Everyday Patriot

First Lieutenant Mildred Jeanette Dalton was born on July 11, 1914, in Barrow County, Georgia. She attended the Atlanta Grady Memorial Hospital Nursing School, graduating in 1937. She would spend a couple of years as a civilian surgical nurse before enlisting in the US Army. First Lieutenant Mildred Dalton joined the US Army Nursing Corps in 1939 to travel and see the world. She would specifically request a transfer to the Philippines in 1941. Shortly after her October arrival, the Japanese began bombing Pearl Harbor, and the Philippines and the US entered World War II. Along with 77 other nurses, she would continue to treat wounded in tent hospitals and in an underground tunnel until the Japanese captured the Philippines in May 1942. After that, she and the 77 other nurses continued to treat the wounded in the prison of Santo Tomas, facing grueling conditions and near starvation until their release on February 3, 1945. First Lieutenant Mildred Dalton briefly toured for war bon...

First Lieutenant Fred Warren Green was born on October 19, 1871, in Manistee, Michigan. He graduated from Michigan State Normal School (now Eastern Michigan University), and in 1898 he would receive his law degree from the University of Michigan. He was an avid football fan, playing the game collegiately, and would coach and manage teams most of his life. He served in the Spanish American War with the 31st Michigan Volunteers, deploying for Cuba on May 8, 1898. His unit was fortunate and didn't suffer any combat-related casualties, although there were challenges with tropical diseases. After returning to Ypsilanti, Michigan, in May of 1899, he would become the city attorney. He also entered into a partnership with the Ypsilanti Reed Furniture Company. First Lieutenant Fred Green moved to Ionia in 1904 and entered into politics. First serving as a Republican delegate before becoming the mayor of Ionia (where he established the Ionia Free Fair in 1915). He would become Treasu...

Colonel Ruth Cheney Streeter was born on October 2, 1945, in Brookline, Massachusetts She graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 1918. All her adult life, she would take an active interest in civic affairs, including becoming the first woman president of the Welfare Board of Morrilton, New Jersey. At age 47, she would earn her pilot's license to join either the WAVES or WASPS as a ferry pilot. Both rejected her on account of her age. Colonel Ruth Streeter would then join the US Marine Corps Women's Reserve on January 29, 1943, in response to World War II, and would become its first director and would see almost 18,000 enlistments under her tenure. After the war, she returned to Morrilton, New Jersey, and in 1947, she was appointed to the New Jersey Constitutional Convention. Colonel Ruth Streeter would stay active in civic and political life until her death on September 30, 1990.  She rests in Petersburgh, New Hampshire. * Read about a.d. elliott's Everyday Patriot P...

Colonel Gregory Boyington was born on December 4, 1912, in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. His family moved to Washington while he was young and he graduated from Lincoln High School in Tacoma, Washington. He attended the University of Washington, where he was on the wrestling and swim teams. Colonel "Pappy" Boyington was also in the fraternity Lamda Chi Alpha and participated in ROTC.  He graduated in 1934 with a BS in aeronautical engineering and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the US Army Reserves. In 1935 he tried to gain a seat in the cockpit by enlisting under the Aviation Cadet Act. Unfortunately, the code disallowed married men, and he was married.  Colonel Boyington found a way around this rule. Boyington was the colonel's birth name. Up until this point, though, he had been using the name Gregory Hallenbeck, which was the last name of his mother's second husband. While there was a recorded marriage for Gregory Hallenbeck, there wasn't any record...

Sergeant Tommy Angelo Blue was born on December 20, 1957, in Spring Lake, North Carolina, and graduated from Pine Forest High School. He enlisted in the US Army and was assigned to the 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade and deployed to the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Storm/Desert Shield and the Gulf War. Sergeant Tommy Angelo Blue died of a heart attack on December 30, 1990, and rests at the Fort Bragg Main Post Cemetery. * 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 biographies at  www.everydaypatriot.com Her online photography gallery can be found at  shop.takethebackroads.com #TaketheBackRoads Like my page? Please consider supporting my work by visiting my sp...