Everyday Patriot

Private George Watson was born about 1915 and grew up in Birmingham, Alabama.  He joined the U.S. Army on September 1, 1942, in response to World War II and was assigned to the 29th Quartermaster Regiment. While traveling to New Guinea, his transport ship, Jacob, was struck by enemy bombers on March 8, 1943, and began to sink. A competent swimmer,  Private George Watson assisted other soldiers to life rafts.  The suction from Jacob's submersion, however, pulled him under prior to his entering a life raft. His body was never recovered.  These actions earned him a Congressional Medal of Honor. As an orphan, the U.S. Army retained his medals, and they are currently on display at the U.S. Army Quartermaster Museum in Fort Lee, Virginia. * Read about a.d. elliott's Everyday Patriot Project here* **************************************** a.d. elliott is a wanderer, writer, and photographer currently living in Salem, Virginia.  In addition to the trav...

Born on May 19, 1921, in Robinette, West Virginia, Sergeant Dallas Harry Cook enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps on August 14, 1940, in preparation for the US involvement in World War II. Assigned to the elite Marine Raiders, he participated in the raid on the Markin Islands. While attempting to aid the evacuation of other Marines, he was killed in action on August 18, 1942. He was never recovered. Sergeant Cook is listed in the Courts of the Missing in Honolulu, HI. The U.S. Navy ship USS Cook was named in honor of Sergeant Dallas Harry Cook and 2nd Lieutenant Andrew F. Cook Jr., who was also killed during World War II. * Read about a.d. elliott's Everyday Patriot Project here* **************************************** a.d. elliott is a wanderer, writer, and photographer currently living in Salem, Virginia.  In addition to the travel writings at  www.takethebackroads.com , you can also read her book reviews at  www.riteoffancy.com  and US military biographi...

Sergeant Carlos Norman Hathcock was born on May 12, 1942, in Little Rock, Arkansas. He was an avid hunter and accomplished shooter. Before he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, he won several shooting competitions, including the Wimbledon Cup. Initially assigned to Military Police, Sergeant Carlos Hathcock's shooting accuracy quickly had him reassigned as a sniper, and he deployed to the Vietnam war with the First Marine Division. While in Vietnam, Sergeant Carlos Hathcock eliminated 93 confirmed targets, including his most famous shot, in which he shot an enemy through the enemy's own rifle scope. As a result, the North Vietnamese Army placed a bounty of 30,000 dollars on his head. Sergeant Carlos Hathcock was severely wounded on September 16, 1969, when the AMTRAC he was in struck an anti-tank mine, and while pulling other Marines to safety, sustained 3rd-degree burns. Despite his injuries, Sergeant Carlos Hathcock remained with the Marine Corps and helped establish th...

Major Della Hayden Raney Jackson was born on January 10, 1912, in Suffolk, Virginia. She moved to Durham, North Carolina, to attend nursing school at the Lincoln Hospital School of Nursing, graduating in 1937. She continued to work at the Lincoln Hospital, including supervising the operating room while trying to get approval to enlist in the U.S.Army, which, because of the racial bias at the time, did not occur until April of 1941. Major Della Hayden Raney Jackson was first assigned as the commander of the nurses of African descent at Fort Bragg, N.C., and was the first woman of African descent to hold a command position. In March 1942, she was assigned to the Tuskegee Army Airfield and promoted to Chief Nurse. She continued to supervise nursing units throughout the war, and during the occupation of Japan, she was deployed to a nursing unit there. Major Della Hayden Raney Jackson retired from the U.S. Army in 1978. On October 23, 1987, she died and rests in Arlington National C...

Born on December 14, 1896, in Alameda, California, James Harold Doolittle spent most of his youth in Nome, Alaska. Returning to California in 1910, General Jimmy Doolittle saw his first airplane at the Los Angeles International Air Meet and found his calling. After he graduated from Manual Arts High school, General Jimmy Doolittle briefly attended the University of California at Berkley, interrupting his education in October 1917 to enlist in the Signal Corps Reserve (the precursor to the Air Force). During World War I, he was a flight instructor and gunnery instructor. He returned to Berkley after the war to finish his degree and graduated in 1922. Between the wars, General Jimmy Doolittle maintained his reserve status and earned a master's degree in Aeronautics from MIT (July 1923) and a doctorate from MIT (June 1925). General Jimmy Doolittle made a name for himself as a pilot through several cross-country and test flights. General Jimmy Doolittle also loved to compete, wi...

Staff Sergeant Stanley Curtis Pillsbury was born on January 19, 1919, in Sanford, Maine, and grew up working on the family farm. Enlisting in the Army Air Corps (U.S. Air Force) on November 12, 1941, during World War II, he was assigned as a gunner for the B-24 Liberator Unit and was sent to the Pacific. In April 1943, during the Battle of  Funafuti, over Nauru, his plane, the "Superman," had taken heavy fire. Staff Sergeant Stanley Pillsbury had received a severe injury to his leg from enemy rounds, but still managed to shoot down an enemy plane while being bandaged.  The Superman was able to land (never to fly again), and Staff Sergeant Pillsbury retired from the war due to his injuries. He returned to Maine and provided author Laura Hillenbrand a detailed account of his time in the service, which she used for her book "Unbroken." Staff Sergeant Stanley  Pillsbury died on July 8, 2008, and rests in the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona. * Read abo...

Born on May 21, 1913, in Arkport, New York, Lieutenant Eunice F. Young, after her graduation from Arkport Central School, moved to Arizona to attend nursing school and then, in 1939, joined the U.S. Army and was assigned to the military hospital in Manila, Philippines. After caring for patients, under fire, in the Malinta Tunnel during World War II, she, along with 78 other nurses (both Army and Navy), was captured by enemy soldiers and sent to the Santo Tomas Internment Camp.   She was a prisoner of war for almost three years. During that time, the nurses, while caring for patients in the prison hospital, maintained consistent acts of defiance.  Lieutenant Young maintained a hidden diary, and the nurses, to aggravate the guards, would space themselves far enough apart that the guards would have to bow upwards of 30 times when performing inspections. The conditions at Santo Thomas were harsh, and the nurses were starving. Lieutenant Young, upon liberation, weighed...

Staff Sergeant Beatrice "Bea" Arthur was born Bernice Frankel, on May 13, 1922, in Brooklyn, New York. While young, her family relocated to Cambridge, Massachuttes, and she attended the Linden Hall School for Girls in Lititz, Pennsylvania. In early 1943, in response to World War II, Staff Sergeant Bea Arthur enlisted in the U.S Marines and was assigned to office duties and truck driving. She received an honorable discharge in 1945 at the war's end. Staff Sergeant Bea Arthur began working as an actress after her service, starting with the off-Broadway Cherry Lane Theater and quickly moving to Broadway performances, including the 1964 premiere of Fiddler on the Roof. Moving to television, she became known for playing the outspoken feminist Maude (Edith's cousin) in the series All in the Family. Maude's character was ultimately spun off into its own sitcom, which earned her several Emmys and a Golden Globe. However, Staff Sergeant Bea Arthur's most famous...