For Jonathan “Jay” Tunney’s eighth birthday, he went to see his favorite performer, Roy Rogers, at Madison Square Garden, which in and of itself wasn’t that unusual for a kid in the early 1940s. What was unusual was that during the show, Roy stopped to point out Jay’s dad in the audience, and the crowd started cheering.
Larry Nazimek comes from a long line of veterans. His grandfather served in World War I. His father and uncle both served in World War II. His childhood goal was to fly. Even as a small boy in the sandbox, he had his eyes on the planes flying overhead.
Like so many young men, Jaime was drafted into the army in 1967. The United States was concerned about the spread of communism throughout Southeast Asia.
Donald W. McCollough, born near the small town of Jewett, Illinois, was the middle child of a family of eight. His parents, Harold and Ethel, worked on a farm that grew sugar cane.
Lessons learned in a war zone can last you a lifetime, assuming you make it home alive. Sergeant Dick Hanson learned quickly that taking pictures from the turret of a tank on the front lines of Korea can get you killed.
Glenn Hall, affectionately known as Rufus, was born in Idlewild, Tennessee. Rufus was the middle child of a family of seven. Idlewild was a small farm town of about 300 people.
The Korean War Legacy Foundation website encourages visitors to “imagine being a young soldier thrust into a foreign country thousands of miles away to fight a war.”
Talking with WWII Veteran Raymond Gervais, he said “I always wanted to be doing something”, from his WWII and Korean days, to playing volleyball in his 60’s, or working with his canine search and rescue team. He has certainly kept himself active.
William “Cecil” Johnson celebrated his 18th birthday in 1954 by joining the army with the intention of becoming a ”lifer”.
While political powers battled for supremacy during the Cold War, Airman Jesse Kimp was just trying to keep warm while serving late night guard duty in Alaska Territory.
The Reverend George Kane, or rather Fr. George as he prefers to be called, grew up on Chicago’s Northwest side as the second child in a family of four.
The Navy is a family affair for the Hoders. James Sr. and James Jr. have the distinction of being just the second father/son duo to fly as honored veterans together on an Honor Flight Chicago mission.
Fred Hoffmeyer was a young Marine when 70 years ago he was exposed to an atomic bomb test in the Nevada Testing Grounds. Despite that, he has lived a long and healthy life.
Edward Cook’s pending draft and love of planes led him to enlist in the Air Force as his first choice in 1952. He had also hoped to learn a trade while serving his country and applied for Army machinist school.
“The Korea conflict was still continuing and everyone was getting drafted, pretty much as a sure thing before you turn 20-years-old.” Jack visited the local Air Force recruiter and then discussed his intentions with his parents.
James was born in 1944 in Birmingham, Alabama and graduated high school at the age of seventeen. He was offered a football scholarship in Texas but his family couldn’t afford the out of state tuition.
Before being drafted into the Army, Jack spent time at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, IN on a baseball scholarship as a pitcher. But when the military called, he answered.
Arriving in Seoul, Korea, Joe was assigned to the 2nd Signal Corps of the 2nd Division. His unit was in the mountains, northeast of Seoul, in Chuncheon. Joe was stationed primarily in communications.
Artie Hill, Jr. grew up on the southside of Chicago. His father, Artie, Sr. was a Pullman porter and his mother Rena, was a cook. When Artie graduated grammar school, his mother, Rena, had grown tired of Chicago and went to Los Angeles to fulfill her dream of expanding her culinary skills to become a chef.
Winifred (Winnie) French was born in 1936 in Evergreen Park, IL. Her father was a Chicago Police Officer, so the family resided in Chicago. After graduating from Morgan Park High School in 1954, she enlisted in the Air Force that same year.