A former co-worker and friend of mine passed away last week. He was truly a member of America's "Greatest Generation".
Dan was born in 1929 and lied about his age to get into the Marine Corps in WWII. He started as what he called a "Ground Grunt". During ground combat he was bayoneted and went down. He said that as things "went black" he thought he died. However, a fellow marine dragged him off the battlefield to safety and medical attention. he woke up in a hospital and was surprised to find himself alive.
While recovering from his injuries his Commanding Officer found out that he had enlisted underage. He got called in and chewed out big time. However, he had by then reached legal age and the CO let him stay in the service.
At some point he become a pilot flying the gull winged Corsairs. I can't remember if he flew them in WWII or not, but I definitely remember him telling about flying them in Korea. He few a lot of night patrols.
He finished his career as a lab technician for Corning Incorporated. That is where I met him. During the time we worked together he lost his younger son to cancer.
Here is photo from July 2018 when a couple of us helped him put up his new Marine Corp flag.
This is from the same day as he told us some of his flying stories while showing us a model of the Corsair.
Damn, he was a good guy who served his country and his community. What a loss!
Dan
Dan was born in 1929 and lied about his age to get into the Marine Corps in WWII. He started as what he called a "Ground Grunt". During ground combat he was bayoneted and went down. He said that as things "went black" he thought he died. However, a fellow marine dragged him off the battlefield to safety and medical attention. he woke up in a hospital and was surprised to find himself alive.
While recovering from his injuries his Commanding Officer found out that he had enlisted underage. He got called in and chewed out big time. However, he had by then reached legal age and the CO let him stay in the service.
At some point he become a pilot flying the gull winged Corsairs. I can't remember if he flew them in WWII or not, but I definitely remember him telling about flying them in Korea. He few a lot of night patrols.
He finished his career as a lab technician for Corning Incorporated. That is where I met him. During the time we worked together he lost his younger son to cancer.
Here is photo from July 2018 when a couple of us helped him put up his new Marine Corp flag.
This is from the same day as he told us some of his flying stories while showing us a model of the Corsair.
Damn, he was a good guy who served his country and his community. What a loss!
Dan
