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Engelbert Perez66 views
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Ester Hole Welsh46 viewsServed in the US Navy in WW-II, he ranked Yeoman 3/c. Her service dates were 1944 to 1946. She was a Life-long Whittier-ite; attended Whittier High School, 1941 and Whittier Museum volunteer.
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Mark E. Schieve39 views
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Myron M. (Mike) Loyett36 viewsSUBMITTED BY RETIRED AIR FORCE LT. COL M. M.. "MIKE" LOYET. BORN IN 1918 IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS AND GREW UP ON A CATTLE FARM..INDUCTED INTO THE ARMY AT SCOTT FIELD ILLINOIS ON FEB. 28,1942;, TRANSFERRED TO CAMP GRANT, ROCKFORD ILLINOIS AND BECAME A BATTALION CLERK; THEN APPLIED FOR AIR CREW TRAINING AS AIR CORPS CADET AND WAS ACCEPTED; AND ARRIVED IN CALIFORNIA IN DECEMBER 1942 AND WAS ASSIGNED TO PREFLIGHT TRAINING AT
SANTA ANA CA AIR BASE, RECEIVED PILOT TRAINING AT HEMIT AND BAKERSFIELD CALIFORNIA- THEN T
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Edwin G. "Ted" Dean, Jr.33 viewsWhittier Merchant, 1964-1992
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Allen P. Wolter33 viewsEnlistes into DEP, Basic NTC San Diego, CA 1/1980 - 2-1980.
MM-A school NTC Great Lakes,Il 3-1980 - 4-1980. USS Valcan AR-5 5/1980 - 9/1980, NNPS. NTC Orlando (class 81-01), Prototype AN-1, Idaho. USS skipjack (SSN-585) 4/82 (Mare Island Naval Shipyard) - 1/1986. Greton/New London, CT. Participated in Unitas, Grenada, United. Awarded Good cadet (1st), Deployment Ribbon, Navy rypid. Qualified submarines, shellback, bue nose. Visited brazil, Porto rico, Barbados, St Croix, Scotland, Mediteranean, La Madlma
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June H. Rahn32 views
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Bernard Darrow Ross32 viewsBernard (Barney) Darrow Ross
United Sates Navy lieutenant and United States Merchant Marine cook first class World War II 1941-1945
Barney often stayed with his sister’s (Marcia Ross Dahlstrom) family during leaves. His niece, Ann Dahlstrom Farmer, remembers him telling about the time he was a cook in the Merchant Marines when the men began complaining about being served ground beef patties night after night and begged for “something different.” Barney’s solution was to serve them Heart-shaped patties the next evening.
Barney’s own favorite story concerns one of the time he was on an oil tanker carrying fuel to ships and planes in the Pacific where they were in constant danger from submarines. After experiencing a particularly frightening noise, all were sent to their battle stations to prepare for a submarine to surface or to be blown to kingdom come. Hours of terror ensued without incident. Then a huge whale appeared and bumped the tanker (so much for the submarine theory). Once everything returned to normal, the men searched for the whale and found it on the upper deck lying in a life-boat!
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Joe G. Salas31 views
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Wilson "Bill" Scavo31 viewsWilson Scavo, known familiarly to friends and family as Bill, volunteered for the U.S. Army Air Force in August 1941. For the next four years, as aerial photographer, had a bird’s eye view of the action in the Central Pacific Area. In his 67 flight missions, Bill took thousands of photographs of potential bomb locations and enemy troop movements.
Bill explains that it took almost two years of training before our military was ready to take on the enemy. He recalls that his first mission was almost his last. He was assigned to fly in the plane on the right of a three-plane formation. They flew in the formation because of a lack of bombsights. Their mission that day was to fly from Tauraa Island to Milli Island. Milli Island had been captured by the Japanese and was completely fortified.
At the last minute, the commanding officer approached Bill on the Tarmac and ordered him to go up with the crew leading the other three planes. That order saved his life. The plane on the right that he had been scheduled to be on was shot down and the entire crew was killed. This was not the only time that happened to Bill Scavo and he was beginning to think he led a charmed life.
Most of the crews Bill flew with in the next two years got extra pay for each mission. Bill volunteered for his missions so he was not awarded the extra money. He went up on flights with a six-man crew and his trusty hand-held cameras, a K25 and K20. There was a K-18 camera mounted on the fuselage of the B-25 planes, but because of the movement vibrations of the lanes, Bill opted to get the clearer photographs by using the hand-held cameras.
The best think about being in service was meeting some wonderful people, but the worst part was losing good friends in plane crashes. “During my time in service, or unit lost many crews and planes. It was sad to lose good friends,” he revealed. He described his survival as a trick of fate, like playing checkers. “The other downside of being a part of World War II was that it took years from the prime time of our lives,” he stated. “I felt extremely fortunate to come back.”
On his last mission, flying over the Tauraa Island, just about the equator in the Central Pacific area, Bill’s life took another direction.
That island was the scene of the first major battle in the Central Pacific Area. More than 4,000 U.S. Marines were lost on the island over the course of the war. Japan lost 6,000 troops there. The plane Bill was assigned to was damaged so badly that the crew was given the choice of bailing out or going down with the plane. Bill chose to stay with the plane. It was a short airfield on the island; the pilot made an error in judgment, so the B-25 crashed.
With many injuries, including a broken back, Bill was sent to a hospital where he had back surgery. He ended up at the Fitzimmons General Hospital in Denver for one year. And this is where Bill’s life took another turn, this time for the better.
The wounded photographer took an interest in a Women’s Army Corps technician at the hospital named Lola. She apparently returned the interest during the four years he lived in Denver receiving treatment for his injury. A romance ensued and the happy turn of events resulted in a long-term marriage, more than 58 years so far. Bill and Lola are the proud parents of four daughters.
Bill left the military service in 1945. During his four years in the service he received four Branze Stars, but should have received the Purple Heart for the serious and long-lasting injury he sustained on his last mission.
Since Bill Scavo had worked for the Union Pacific Railroad before he went in service, his injured back made it impossible for him to return to the job. It was necessary for him to be treated as an outpatient for his war injury for the next ten years, and to this date in 2004, he still pays the price for his war injury with chronic back trouble.
In civilian life, Bill scraped up enough money to attend restaurant management school in Los Angeles, and later bought the first of many restaurants throughout his career. He describes himself as a restaurateur.
Bill currently serves as a Docent at the Whittier Museum, among his many other community activities. The Whittier Historical Society honored Bill last year for his dedication in fund-raising and his idea for creating the Veterans Honor Wall at the Whittier Museum. He formed a committee to organize the project and made personal and professional contacts to raise the money for it. As a result of his devotion to this project, the Historical Society named the Military Room after him. It is now the Bill Scavo Military Corridor, a fitting tribute to Bill and all the other survivors of World War II.
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