Run, South Mountain, and Antietam. After Antietam, William said they returned to camp near Sharpsburg, “blanketless, shoeless, no money and with tattered uniforms.” He described a brutal winter with conditions that tried the endurance of the men. The following summer William’s regiment marched towards Gettysburg, arriving July 2, 1863. They fought on Little Round Top, and William poured volleys of buckshot upon the enemy, then charged them with his bayonet. He recollected that one of the last shots of Gettysburg was fired at him.

“Next morning at break of day – being the 4^th of July – I got up cold, saw a blanket over the stone fence, I put it around me as was walking my beat when a rebel picket shot at me which was one of the last shots of the battle, as all the rebels army had retreated in the night and the picket line was last to leave and gave me a parting shot. I heard the ball pass my head.”

During the Battle of the Wilderness, in May 1864, William was shot in the heel of his shoe. Despite all the hardships he had endured thus far in the war, it did not compare to what was shortly to come. On May 30^th, during the Battle of Bethesda Church, William was captured and taken prisoner. For the next nine months, he endured hunger, sickness, and every kind of deprivation before being liberated in March 1865. William was first taken to Libby Prison where his blanket and tent were confiscated. The guards demanded that prisoners turn over any money and searched each prisoner.

“I had seven dollars in green backs which I slipped in a hole in the sleeve of my comrade’s blouse. He was searched before me, and they failed to find the money. Then I was searched. I had $2.00 in their money, but they would not take that.”

William staked out a small space on the floor at Libby Prison and used his shoes as a pillow at night. He spent 11 days there before being transferred to Andersonville. The sights, sounds, and smells at Andersonville were shocking. Some prisoners had small tents, others had blankets that hung over a pole, but thousands had nothing and lay exposed on the bare ground.

“The suffering there was horrible from hunger and disease, starvation and death. The filth I will not attempt to describe. It is a miracle that we didn’t all die.”

A small, filthy stream ran through the center of the camp. As it was the only source of water, prisoners were forced to drink from it. Some started to dig wells, in hopes of reaching clean water. Other prisoners realized that escape might be possible by digging tunnels instead of wells. A few did escape, so guards forced them to fill in the wells. Prisoners survived on meager food rations which usually consisted of mush or boiled rice and cornbread, equaling about a pint of food a day. The deprivation brought out the worst in some.

“Some of our prisoners were very bad men, they went by the name of “Raiders”, would steal and murder for money. The prisoners formed a police force and arrested a bunch of raiders and organized a court as many prisoners were lawyers – and tried these men and convicted six of murder and were sentenced to be hung. I saw them drop, all at the same time. One man’s rope broke and he fell to the ground, but another rope was gotten and hung him again. It was a sad sight.”

Andersonville was extremely overcrowded. Prisoner deaths would average 100 per day. Scurvy caused much suffering and prisoners were covered with infected sores. William recalls that many just sat in the hot sun until relieved by death.

“Each morning a wagon was brought in to gather up the dead, the bodies were thrown on like that much wood until the load was full then taken to the cemetery and continued until all were gathered up.”

In October 1864, some prisoners including William were transferred to Florence Prison in South Carolina. William could hear bombs exploding in Charleston and recalled that prisoners cheered after each explosion. Winter was approaching and temperatures were dropping. William spent a cold winter sleeping on bare ground that was sometimes frozen. In December 1864, word spread that a big prisoner exchange was coming. William was sure he would be exchanged – but he wasn’t chosen.

“The gate was closed which was great disappointment to me, yet I determined to live it through if possible. Done all I could and prayed to God to help me. And he did help me.”

That help came in the form of sweet potatoes. William and a fellow prisoner traded a gold pen for 1 ½ bushels of sweet potatoes. They boiled the potatoes and ate a few, relishing each bite. He then sold the rest and earned a dollar. About this time, he was detailed to go outside the prison walls to build a smallpox hospital. On the outside, he took the dollar and purchased additional foodstuffs, allowing the prisoners to make a stew using cuts of meat nobody wanted, like cow stomach.

“I washed it the best I could, then cut it up in squares and boiled it until evening, then we tried to eat it. We could not masticate it, but we chewed it a while then swallowed it and the stomach done the rest. We never drew meat, except in Andersonville, for a time we drew spoiled bacon. Possibly they thought it good enough for the yanks.”

The food saved the lives of prisoners, who were on the verge of starvation. They were willing to eat anything. William recalled seeing prisoners pull the head of a dog out of a filthy swamp and roast it over the fire to pick off small pieces of meat.

William was determined to survive. He often thought of his widowed mother, and it gave him the incentive to keep going. He looked forward to reuniting with his family. Finally, in 1865, William was freed in a prisoner exchange. He was carried to a ship and transported to Annapolis, Maryland, where he was hospitalized. When sufficiently recuperated, William started for home and the reunion he had dreamed about.

“I arrived home at Blairsville and rapped on my mother’s back door and my sister was about to open the door, I opened it for myself. For a few moments mother nor sister knew me. Finally sister said it is “Will”. I need to say nothing more, you can imagine the rest.”

William Hosack went on to become a husband and father. He studied medicine and became a respected doctor. To learn more about the Civil War and the soldiers who fought in it, visit our Civil War collection on Fold3®.

WWII’s Tokyo Rose

October 2, 2021 by Jenny Ashcraft | Comments Off on WWII’s Tokyo Rose

On October 6, 1949, 33-year-old Iva Toguri d’Aquino was convicted of treason, sentenced to 10 years in prison, and fined $10,000. Prosecutors claimed Aquino betrayed her country when she broadcast Japanese propaganda over Radio Tokyo to armed forces in the Pacific during WWII. Aquino always maintained her innocence, saying she was a scapegoat and not a traitor. She was released from prison early for good behavior and eventually pardoned by President Gerald Ford in the 1970s.

Born Ikuko Toguri in Los Angeles in 1916. She was the daughter of first-generation Japanese immigrants and attended public schools in California. After graduation, Aquino attended UCLA, where she earned a degree in Zoology. In July 1941, six months before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Aquino sailed to Japan to visit a sick aunt. Before she could return home, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, and the U.S. was at war. Aquino found herself stuck in Japan. Eventually, she got a typist job at Radio Tokyo and later started working as a broadcaster.

Radio Tokyo broadcast a show called Zero Hour. It was an English-language program meant to chip away at the morale of Allied soldiers. Ironically, soldiers looked forward to the farcical Japanese propaganda and catchy music. It was a way to break up the monotony of their duties. Americans especially loved hearing from Aquino, who broadcast under the pseudonym “Orphan Ann.” Her absurd broadcasts always left them chuckling. Soldiers nicknamed her “Tokyo Rose.”

While working at Radio Tokyo, Aquino became acquainted with an Australian POW who helped produce the show. He was a successful radio announcer before the war, and together with Aquino, wrote scripts that berated Allied soldiers in such an exaggerated way as to be comical. In April 1945, Aquino married Felipe Aquino in Japan. When the war ended, Aquino wanted to return home, but she was in dire financial straits.

In the meantime, U.S. military officials began tracking down those that might be guilty of war crimes. Two reporters tried to find “Tokyo Rose,” and following some leads, located Aquino. They offered her money for exclusive rights to her story. Aquino accepted (although she never got paid), and her story came to the attention of the military officials and a grand jury who indicted her. They returned her to the U.S., where she was arrested and charged with treason. Aquino maintained that her broadcasts were meant to undermine the Japanese government. She was found guilty and sent to prison.

After six years, Aquino was released for good behavior. She moved to Chicago and worked in her family-owned store. Twenty years later, two witnesses who testified at her original trial came forward to say they had been pressured to testify against her. Public opinion and anti-Japanese sentiment had changed, and in 1977, President Gerald Ford pardoned Aquino. She died in 2006 in Chicago.

If you would like to learn more about Tokyo Rose or WWII, search Fold3® today.

Dramatic Escape from Albania

September 20, 2021 by Jenny Ashcraft | 79 Comments

In November 1943, a C-53 transport plane loaded with 13 medics, 13 flight nurses, and four aircrew members left Sicily headed for Bari, Italy. Their mission was to transport wounded soldiers to hospitals farther away from the front lines. A storm, combined with a run-in with German fighter planes, forced them off course. The airplane crash-landed in Nazi-occupied Albania, and the survivors spent nine harrowing weeks trekking 800 miles across Albania. They encountered severe challenges and narrowly escaped death. The majority reached freedom on January 9, 1944. Three nurses who became separated from the group did not get rescued until March 21, 1944.

*Aircrew of plane forced down in Albania*

On the rainy morning of November 13, 1943, the crew, medics, and flight nurses from the 807^th Medical Air Evacuation Transport Squadron boarded a C-53D for the two-hour flight from Sicily to Bari. Bad weather had grounded the flight for the three previous days, and the number of injured needing transport to areas with better medical care was increasing. When the plane left Sicily, the skies had cleared, and visibility was good.

As they neared Bari, the skies turned dark. Pilot Charles B. Thrasher saw ominous clouds ahead. They flew into a violent storm and lost all communications with the ground station at Bari. Thrasher decided to ascend above the clouds, but when they reached an altitude of about 8,000 feet, the wings began to ice up. He quickly descended. Disoriented, he flew for three and a half hours before spotting a coastline through broken clouds. Assuming they had reached the western coast of Italy, Thrasher and co-pilot Lt. James Baggs began looking for a place to land. Spotting what appeared to be an abandoned airfield, he began an approach. Suddenly, tracer bullets began screaming past the aircraft window. Dodging German fighters, Thrasher ducked into a cloud and flew for another hour through overcast skies.

With the plane’s fuel was running low, they began looking for a place to land. They eventually saw a flat spot and crash-landed the C-53. Fortunately, nobody was seriously injured. As the group disembarked the aircraft, members of an Albanian resistance met them and informed them that they’d crossed the Adriatic Sea and were in Nazi-occupied Albania. The partisans led them to a nearby town, but they had to flee when a German detachment approached. While walking down a road, three Messerschmitt 109’s dive-bombed and strafed the group as they ran for cover. British officers were operating in the country, and the partisans let them know that Americans were in the area. One British officer was assigned to serve as a guide for the group. Later they were met by an American officer who had been sent into Albania to lead them out.

*Group of ten of the nurses who escaped Albania recover after their ordeal*

Early on, three nurses became separated during a chaotic German attack. A wealthy Albanian family in the town of Berat sheltered the nurses in the basement and later helped them escape disguised as civilians. It would take that trio nearly five months to reach Allied lines. They crossed the mountains on donkeys, and when they finally reached the coast, an Allied torpedo boat skirted them to safety.

For the next two months, the remaining group walked up to seven hours a day. Sometimes the snow was knee-deep. Their journey took them across Albania’s second-highest mountain peak during a raging blizzard. As they journeyed, kind Albanians shared their meager food and lodging with them. Several times military officials attempted to extract the group, but German forces intervened and made rescue impossible. As weeks passed, the nurses’ shoes wore thin. The group suffered frostbite, hunger, dysentery, jaundice, and pneumonia. The nurses demonstrated determination and grit and gained the admiration of all.

*Nurses who escaped Albania show their worn shoes*

On January 9, 1944, the group finally made it to the coast and rendezvoused with rescuers who rowed them out to a British launch, and they were transported to Bari, Italy. The trio of separated nurses arrived at Otranto, Italy, on March 21, 1944. All of those rescued were forbidden to talk about their experiences. Officials feared it would endanger the lives of those who helped them. The 800-mile hike proved the Army nurses’ ability to withstand hardships during the war.

To learn more about this and other World War II stories of heroism, search Fold3® today.