WWII

A true jack of all trades, Herman Carl Abelein Jr. served a remarkable and multifaceted 28-year career in the U.S. Navy that brought him all over the world, including to Japan, Vietnam and Egypt.

Sidney Walton regrets not having met Civil War Veterans during his youth. Now, as one of the few remaining World War II Veterans, he is on the move so that any American can meet him.

Admiral Chester W. Nimitz decided that, in death, he wanted to join his men at Golden Gate with a standard military funeral and regulation headstone. He took steps to assure that the shipmates closest to him during World War II could join him.

Signalman First Class Paul Kennedy was serving deck duty on the USS Sacramento in Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941. After the bombings, Kennedy served on the USS Poole and helped escort landing craft crossing the English Channel into Normandy on D-Day.

On his 94th birthday, today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Army Veteran Tony Bennett, who served in the 63rd Infantry Division in Europe during WWII.

Navy WWII Veteran Adolfo Celaya was one of the few survivors of the USS Indianapolis.

Because Kazuo Yamaguchi was a Japanese American, the U.S. Army initially turned him away from a recruiting station during World War II. Yamaguchi was later drafted into the service, where he developed a sense of duty, honor, and an appreciation for his heritage.

Today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Marine Corps Veteran Dorsey Joseph Bartlett, who served during World War II and the Korean War.

On May 8, VA marked the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe, a victory for the forces of freedom that shaped the world for all of us who followed after.

On the anniversary of the National WWII Memorial opening, today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Army Veteran Bob Dole, who served as the national chairman.

Irvin Scott, a Marine Corps private first class in World War II, was imprisoned by the Japanese for more than three years. He survived the infamous Bataan Death March, one of the greatest war-time atrocities, and was liberated in 1945.

The 442nd Regimental Combat Team, composed almost entirely of second-generation American soldiers of Japanese ancestry, was known as “Go for Broke.” Going for broke is thought to be a Hawaiian gambling slang that means to risk everything for a big win.