We soon found that Major Stewart was no dumb figurehead. He was a gentlemen and a very capable officer. Most important, he was a very good, well-informed pilot. He began giving the morning briefings immediately, and he spoke in that same low-key voice to which he had grown accustomed to in his movies. Interestingly, he flew his share of the missions irrespective of the target. It appeared to many of us the team of Potts and Stewart had brought an esprit de corps to the 453rd which heretofore had been absent. Major Stewart flew a great deal in the morning assemblies to insure that our formations were satisfactory. This was a difficult task due to the fact that we had a high turnover in combat crews. Even so, morale was unusually high and much of it was due to a very down-to-earth Jimmy Stewart.
Colonel Bieck, remembering how things changed when Jimmy was transferred to the 453rd Bombardment Group
So no one at my friend’s old high school is allowed to dress up for halloween anymore because one year this kid came to school on a bike wearing a red jumpsuit with tampons taped to him. He rode around the school telling people he was the menstrual cycle
United in this determination and with unshakable faith in the cause for which we fight, we will, with God’s help, go forward to our greatest victory.
—Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1944
“One thing we can do is remember these heroes as you remember them—not just as a rank, or a number, or a name on a headstone, but as Americans, often far too young, who were guided by a deep and abiding love for their families, for each other, and for this country.
We can remember Jay Aubin, the pilot, who met his wife on an aircraft carrier, and told his mother before shipping out, ‘If anything happens to me, just know I’m doing what I love.’
We can remember Ryan Beaupre, the former track star, running the leadoff leg, always the first one into action, who quit his job as an accountant and joined the Marines because he wanted to do something more meaningful with his life.
We can remember Brian Kennedy, the rock climber and lacrosse fanatic, who told his father two days before his helicopter went down that the Marines he served alongside were some of the best men he’d ever dealt with, and they’d be his friends forever.
We can remember Kendall Waters-Bey, a proud father, a proud son of Baltimore, who was described by a fellow servicemember as ‘a light in a very dark world.’
And we can remember David Hickman, a freshman in high school when the war began, a fitness fanatic who half-jokingly called himself ‘Zeus,’ a loyal friend with an infectious laugh.
We can remember them. And we can meet our obligations to those who did come home, and their families who are in the midst of a different, but very real battle of their own.” — President Obama at Arlington Cemetery today (via barackobama)
f is for friends who dont talk to you
u is for ur alone
n is for never having any plans at all, all i do is sit at home
A German prisoner of war lights the cigarette of a British soldier, World War I.
Nationaal Archief
1/1175 »
