Don’t let your heirlooms & keepsakes become just another flea market item!
Charles “Charlie” Palek
3/9/1949 – 4/26/2016
Branch: Army
Rank: E5
Outfit: 9th
Service Dates: 1967 – 1970
3 Purple Hearts, A Silver Star, A Bronze Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, Combat Infantry Badge, 7 Air Medals and the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry. He was a Gunner and Scout Helicopter Cambodia Wrote the Book “Tattletale”
Story uploaded: Friday, August 14, 2009 / Updated: Friday, May 26, 2023
Oliver Coleman Estes
6/11/1919 – 5/24/2012
Branch: Army
Rank: Combat Engineer
Outfit: 106th Infantry Division
Service Dates: 1943 – 1945
County: Greene
Conflicts/Significant Events: World War II, Captured in the Battle of The Bulge, POW in Germany until the end of the War. His story was featured in the book “Hell Frozen Over”
Story uploaded: Thursday, August 20, 2009 / Updated: Monday, May 15, 2023
Nicholas “Nik” Zak
9/14/1930 – 8/31/2021
Branch: Marines
Rank: Sgt.
Unit: 7th
Outfit: 1st
Service Dates: 1948 – 1951
County: St. Louis
Conflicts/Significant Events: Nik joined the Marine Corps in November 1948 and was wounded in Korea, December 3, 1950 sustaining leg and head injuries, losing his eye as well as suffering severe frostbite of his extremities. He received a Purple Heart for his injuries. Nick was honorably discharged from the Marines in September 1951. His name is engraved on The Chosin Few Monument in Forest Park, St. Louis next to the Korean War Veterans Association Memorial.
Story uploaded: Friday, September 25, 2009 / Updated May 7, 2023
Kenneth Wayne Thomason
3/3/1922 – 3/9/2015
Branch: Army Air Corps 12th Air Force
Unit: 350th Fight Group
Outfit: 347th Squadron
Service Dates: 1942 – 1945
Veteran Station: Mediterranean Theater
County: Johnson, Mo.
Conflicts/Significant Events: Was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for flying 141 missions in World War II in North Africa, Casablanca, Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, Southern France.
He recalls one particular mission, Christmas Eve, over the Po Valley in Italy, where he destroyed an enemy fighter airstrip and planes, crippling the enemy’s air power.
On another occasion, he bailed out over the ocean when an engine malfunctioned, qualifying him as a member of the Caterpillar Club, or those who had “hit the silk” in a bailout and survived.
Story uploaded: Thursday, May 24, 2007 / updated: Monday April 24th, 2023
Glen Warren Francis
8/24/1920 – 10/6/2007
Branch: Army Air Corps
Rank: Sergeant
Unit: B-26 “Marauders”
Outfit: 669th Bomb Squadron
Service Dates: 1942-11 – 1945-10
County: Cape Girardeau
Conflicts/Significant Events: World War II, 6 Air Offensive Campaign Bronze Stars
Interviewed at Missouri Veterans Home Cape Girardeau, Mo. Story uploaded: Friday, June 22, 2007 / Updated Thursday, April 20, 2023
Virginia “Booy” Scott
8/9/1922 – 3/14/2012
Branch: Army
Rank: Lieutenant/Captain
Unit: 3rd Division – Followed General Patton through ETO
Outfit: Nurse Corp
Service Dates: 1944-02-08 – 1946-03-05
Veteran Station: Clinton County
County: Clinton
Conflicts/Significant Events: World War II, In The Battle of the Bulge She was surrounded by the Germans when 101 Paratroopers came to rescue them. The First Paratrooper she saw was from her hometown home church.
Interviewed at Missouri Veteran Home In Cameron Missouri. Story Uploaded: Friday, May 18, 2007 / Updated: Tuesday April 11, 2023
Arthur Ward
7/31/1922 – 1/11/2017
Branch: Army Air Corps
Rank: Aviation Cadet
Unit: Tuskegee Airman
Service Dates: 1942 – 1944
County: St. Louis
City: Florrissant, MO
Conflicts/Significant Events: World War II
In 1943, Ward joined the U.S. Army and trained to become a pilot at Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama, which produced the 99th Pursuit Squadron, an all-black fighter squadron in the then-segregated military. He spent five months at Tuskegee.
When Ward did not qualify as a pilot, he declined an offer to train as a bombardier or navigator and joined a regular Army unit, he said in a 1996 interview with The Advocate. He was in the Philippines when the war ended.
Story Uploaded: Sunday, November 11, 2007 / Updated Saturday, April 8, 2023
Bernard Joseph Wahl
3/21/1924 – 1/15/2011
Branch: Army
Rank: PFC
Unit: Paratrooper
Outfit: 82nd Airborne
Service Dates: 1940 – 1946
Veteran Station: Fort Bragg, North Carolina
Conflicts/Significant Events: World War II Paratrooper – Battle of the Bulge, Battle of Casino, Holland, England (Hinkley and Lestershire), Sicily (Palermo)
Interviewed at Missouri Veterans Home In Mexico, Missouri. Story uploaded: Wednesday, June 6, 2007 / Updated: Saturday April 1, 2023
John Robert Wren Jr.
1/7/1921 – 1/25/2022
Branch: Army Air Corps
Rank: Lieutenant
Unit: 766th Squadron
Outfit: 15th Air Force 461st Heavy Bombardment Group
Service Dates: 1942 – 1944
County: St. Louis
City: St. Louis, MO
Conflicts/Significant Events: World War II, POW, Shot Down Over Italy on 13th Mission
Story uploaded: Sunday, November 11, 2007 / updated: Tuesday, March 14, 2023
Urban E. Wussler
07/10/1921 – 09/01/2016
Branch: Navy
Rank: Lt.
Service Dates: 1943 – 1946
Veteran Station: Pelelliu, Okinawa
County: Boone
Conflicts/Significant Events: World War II, Courier For Top Secret Communication
Story uploaded: Saturday, June 30, 2007/Modified: Wednesday March 1, 2023
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