The Days of Flak, Fire, and Lost Friends

B-17s flying through German anti-aircraft flak. (PC: Zemper Collection, http://www.457thbombgroup.org)

Born on February 22, 1920, in Kannapolis, North Carolina, George Washington “Buck” Perry is the personification of “The Greatest Generation.” A dedicated family man, patriot, and veteran of two wars, he enlisted in the US Army Air Corps in 1939, flew 35 missions over Germany as a B-17 turret gunner during WWII, and served as…

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They Stood Proud and Strong

Marines begin the long, cold trek to Hungnam, many would not survive.

“We grunts never knew, one day from the next, where we were or what we were accomplishing. The mountains, valleys, stinking rice paddies, and frozen mountains all seemed the same to us. We were living and dying in our own violent little world.” – Marine serving during the Korean War with 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines The…

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Work, Fight, Sacrifice!

December 7, 1941, a day that would live in infamy and propel America into WWII

On December 7, 1941, a day that would live in infamy, Pauline Peyton Forney, a mother of three, including a son who was serving in the Marines, knew her life was about to change.  With over 2,300 Americans dead, more than a thousand wounded, and the US Navy’s Pacific Fleet crippled, President Roosevelt would soon…

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