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For history buffs, visit this extensive collection of military maps from the US Military Academy which includes 84 items for WWII’s European Theater such as the one above.

Band of Brothers Hero

I’m not one to usually perpetuate forwarded emails, however I made an exception here:

One of the “Band of Brothers” soldiers died on June 17, 2009.

We’re hearing a lot today about big splashy memorial services.

I want a nationwide memorial service for Darrell “Shifty” Powers.

Shifty volunteered for the airborne in WWII and served with Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of the 101st Airborne Infantry.

If you’ve seen Band of Brothers on HBO or the History Channel, you know Shifty. His character appears in all 10 episodes, and Shifty himself is interviewed in several of them.

I met Shifty in the Philadelphia airport several years ago. I didn’t know who he was at the time. I just saw an elderly gentleman having trouble reading his ticket. I offered to help, assured him that he was at the right gate, and noticed the “Screaming Eagle”, the symbol of the 101st Airborne, on his hat.

Making conversation, I asked him if he’d been in the 101st Airborne, or if his son was serving. He said quietly that he had been in the 101st. I thanked him for his service, then asked him when he served, and how many jumps he made.

Quietly and humbly, he said, “Well, I guess I signed up in 1941 or so, and was in until sometime in 1945 … ” at which point my heart skipped.  At that point, again, very humbly, he said, “I made the 5 training jumps at Toccoa, and then jumped into Normandy … . do you know where Normandy is?”

At this point my heart stopped.

I told him yes, I know exactly where Normandy was and I know what D-Day was.
At that point he said “I also made a second jump into Holland, into Arnhem .”
I was standing with a genuine war hero … . and then I realized that it was June, just after the anniversary of D-Day.

I asked Shifty if he was on his way back from France , and he said; ”Yes. And it’s real sad because these days so few of the guys are left, and those that are, lots of them can’t make the trip.” My heart was in my throat and I didn’t know what to say.

I helped Shifty get onto the plane and then realized he was back in Coach, while I was in First Class. I sent the flight attendant back to get him and said that I wanted to switch seats. When Shifty came forward, I got up out of the seat and told him I wanted him to have it, that I’d take his in coach.

He said, “No, son, you enjoy that seat. Just knowing that there are still some who remember what we did and still care is enough to make an old man very happy.” His eyes were filling up as he said it. And mine are brimming up now as I write this.

Shifty died on June 17 after fighting cancer.

There was no parade.  No big event in Staples Center.  No wall-to-wall, back-to-back, 24x7 news coverage.  No weeping fans on television.  And that’s not right.

Rest in peace, Shifty.

“A nation without heroes is nothing.”

Indeed.

Ok, so I can’t wait for HBO’s The Pacific, their $200M follow-on to Band of Brothers.

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Remembering NASA’s X-15 gallery at CNET.

View from Primary Flight Control aboard the USS Midway in San Diego. You can view some of my other pictures here.

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The cover of my grandfather’s WWII flight log book.  I’m posting some scanned contents here and talk about the project in the blog entry below.

A Naval Aviator’s Log Book from WWII

My grandfather served as a US Naval Aviator in WWII.  We knew him as the patriarch of a large and vibrant family, a successful entrepreneur and executive, an avid sailor, civilian pilot and world traveller.  My grandmother Joyce was the love of his life, and he adored his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren… but I think he always thought of himself as an aviator.

As a kid who grew up in the 1930’s and hung on the fence at Floyd Bennett Field on Long Island, his dream was to fly for the US Navy.  He worked hard in his youth, as a bartender in Hell’s Kitchen taking care of his parents, and eventually followed his older brother into the US Navy.  He became a cadet and attended civilian flight training then flight school in Pensacola, Florida.  He graduated as an Ensign, then served in the Caribbean with squadron VJ-16 as a Lieutenant, j.g.

I think he was most proud of his service as a Naval Aviator.  He always captivated me with his stories from that era, and someday my cousin and I will finish getting them down on paper to share.  When we lost him last year, I created a slideshow for the funeral with pictures from his life.  In all the old slides and scrapbooks, I came across his Navy records and aviator’s flight log book.  Following the urging from some history buff friends, I’ve decided to scan and post some of the materials.

The first item is the log book you can find here, which I will add to on a regular basis as I have time to scan its contents.  I may also post some interesting letters and official Navy documents, including ones from the Secretary of the Navy and the President of the United States.  I’ll update the blog when new material is posted.