Latest news with #BattleoftheBulge
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
World War II veterans honored with prestigious French military decoration
LA MESA, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI) — Two American World War II veterans, Bob Wilson and Peter Sanzo, were honored with the French Legion of Honour on Thursday at the American Legion in La Mesa. The prestigious award, presented by the Consul General of France in Los Angeles, recognizes their outstanding service during the war. Wilson, 105, and Sanzo, 103, stood proudly as they received the medals, a testament to their bravery and dedication. 'I wish my wife was here,' said Wilson, reflecting on the accomplishment and his 72-year marriage to his late wife. Memorial Day: Hundreds pay tribute at Miramar National Cemetery 'This is amazing. There's no words,' expressed Sanzo, overwhelmed by the honor. Sanzo served as a tank operator in the U.S. Army, participating in significant campaigns such as Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge. 'He saw really horrific battles,' his daughter, Judi Sanzo, said. 'He nearly died at Battle of the Bulge. He was hospitalized for almost 12 months. His family thought he had died because they found his dog tags and they sent them home.' Wilson, a U.S. Navy veteran, served during the D-Day landing at Omaha Beach and continued his military career through the Korean and Vietnam Wars. This service inspired his granddaughter to follow in his footsteps. As the ceremony concluded, Sanzo issued a salute to the applause of the audience, while Wilson expressed his gratitude with a simple, 'Thank you very much.' The ceremony was a poignant reminder of the sacrifices made by these veterans, who remain humble and proud of their contributions to history. All facts from this article were gathered by FOX 5/KUSI journalists. This article was converted into this format with assistance from artificial intelligence. It has been edited and approved by FOX 5/KUSI staff. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
American Military News
4 days ago
- American Military News
Video/Pics: World War II memorabilia stolen from homeowner in Oakland
A collection of World War II memorabilia was stolen over Memorial Day weekend from a homeowner in Oakland, California. The military memorabilia was from multiple generations of the homeowner's family's military service. Forrest Spellman told Fox 2 that he had a 'ton of WWII memorabilia' that belonged to his grandfather, as well as medals and awards that belonged to his father. He also explained that four generations of his family served in the U.S. military. 'That military history has always meant so much to how much my upbringing was and who I am today and those articles meant a lot-as a symbol of that, who I am, my identity,' Spellman told Fox 2. Fox 2 reported that surveillance video shows a 'white, older-model pickup truck' pulling up to Spellman's driveway at roughly 4:45 a.m. on Saturday. Spellman told Fox 2 that he believes two thieves broke into his house by using a side door. Spellman explained that he and his wife were sleeping in their bedroom as the unidentified thieves were stealing their possessions from the home's second bedroom. READ MORE: Pics: Surprising WWII shipwreck finds revealed 'My wife and I woke up and heard footsteps right outside our bedroom door, and I was terrified,' Spellman told Fox 2. The Oakland homeowner noted that he left his bed, opened the door of the bedroom, and saw the silhouettes of the suspected thieves as they were leaving the front door of the house. A surveillance video and pictures shared on social media shows the white pickup truck, which features a black replacement fender on the front passenger's side of the vehicle, driving away from the scene early Saturday morning. Spellman described the incident as 'very upsetting' and explained that the break-in takes away from his 'sense of peace and security' in Oakland. The Oakland homeowner added that he hopes to 'reclaim' his sense of peace and security in the aftermath of the break-in. Spellman told Fox 2 that the World War II memorabilia stolen in Saturday's incident include his great-grandfather Philip Buck's dog tags, which were worn during the Battle of the Bulge. 'I think about them not only today, but all days of the year,' Spellman told Fox 2. 'I really hope to get those back, just memorialize that thought physically.' Spellman told Fox 2 that he had just moved into his home in Oakland last week. While Spellman acknowledged that a significant number of people had been working at the house throughout the week, he told Fox 2 that he did not have any idea who might be responsible for stealing his World War II memorabilia and other items.
Chicago Tribune
24-05-2025
- General
- Chicago Tribune
Letters: Father's diary provides a window in World War II
My dad was 30 years old and in the Army Air Corps when his troop transport sailed from New York Harbor in August 1942 to join a convoy headed for the Mediterranean Theater — first to North Africa, then later to Italy. He was the main breadwinner of the family, which included his mother, his pregnant wife (my mom) and his six younger siblings. I'm sure many men had similar family experiences to deal with. After arriving in Italy, Dad was put in charge of a group, mostly mechanics, at a hangar in an airfield and kept track of the parts and supplies needed to repair the planes that landed there. The airfield was generally a few miles behind the front, so as the front moved, the men had to disassemble, then reassemble the hangar. Needless to say it was a grim place with all of the crash landings on and off the field. Dad was struck by how young the pilots were, in their early 20s, but full of vim, vigor and guts. The things they saw, no one should see. In the fall of 1944, Dad contracted hepatitis and was hospitalized for several months in Rome when he got the terrible news that his only brother, 19-year-old Phil, was shot in the Battle of the Bulge near Nancy, France, and lived for 10 days before dying. My grandmother got the news on Christmas Eve. I can't imagine how she, our family, and I'm sure other families who lost loved ones, dealt with that. Dad came back stateside on a hospital ship, which he referred as the ship of horrors, with hundreds of wounded men. The medical staff was very overworked, and he tried his best to help some of the men eat, write a letter or just talk with them. Unfortunately, by the time the ship landed in New York Harbor in the winter of 1945, Dad had had a relapse. He was sent to a hospital in Spokane. He recuperated for 10 more months before he was finally reunited with his family in Chicago. We are so grateful he kept a daily diary from the time he left the States till the day he returned. Besides celebrating Memorial Day soon, this September, my Uncle Phil would have turned 100, and some of our family will visit his gravesite to honor him and all the other young men, and would-be dads, who gave their lives for our you for the touching account of the Azizi family's journey to West Ridge (''I think it's here,'' May 18). Zareen Syed's detailed yet understated narrative, accompanied by John J. Kim's superb photos, bring to mind the classic Life Magazine era of journalism. I am reminded of my grandmother's journey to Chicago just over a century ago after a harrowing encounter with antisemitic soldiers in Pinsk, Belarus, not yet 18 and with no English under her belt. By the time the rest of her family could leave, quotas under the Johnson-Reed Act of 1924 forced them to look elsewhere, so they ended up in Argentina, and my grandmother saw her mother and siblings only one more time. That the entire Azizi family was able to come to Chicago to support one another is wonderful. The sinister flip side, of course, is that many such families, just as lovely and deserving, may not be able to make it to safety in Chicago or anywhere else due to the irrational and mean-spirited cancellation of refugee programs and the Special Immigrant Visa program in particular. Again, going back to the last century, one can't help contemplating the fate of those stranded in Eastern Europe due to U.S. resistance to relaxing immigration quotas in the face of impending doom. Families like the Azizis are extraordinarily brave, resourceful and decent, and there is room for many, many more of them in this vast usually astute and insightful architecture critic, Edward Keegan, badly misfired in my view in his May 18 article 'Pope Leo XIV's childhood home an example of the ordinary architecture Chicago does well.' I attribute this to a severe case of Pope Leo XIV mania. Many have understandably succumbed to it. But, please, it's time to sober up. I think it's absurd to compare this very, very modest Dolton house to a building such as H.H. Richardson's Marshall Field Wholesale Store. Even worse is to link it to the work of Mies van der Rohe. To describe Mies' work as 'ordinary' is grotesque. Here are some of the best words to describe his work: simple, clean, clear, pure and, above all, elegant. Mies' work is the opposite of 'ordinary.'On Monday evening, I had the pleasure of attending a high school commencement in the northern suburbs. I left two hours later very impressed with not only the dignity of the evening, but also the maturity of the student commencement speakers. They articulated wonderful thoughts and concerns for the future and also a retrospective of the past. They were talking to the entire gymnasium and not just to their peers. They sincerely offered credit for their success to their parents and educators. If these two kids are indicative of even a small percentage of all high school graduates, then there is hope that our country will be successful.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Local hero being honored with his own play
(WBRE/WYOU)— The last days of a local military hero are being relived on stage. One of our region's most well-known and respected veterans is soon to be honored near his hometown. 28/22 News reporter Gianna Galli is here give you an look inside of the play. Police department honors their fallen officers She has a look at a patriotic play returning to our area and the tribute it pays to a very decorated solider. Lackawanna County native and Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Gino Merli is being remembered for his heroic efforts in war on a September night decades ago. A local chapter of the largest Italian American service organization is hosting a play paying tribute to the veteran from Peckville. 'The last thoughts of Gino Merli,' are still being remembered. The World War Two veteran was 18-years-old when he enlisted in the United States Army. Serving for two years, he took part in the invasion of Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge, but it was his heroism on a September night in 1944 in Belgium that will soon be relived in Scranton. Merli played dead when his position was overrun by German soldiers. When they moved, the machine-gunner at the time repositioned and killed more than a dozen enemy soldiers. This Memorial Day holiday a one-man play hosted by the Scranton Chapter of UNICO National is honoring the Pennsylvania patriot. 'It honors Gino Merli and through him all of our veterans both living and dead in north eastern pennsylvania. Gino Merli is their local hero,' voiced Charlie SpanoMember, Scranton Chapter of UNICO National. In 2002, Merli passed away at age 78 in his Peckville home. Interested in honoring the local hero on Thursday, May 22, the play will be seen inside Lackawanna College's Peoples Security Bank Auditorium. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Daily Mirror
07-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mirror
VE Day saw millions celebrate while this British Paratrooper unearthed Nazi Germany's darkest horrors
Peter Belcher was already a veteran of the D-Day landings and the Battle of the Bulge, but the worst was yet to come As millions celebrated VE Day across a war-torn Europe, British paratrooper Peter Belcher was coming to terms with the harrowing sights at a Nazi concentration camp. Even as a seasoned veteran of key battles like D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge, he was unprepared for what awaited him. A six-time decorated hero, honoured with France's esteemed Legion d'Honneur for his role in the nation's liberation - by May 1945, Belcher found himself in northern Germany, where his unit joined forces with the Russians. But when the Germans surrendered two days later, there was no jubilant celebration for Corporal Belcher or his comrades. Close by, a rail track vanished into the trees, leading to one of numerous concentration camps established by the Nazis. Now a centenarian, Mr. Belcher, who served with the 2nd Battalion Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry within the 6th Airborne Division, recounted: "We actually... with the padre, went to a nearby concentration camp and there were two survivors still in there." He remembers the disbelief of those left: "They just didn't believe, because the gates were open and nobody about, that they could just walk out." What the Brits found inside horrified them: "There was a pile of bodies. There was a pit already dug and the bodies were literally skin and bone, piled high." In the following days, they enlisted local villagers to help bury the dead. Reflecting on VE Day from his home in Devizes, Wiltshire, Mr Belcher summed it up simply as "relief", saying that everyone collectively breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that at last, the conflict had ended. But his stay in England was short-lived – within just 10 days, he returned and soon set off once more to take part in the warfare still raging in the Far East. Mr Belcher is one of the roughly 60 veterans residing at Broughton House Veterans Care Village in Salford, Greater Manchester. This revered institution has been a sanctuary for over 8,000 ex-service members since its inception in 1916. Another veteran calling it home is Jean Mack, aged 92. Having enlisted in the Royal Navy at 21, she hailed from Putney, London. Her teenage years were spent in Worthing, East Sussex, where she witnessed the end of the war. Mrs Mack recalls: "I presumed it was over simply because all the adults, they all seemed to be going mad about something and dancing everywhere." She reminisces about an unforgettable sight: "There was a big, I think it was an air-raid shelter at the end of our road and there was a piper, how he got up on there I don't know... complete in his kilt marching round and round the top of there." Meanwhile, Reg Mitchell, now 91 and originally from Twickenham, London, has vivid memories of the city reeling under the Blitz, with Germany's victory and consequent invasion appearing imminent. Mr Mitchell, who dedicated 25 years to the RAF and retired as a Flight Lieutenant, reflected: "We lived in the house which had a cellar." He shared: "And as kids we spent the first years on the steps of the cellar at night. It was endless, you know, although they were getting it in the East End, we were getting the noise. "Almost every night. We virtually lived in the cellar." However, VE Day brought different memories for him, particularly of his family finding a clever way to earn some extra cash. His brother-in-law had participated in the war and had seized a Nazi flag from the town hall in Aachen, Germany. Mr Mitchell recalled: "My father and my brother-in-law went round the streets with this flag, inviting people to pay sixpence to spit on it. "I can distinctly remember that." The Allies' Victory in Europe signalled the end of combat but also unveiled the full extent of the Nazi Holocaust as advancing Allied forces discovered the death camps. Mr Mitchell shared: "Around that time specifically I can remember Belsen, because that was opened up just before VE Day because there were pictures in the paper. "And it left a mark on me. I had a very good friend at school, his father was a local rabbi, and they obviously would've known what was happening but we didn't." Mike Clarke, 90, another resident at Broughton House, remembers the VE Day bonfire held in his home village of Barwick-in-Elmet, near Leeds, West Yorkshire. Mr Clarke, who later served in the RAF for 22 years, said: "It wasn't like any other day. "I think there was a feeling of relief, no doubt about it because you were thinking, the killing, the dying is stopping." Mr Clarke, who lost two uncles in the war, also said that the anniversary should be commemorated not only for the victory in Europe but also for revealing the horrors of the Holocaust. He shared: "For those who gave their lives particularly and having seen, four or five weeks prior to the end of the war, you went to the cinema and you got the news on the cinema, and we seen pictures of Belsen and that was quite horrific. "During four years or five years of the war we, as peasants, didn't sort of realise what was going on with the Jews, homosexuals and everybody else that Hitler tried to get rid of – got rid of. "So, it was quite enlightening seeing that on the cinema. So, the end of that type of thing was a blessing."
