WWII Navy veteran Windsong Blake turned 100 years old on June 1. Windsong joined the Navy at age sixteen during the height of the war. Assigned as a steward’s mate aboard the USS Muscoma, an oiler in Admiral Halsey’s Fifth Fleet, Windsong witnessed firsthand the devastating Kaiten suicide torpedo attack on the USS Mississinewa
written by Marilyn Walton WWII Eighth Air Force historian and US POW expert, Marilyn Walton, has written a guide to viewing rare archival footage of Stalag VII-A at Moosburg in Germany at the end of World War II. Marilyn served as an advisor on the Apple TV + series Masters of the Air and
Written by Bernie Friedenberg Bernie Friedenberg was an Army combat medic who landed on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944, D-Day. In 2002, he returned to Omaha Beach for the first time and recorded his account of the visit below. Bernie passed away in 2018, and his daughter Susan spearheaded an effort to preserve
Written by Todd DePastino This is a story about an 18-year-old Marine killed on Okinawa in World War II and the efforts of two VBC members—Bob McGowan and Beth Reuschel—to keep his memory alive. The story begins with a picture and a memory. The picture is a well-known image from the Battle of Okinawa
Written by Colonel Chip Cobb, USA (ret) The story below came to us from VBC Member Colonel Chip Cobb, USA (ret), whose uncle, SSgt Dana White Cobb, was killed in Italy in World War II. Dana was serving as a B-24 waist gunner with the 98th Bomb Group when his bomber was shot down on
A young Joe Koepfinger in his WWII uniform. Joe was assigned to the 104th “Timberwolf” Infantry Division, 415th Regiment, K Company. We are sad to report the loss of one of our long attending members of the Veterans Breakfast Club. Joe Koepfinger passed away just shy of his 100th birthday. Joe was
