Veteran Tributes

True story 😊

A few days late, but…true story:

Go Army, SINK Navy!

While Air Force sits over here laughing because neither of you have a winning record against us! 😂

Happy 76th Birthday to the world’s greatest Air Force! The U.S. Air Force divorced the Army on September 18, 1947!

Todd Beamers words on Flight 93😔🇺🇲

Todd: Hello… Operator…listen to me…I can’t speak very loud. – This is an emergency. I’m a passenger on a United flight to San Francisco.. We have a situation here….Our plane has been hijacked…..can you understand me?

Lisa: (exhaling a deep breath to herself) I understand… Can the hijackers see you talking on the phone?

Todd: No

Lisa: Can you tell me how many hijackers are on the plane?

Todd: There are three that we know of.

Lisa: Can you see any weapons? What kind of weapons do they have?

Todd: Yes…. they don’t have guns….they have knives – they took over the plane with knives.

Lisa: Do you mean…like steak knives?

Todd: No, these are razor knives…like box cutters.

Lisa: Can you tell what country these people are from?

Todd: No…..I don’t know. They sound like they’re from the mid-east.

Lisa: Have they said what they want?

Todd: Someone announced from the cockpit that there was a bomb on board. He said he was the captain and to stay in our seats and stay quiet.
He said that they were meeting these men’s demands and returning to the airport… It was very broken English, and… I’m telling you…it sounded fake!

Lisa: Ok sir, please give me your name.

Todd: My name is Todd Beamer.

Lisa: Ok Todd….my name is Lisa…Do you know your flight number? If you can’t remember, it’s on your ticket.

Todd: It’s United Flight 93.

Lisa: Now Todd, can you try to tell me exactly what happened?

Todd: Two of the hijackers were sitting in first class near the cockpit. A third one was sitting near the back of the coach section. The two up. front got into the cockpit somehow; there was shouting. The third hijacker said he had a bomb. It looks like a bomb. He’s got it tied to his waist with a red belt of some kind.

Lisa: So is the door to the cockpit open?

Todd: No, the hijackers shut it behind them.

Lisa: Has anyone been injured?

Todd: Yes, ..they…they killed one passenger sitting in first class. There’s been lots of shouting. We don’t know if the pilots are dead or alive. A flight attendant told me that the pilot and copilot had been forced from the cockpit and may have been wounded.

Lisa: Where is the 3rd hijacker now Todd?

Todd: He’s near the back of the plane. They forced most of the passengers into first class. There are fourteen of us here in the back. Five are flight attendants. He hasn’t noticed that I slipped into this pantry to get the phone. The guy with the bomb ordered us to sit on the floor in the rear of the plane……….oh Jesus.. Help!

Lisa: Todd….are you ok? Tell me what’s happening!

Todd: Hello…..We’re going down….I think we’re going to crash……Wait – wait a minute. No, we’re leveling off….we’re ok. I think we may be turning around…..That’s it – we changed directions. Do you hear me….we’re flying east again.

Lisa: Ok Todd…. What’s going on with the other passengers?

Todd: Everyone is… really scared. A few passengers with cell phones have made calls to relatives. A guy, Jeremy, was talking to his wife just before the hijacking started. She told him that hijackers had crashed two planes into the World Trade Center……Lisa is that true??

Lisa: Todd…..I have to tell you the truth…..it’s very bad. The World Trade Center is gone. Both of the towers have been destroyed.

Todd: Oh God —help us!

Lisa: A third plane was taken over by terrorists. It crashed into the Pentagon in Washington DC. Our country is under attack….and I’m afraid that your plane may be part of their plan.

Todd: Oh dear God. Dear God…….Lisa, will you do something for me?

Lisa: I’ll try….if I can….Yes.

Todd: I want you to call my wife and my kids for me and tell them what’s happened. Promise me you’ll call..

Lisa: I promise – I’ll call.

Todd: Our home number is 201 353-1073…….You have the same name as my wife…Lisa….We’ve been married for 10 years. She’s pregnant with our 3rd child. Tell her that I love her…….(choking up)..I’ll always love her..(clearing throat) We have two boys.. David, he’s 3 and Andrew, he’s 1…..Tell them……(choking) tell them that their daddy loves them and that he is so proud of them. (clearing throat again) Our baby is due January 12th…..I saw an ultra sound…..it was great….we still don’t know if it’s a girl or a boy………Lisa?

Lisa: (barely able to speak) I’ll tell them, I promise Todd.

Todd: I’m going back to the group—if I can get back I will…

Lisa: Todd, leave this line open…are you still there?……

Lisa: (dials the phone..) Hello, FBI, my name is Lisa Jefferson, I’m a telephone supervisor for GTE. I need to report a terrorist hijacking of a United Airlines Flight 93….Yes I’ll hold.

Goodwin: Hello, this is Agent Goodwin.. I understand you have a hijacking situation?

Lisa: Yes sir, I’ve been talking with a passenger, a Todd Beamer, on Flight 93 who managed to get to an air phone unnoticed.

Goodwin: Where did this flight originate, and what was its destination?

Lisa: The flight left Newark New Jersey at 8 A.M. departing for San Francisco. The hijackers took over the plane shortly after takeoff, and several minutes later the plane changed course – it is now flying east.

Goodwin: Ms. Jefferson…I need to talk to someone aboard that plane. Can you get me thru to the planes phone?

Lisa: I still have that line open sir, I can patch you through on a conference call…hold a mo…..

Todd: Hello Lisa, Lisa are you there?

Lisa: Yes, I’m here. Todd, I made a call to the FBI, Agent Goodwin is on the line and will be talking to you as well.

Todd: The others all know that this isn’t your normal hijacking. Jeremy called his wife again on his cell phone. She told him more about the World Trade Center and all.

Goodwin: Hello Todd. This is Agent Goodwin with the FBI. We have been monitoring your flight. Your plane is on a course for Washington, DC. These terrorists sent two planes into the World Trade Center and one plane into the Pentagon. Our best guess is that they plan to fly your plane into either the White House or the United States Capital Building.

Todd: I understand…hold on……I’ll…….I’ll be back..

Lisa: Mr. Goodwin, how much time do they have before they get to Washington?

Goodwin: Not long ma’am. They changed course over Cleveland; they’re approaching Pittsburgh now. Washington may be twenty minutes away.

Todd: (breathing a little heavier) The plane seems to be changing directions just a little. It’s getting pretty rough up here. The plane is flying real erratic….We’re not going to make it out of here. Listen to me….I want you to hear this….I have talked with the others….we have decided we would not be pawns in these hijackers suicidal plot.

Lisa: Todd, what are you going to do?

Todd: We’ve hatched a plan. Four of us are going to rush the hijacker with the bomb. After we take him out, we’ll break into the cockpit. A stewardess is getting some boiling water to throw on the hijackers at the controls. We’ll get them….and we’ll take them out. Lisa, …..will you do one last thing for me?

Lisa: Yes…What is it?

Todd: Would you pray with me?

They pray: Our father which art in Heaven

Hallowed be thy name,

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

And forgive us our trespasses

As we forgive our trespassers,

And lead us not into temptation

But deliver us from evil

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory

Forever…..Amen

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…

He makes me to lie down in green pastures

He leads me beside the still waters

He restores my soul

He leads me in paths of righteousness

for His name’s sake

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death

I will fear no evil, for thou art with me…..

Todd: (softer) God help me…Jesus help me….(clears throat and louder)

Are you guys ready?……..

Let’s Roll……

On this night twenty-two years ago, 246 people went to sleep in preparation for their morning flights. 2,606 people went to sleep in preparation for work in the morning. 343 firefighters went to sleep in preparation for their morning shift. Sixty police officers went to sleep in preparation for morning patrol. Eight paramedics went to sleep in preparation for the morning shift of saving lives. None of them saw past 10:00 AM on Sept 11, 2001. In one single moment life may never be the same. As you live and enjoy the breaths you take today and tonight before you go to sleep in preparation for your life tomorrow, kiss the ones you love. Snuggle a little tighter and never take one second of your life for granted.

9/11/01. Never forget. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

Today marks the 81st Anniversary of the sinking of the submarine USS Grunion during World War II, which resulted in the loss of all 79 sailers aboard her that day - 30 July 1942:

http://www.veterantributes.org/USS_Grunion.php

Independence Day.... the deadliest day for the American President!

Around lunchtime on July 4th, 1826, Thomas Jefferson died in his bed at Monticello. America’s third president was 83 years old, had battled declining health for nearly 10 years, and didn’t go alone; five hours later, former president John Adams died of heart failure in his home in Quincy, Massachusetts. Among Adams’ last words: “Thomas Jefferson survives.” For better or worse, news never reached Adams that this was no longer the case.

The astounding coincidence that America’s second and third presidents both died on the exact 50-year anniversary of the Declaration of Independence they both labored so hard to pass was not lost on their peers. Congressman Daniel Webster called their long lives and timely deaths “gifts of Providence,” proof that God really did shed his grace on the USA. Then, in 1831, Independence Day claimed a third Founding Father. James Monroe—our fifth president and a hero of the Revolutionary War—passed at the age of 73, on the 55th anniversary of American Independence.

Independence Day is, without contest, the single deadliest day for American presidents. If you’re wondering why, you’re not alone. After Monroe’s passing in 1831, papers called the Presidential Deathday a “coincidence that has no parallel,” so extraordinary that any precedent was “scarcely to be found in history.” But now, with the benefit of nearly 200 years of hindsight, we may be able to guess at an answer. And it has to do with the fact that you’re more likely to die on your birthday than any other day.

Adams, Jefferson, and Monroe all died on the nation’s birthday—a nation they, er, helped birth—after long fights with chronic illnesses. Jefferson himself is said to have awoken in his deathbed in the middle of the night on July third and asked those around him, “This is the Fourth?” When his grandson said it soon would be, Jefferson denied a dose of laudanum from his physician. “No, doctor, nothing more.”

Did Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and James Monroe will themselves to resist death until one more Independence Day? A century later, did presidents Harry S. Truman and Gerald Ford will themselves to stay alive until December 26th—the second most popular POTUS death day—to experience one last holiday with their loved ones? We’ll never know for sure. But we do know this: three good American presidents have died on our nation’s Independence Day (so far). This July Fourth, pour a little Sam Adams onto the grass for them, suck in a deep breath, and enjoy the life they laid out for us.

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

“It’s not you...it’s us. I think we need our space. We should explore other opportunities as this just isn’t working out.”

Happy 248th Birthday to the Senior Service, the United States Army!

Happy Flag Day! On this day in 1777, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Flag of the United States.

May she forever wave over the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Remembering 1st Lieutenant Henry L. Hulbert, United States Marine Corps, this Memorial Day Weekend. Henry Hulbert was born in Kingston-upon-Hull, England, and later emigrated to the United States with his family. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War in 1899, and later served in combat in the Second Samoan Civil War and World War I. Lt Hulbert was Killed in Action in France during World War I on October 4, 1918. In addition to the Medal of Honor, he was awarded the Navy Cross, the Army Distinguished Service Cross, 2 Silver Stars, and 4 Purple Hearts.

http://www.veterantributes.org/TributeDetail.php?recordID=867

Remembering Petty Officer Second Class Kris Romeo Bishundat, United States Navy, this Memorial Day Weekend. He was born in Georgetown, Guyana, and later emigrated to the United States with his parents. Petty Officer Bishundat was Killed in Action at the Pentagon when islamic terrorists crashed American Airlines Flight 77 into the building on September 11, 2001.

http://www.veterantributes.org/TributeDetail.php?recordID=2142

Remembering Private First Class Lewis Albanese, U.S. Army, this Memorial Day Weekend. PFC Albanese was born in Cornedo Vicentino, Italy, and later emigrated to the United States. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism the day he was Killed in Action in South Vietnam on December 1, 1966:

http://www.veterantributes.org/TributeDetail.php?recordID=2299

Remembering Major Gervais Raoul V. Lufbery, Aviation Section, U.S. Army Signal Corps, this Memorial Day Weekend. Born in France, Lufbery emigrated to the United States with his parents in 1891, and served in the U.S. Army from 1907 to 1909. He became America's first Fighter Ace while serving with the French Air Service during World War I. Maj Lufbery transferred to the Aviation Section of the U.S. Army Signal Corps on January 10, 1918, and was Killed in Action on May 19, 1918. Although officially credited with 16 air victories while serving with the French Air Service, it is believed he actually destroyed over 25, as well as 2 more while flying with the Aviation Section of the U.S. Army Signal Corps.

http://www.veterantributes.org/TributeDetail.php?recordID=903

Rest in Peace Chief Master Sergeant Joel E. Talley, United States Air Force Pararescueman, who died on April 6, 2022. Chief Talley was awarded the Air Force Cross for his heroism during a rescue mission in Vietnam, and he retired from the Air Force in 1997:

http://www.veterantributes.org/TributeDetail.php?recordID=1611

Rest in Peace General Charles G. "Chuck" Boyd, United States Air Force. Gen Boyd Flew West yesterday, 23 March 2022.

Then Captain Boyd was forced to eject from his stricken F-105 Thunderchief over North Vietnam and was taken as a Prisoner of War on April 22, 1966. After spending 2,488 days in captivity, he was released during Operation Homecoming on February 12, 1973. He remained in the Air Force, and retired as a General in 1995; the only former Vietnam Prisoner of War to make O-10 in any branch of the military.

For his heroism in combat and as a Prisoner of War, Gen Boyd was awarded the Air Force Cross, 2 Silver Stars, the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross for Valor, 3 Bronze Star Medals for Valor, 3 Purple Hearts, and 2 Air Medals. As a General Officer, he was also awarded the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, and 2 Air Force Distinguished Service Medals.

Blue Skies, My Friend:

http://www.veterantributes.org/TributeDetail.php?recordID=12

America lost another hero on March 15, 2022 - Captain Robert B. Doremus, United States Navy, served as an F-4B Phantom II Radar Intercept Officer (RIO), and was forced to eject over North Vietnam and was taken as a Prisoner of War on August 24, 1965. After spending 2,730 days in captivity, he was released during Operation Homecoming on February 12, 1973, and he continued serving in the Navy until his retirement in 1986. For his heroism in combat and as a Prisoner of War, CAPT Doremus was awarded 2 Silver Stars, the Legion of Merit for Valor, 2 Bronze Star Medals for Valor, 2 Purple Hearts, 5 Air Medals, and the Navy Commendation Medal for Valor.

I attended many military reunions and other functions with CAPT Doremus over the years...he was a great friend.

Blue Skies, My Friend:

http://www.veterantributes.org/TributeDetail.php?recordID=998

We lost yet another former Vietnam Prisoner of War this morning. Rest in Peace Lieutenant Colonel William A. Gauntt, United States Air Force, who was held as a POW in North Vietnam for the last 7 months of the war. Blue Skies, My Friend...

http://www.veterantributes.org/TributeDetail.php?recordID=1726

Rest in Peace Colonel Walter M. Stischer, United States Air Force. Col Stischer was a Prisoner of War in Laos and North Vietnam for almost 5 years. He Flew West on February 20. Blue Skies, My Friend:

http://www.veterantributes.org/TributeDetail.php?recordID=1194

Rest in Peace Col Bernard L. "Bunny" Talley, Jr., United States Air Force. Col Talley was a Prisoner of War in North Vietnam for 6 and a half years. He Flew West this morning, 21 February 2022. Blue Skies, My Friend...

http://www.veterantributes.org/TributeDetail.php?recordID=401

My newest tribute page is in honor of Chief Petty Officer Frank W. Bomar, United States Navy SEAL. Chief Bomar was Killed in Action in South Vietnam on December 20, 1970:

http://www.veterantributes.org/TributeDetail.php?recordID=2419

If anyone has a better photo of Chief Bomar in uniform, please send it to me at [email protected]

Rest in Peace Captain William R. "Bill" Stark, United States Navy. CAPT Stark died on February 14, 2022. He was a Prisoner of War in North Vietnam for nearly 6 years. Blue Skies my friend.

http://www.veterantributes.org/TributeDetail.php?recordID=145

Rest in Peace Col Gail S. Halvorsen, United States Air Force, the Berlin Airlift "Candy Bomber". Col Halvorsen Flew West yesterday at 101 years old. Blue Skies my friend!

http://www.veterantributes.org/TributeDetail.php?recordID=687