2019 News Archive
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Saturday Oct. 12th, 2019, the Honor Flight of Central and Southwest Virginia made a stop at the Iwo Jima Memorial in Arlington, Va. While there WWII Veteran Teddy Mariolis gave us a bit of insight into his time as a Marine in the Pacific theater. “What’s happening here today… like I said with the memorial just now, it brings back vivid memories that I experienced and live with. I can almost see faces.” Teddy’s Honor Flight guardian Kathy Jaberg asks, “You were a young man, were you scared, excited or was it all those feelings?” Teddy replied No, no feelings like that for...
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The sound from the scratchy audiotape is chilling... “Here we go again; another plane’s come over!” yells radio correspondent George Hicks as antiaircraft fire roars in the background. “Right over our port side. Tracers are making an arc right over our bow now. … Looks like we’re going to have a night tonight... Give it to them, boys!” he hollers. It’s D-Day, 1944, and Hicks is on a ship off the coast of Normandy as it comes under attack by Nazi aircraft. He’s speaking into a primitive tape recorder that will soon...
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Do you have any photos, letters or documents from World War I or World War II? The Augusta County Library in Fishersville will host scanning days on Friday and Saturday for a special project, “Profiles of Honor.” The Augusta County Library invites community members to bring photos, letters and documents from World War I and World War II to be scanned for an archival project entitled “Profiles of Honor.” The “Profiles of Honor” program is a partnership between the Library of Virginia and the Virginia WWI and WWII Commemoration Commission. All materials that are scanned will...
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The first Luftwaffe bombers flew over Wielun, a small town in western Poland of no particular importance. The hospital was the first building to be hit. The German pilots circled around and then strafed the patients trying to flee the burning ruin. It was about 4:40 a.m. on Sept. 1, 1939, and World War II had begun. Six time zones away, it was still Aug. 31 in Roanoke. The night shift at The Roanoke Times would soon find themselves remaking the front page. They certainly knew that war was possible- Hitler himself had been threatening it for months, even years. The newspaper the staff was...
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BEDFORD, Va. – U.S. and French flags adorned lamp posts along this rural community's quaint Main Street as thousands gathered to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day on a warm, sunny day in the shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Bedford, home to the National D-Day Memorial, was also home to the "Bedford Boys," 30 National Guard soldiers who joined tens of thousands in storming the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944. An astounding 19 of the local men perished, giving this town...
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After 18 years of continuous war, Americans have become more aware of the significance of Memorial Day. No longer just a way to mark the arrival of summer, Memorial Day has become our annual opportunity to share in a collective sigh of mourning, of pride and of thanks for those who have died in service to the country. Together, we honor the fallen while wondering aloud how many more will be added to their number in our ongoing conflicts. Memorial Day is...
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LYNCHBURG, Va. (WDBJ7)-- On May 27, 2019, the Military Order of the World Wars, Virginia Piedmont Chapter and Veterans of Foreign Wars, Desmond T. Doss Memorial Post 12179 all want you to feel like it is 1918. That is because of Private Harry Brooks, and the honor they want to bestow upon his efforts in the first World War. During a Memorial Day Observance Ceremony beginning at 11 a.m., local actor Greg Ritchie will bring onlookers the final minutes before the...
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The National D-Day Memorial is gearing up for the 75th anniversary of D-Day, an amphibious invasion considered the largest and most successful in history — and often cited as a turning point in World War II. A week of memorial events will begin on Tuesday, June 4, and end on Sunday, June 9. Several events lined up throughout the week include a reception showcasing artwork drawn by soldiers during the war, aerial tributes flown by vintage planes, live footage from the joint ceremony in Normandy, concerts and a parade. All events will take place in...
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NORFOLK,Va. – The MacArthur Memorial announces that it has added to its holdings a collection of artifacts and archival material belonging to famed Japanese General Tomoyuki Yamashita; a key figure in the Pacific War. The collection was donated in early March by Ms. Suzanne Helderman of Williamsburg with the assistance of John Quarstein. Tomoyuki Yamashita was one of the most famous Japanese generals of World War II. He was known as the Tiger of Malaya for his victory over the British army at...
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ROANOKE, Va. — Monica Bennett received a medal that belonged to a man she never knew, and she got goosebumps. She listened intently as Jim Warren described the Silver Star inscribed with the name of Ralph Printz, the U.S. Army captain who was awarded the medal in World War II. "This is for combat valor," explained Warren, himself a World War II veteran, now 94 years old. "That means when the guns were going off, he was living in the thick of the mud in really tough times." Warren also presented Bennett with
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Every day for the past month, Christine Dresser has been consumed with solving a mystery. It's become an obsession. On Christmas Eve, while the family was out of town, someone pulled up to her Green Run home and left three tiny decades-old photos of her late father as a sailor in the Philippines during World War II. They were wrapped around her doorknob with a rubber band. Two she's never seen before. She knew instantly it was her father in the photos. Her husband, Stephen, didn't believe her at first. "There was no...
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On June 6, 1944 Bedford, Virginia lost 20 of the 32 sons it sent to the invasion of Normandy, a devastating blow to the tiny community of just over 3,200 souls. Over time, grief gave rise to solemn pride and deep commitment to ensuring the story of D-Day and its costs and consequences were not lost on future generations. That commitment, along with the distinction of sustaining the highest per capita D-Day losses, placed the monument to D-Day here rather than elsewhere in the country. Dedicated in 2001 with some 24,000 in attendance, the Memorial has since hosted hundreds of thousands of...