Archives
| Sats Tanakatsubo Staff Sergeant – US Army 1941- – 1945 Pacific Theater The Oakland native was already a soldier before the audacious attack at Pearl Harbor became the tipping point for America’s entry into the global conflict. Though apprehension lingered about the Niseis’ commitment to their country Sats “Fred” Tanakatsubo overcame adversity. World War II took him from the edges of the north Pacific all the way to Australia. The former military intelligence and language specialist reflects on just how close Japan came to the heart of the US when they invaded Alaska’s Aleutian Islands.ff |
| James Henry Helm Corporal – US Marine Corps 1942 – 1945 Pacific Theater Reflecting back nearly seven decades ago former Marine James Henry Helm relived his tour of duty in the Pacific. While stationed in the Russell Islands the energetic corporal almost never lived to tell about his near miss from a Japanese aerial attack. As other disasters were averted Helm said “I reckon the good Lord was looking out for me.” |
| Corporal – US Army 1917 – 1918 Europe Civilian Internee 1942 – 1945 Asia Laboring to join the fray Frank Buckles entered World War I as a 16 year old. Listen as he talks about meeting General Pershing and having a conversation with Germans in 1928 that signaled a prophetic message of the conflict to succeed “The Great War”. In his forties Buckles would be caught in the clutches of World War II as a civilian captive for 3 – 1/2 years in the Philippines! At 108 he amazingly recalls the details of his life as the last known living American World War I veteran. The doughboy would go on to live to the ripe old age of 110. |
| Technical Sergeant – US Army 1941 – 1945 China – Burma – India Theater The Washington native was drafted into the Army days before Japan attacked at Pearl Harbor. As Executive Order 9066 forced his family and friends into internment Grant Hirabayashi prepared for a mission in the jungles of Asia. A member of the famed Merrill’s Marauders he was later inducted into the US Army Ranger Hall of Fame. |
| Sergeant – US Army 1943 – 1946 European Theater What Len Shirrell described as the “baptism of fire” began for he and his fellow infantrymen Christmas Eve, 1944, in Belgium. Listen to the Purple Heart and Cluster Recipient as he describes a devastating attack by Nazi Forces after commandeering an American tank, which was used as a decoy. |
| Staff Sergeant – US Army Air Corps 1943 – 1945 European Theater of Operations The history making athlete that integrated basketball in the 1920’s volunteered for service in 1943 at age 33. Still sharp at over 100 years young, hear him retrace his military service in a critical unit that helped the 9th Army cross the Rhein River in Germany. |
| 1st Lieutenant – US Army 1941 – 1945 Africa Diminutive in stature, but large in character; she left small town Georgia with lofty goals. Gertrude Bertram exceeded those goals; completing nursing school, serving as a commissioned officer for the Army Nurse Corps in Liberia and at Fort Bragg, and eventually wrote a book. Now in her mid – nineties, the veteran remembers how she and her sisters made their way through tough times to ultimate success. |
| Corporal – US Army 1943 – 1946 European Theater The south Texas native left America to serve his country in Europe. He found himself leaping into darkness as part of the airborne invasion of Normandy. Guadelupe Flores served with the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment and a comrade whose story would be brought to the movie screen by Tom Hanks. |
