Page 2 - Aerotech News and Review, February 19, 2021

Our Greatest

Generation Reader’s

heroes are Services

How to contact
Aerotech News and Review
moving on • E-Mail: editor@aerotechnews.com
• Phone: (661) 945-5634
• Fax: (661) 723-7757
by Dennis Anderson • Website: www.aerotechnews.com
special to Aerotech News
When I started work as a newspaper editor in the Antelope Valley more Advertising
than 20 years ago, it was easy to call a World War II veteran to get an opinion Corporate Headquarters:
on how the world was moving. (877) 247-9288
Right after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, I picked up the phone and Email: sbueltel@aerotechnews.com
called several World War II veterans, including Skip Lippert and Ken Creese,
both Pearl Harbor survivors. Creese, a longtime aerospace worker and Little Photograph by Dennis Anderson Subscriber Services
League coach, had even been national president of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Subscriptions to Aerotech News
Association. Screaming Eagles veteran Henry Ochsner, with his bride of 70 years Violet and Review are $59 for six
on Sept. 17, 2017, when Henry was honored with the Legion of Honor
Another of my “Go To” calls in my contact list were the D-Day veterans. from the government of France. months or $89 for one year. For
One was Lew Shoemaker, a longtime Quartz Hill High School teacher and more information, contact the
football coach, who waded ashore with the “Big Red One” on D-Day, and subscription department at:
scarcely lived to tell about it. ince of Normandy southwest of Paris is transformed into a kind of historical (661) 945-5634
One thing he told me, “You may not think so, but if there’s artillery you Mardi Gras. The reason is simple. More than 75 years later the people of
really can breathe dirt, for a little while.” France, generations of them, continue to celebrate their liberation from the
Our High Desert Hangar Stories bard, Bob Alvis, similarly had a long Nazi tyranny of the Third Reich. Story ideas, letters, editorials
contact list of World War II heroes, many of them air crew from the flak- One of the engraved quotes on the walls of the museum at the American Please send all letters and editorials to
filled skies of Twelve O’Clock High, and Baa Baa Black Sheep. Which was Cemetery at Omaha Beach exudes, “The Germans are gone! Out in the Stuart A. Ibberson, editor,
to say that the Flying Tigers of the air war in Europe and the Pacific were so streets, there are only Americans!” What a lovely sentiment to a time when at editor@aerotechnews.com.
phenomenal, that Hollywood has never stopped making movies about them. it was known that we would fight for the freedom of others.
One of them, Bill Clutterham, a B-17 pilot who was in the air the day Troops from all across the NATO countries gather, with many of them
the first A-bomb dropped on Hiroshima, was a chaplain in the Los Angeles who participated as nations from the forces of liberation. Canadians, Britons,
County Fire Department. He also comforted a young Marine returned from Australians and New Zealanders, and Belgians, and Norwegians, and troops Web Site
Iraq who was shaking with combat trauma, and Bill gave him a bear hug so from the Netherlands — and descendants of the Free French, the ones who Access the Aerotech News web
warm that the combat vet snapped out of it, tears in his eyes, and hugged never surrendered to the Nazis, but carried the fight back to them. site at www.aerotechnews.com
right back. You can be in a French town like Ste. Mere Eglise, the first such town Submissions for upcoming events, air
That happened about 15 years ago at one of the “Pride of the Nation” liberated by the Allies on the morning of D-Day, and there will be dancing shows and museums
dinners honoring veterans and hosted by Lancaster High School students in the street. There will be active duty troops in uniform, and so-called re- should be emailed to
in retired teacher Jamie Goodreau’s history classes. Her history was living enactors, tricked out in the vintage combat kit of World War II. The town editor@aerotechnews.com.
history. But it would be hard to do today. church still has effigy of a paratrooper who got hung up on the steeple,
We are losing them, and are the poorer for it. Staff Sgt. John Steel. Somehow he survived “The Longest Day,” and was For questions concerning the web site,
This month we lost Sir Tom Moore, the British subject knighted by Queen portrayed by Red Buttons in the film classic of the same name. contact the webmaster at
Elizabeth. As he approached his 100th birthday, he raised nearly $40 million On the morning of D-Day, my fast friend, Henry, was among the 13,000 webmaster@aerotechnews.com.
for the U.K.’s National Health Service by doing what he did as a soldier in Americans arriving by parachute and glider, flying through steel waves of
World War II, putting his stride into “forward march” mode, and walking anti-aircraft fire, with Axis troops on the ground spraying the night skies
laps in his yard. It was good for a knighthood. with lead as the advance guard of the D-Day invasion dropped from the sky. Where you can get
“Captain Tom,” as he was known, fought the Japanese in the China- They were from the 82nd Airborne Division, also the British Airborne, and Aerotech News and Review
Burma-Indian theater as a British armor officer. He marched right up to his Henry’s Division, the 101st. For information on
100th birthday, delighted that he made the century mark. He succumbed to A few hours later the seaborne troops from other historic divisions like Aerotech distribution, call
COVID-19 on Feb. 2, 2021. “The Big Red One” and the 4th Infantry, “Ivy Division,” and others came (661) 945-5634 or visit
Of the 16 million Americans who served during World War II, about wading ashore in the face of murderous machine gun and artillery fire. If www.aerotechnews.com/distribution.
324,000 are still with us. They are leaving us at the rate of nearly 300 a you want to see something disturbing, see Saving Private Ryan, or the first
day. The data is gathered from the National World War II Museum in New couple of hours of Band of Brothers. It is less entertainment, than as sober-
Orleans, which is a partner with the Smithsonian, and is a national treasure ing a couple of hours of cinema history as you are likely to view. But it will
itself. Among its statistics are that 34,000 of the surviving World War II U.S. give a faint idea of what these young men achieved. Aerotech News and Review is published
veterans reside in California. When I met Henry, what was so interesting was that he was not living in every other Friday, serving the
If we wonder why, it is because so many Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and the past. He was proud of what he and his battle buddies achieved. What aerospace and defense industry of
Marines passed through our Golden State, appreciated the weather differ- made him happy was that he was with his bride, Violet, who smiled warmly Southern California, Nevada and
ences from their homes in the Midwest, the East and South, and decided to as we sat together and chatted about the long-ago war. And he was happy to Arizona. News and ad copy deadline
come back and make a go of it. And, they did. be with “his girls.” Three were living with, or nearby, Lenelle, Sandy and is noon on the Tuesday prior to
So, along with losing Sir “Captain Tom” Moore, we bow to the inevitable. Susan, and Jackie, the fourth, was in Seattle. publication. The publisher assumes no
When we lose a World War II veteran, we also must take into account that Born that day was a fast and enduring friendship because we held common responsibility for error in ads other
most of them came home, worked hard, played by the rules, and raised history as Army members of the Airborne fraternity, and we shared ideas on than space used. Your comments are
families. how much we loved our grown kids. Henry met Violet just a year or two out welcomed and encouraged. Write to
I miss the friendships I made with the World War II cohort, and treasure of the Army in a Seattle diner. Henry cajoled his sister, one of Violet’s sister the address below.
the ones I still have. waitresses, into accompanying them on a date to a dance.
The first time that I met Henry Ochsner was in January 2015, and it was Before we lost Henry in September 2019, he was decorated by the gov-
just in time for a youngster like me, as Henry was born in 1924. ernment of France and awarded that nation’s highest medal, the Legion of • Publisher ....................Paul Kinison
The reason for the Saturday morning drive out to California City was Honor, bestowed on World War II veterans who served in what’s known as • Business Manager ....... Lisa Kinison
a news tip that he was a D-Day veteran of World War II, and more than “The Liberation.” • Editor .................... Stuart Ibberson
that, he was a member of a storied unit of the 101st Airborne Division, the We recently lost Violet, about the same time we lost Sir “Captain Tom” • National Advertising
Screaming Eagles. Moore. Violet, who was 92, was no less a part of that legacy. She and her Manager .....................Paul Kinison
Henry had a story to tell. Younger friends helped him manage a return to D-Day veteran husband Henry were two loving, gentle, strong people, people
Normandy in France for the 75th Anniversary of D-Day. who went on to work hard, behave well, and raise a great family.
What a celebration it must have been. And what friends Henry made along The Rev. Ron Sparks of California City called their passing “a great loss,” Aerotech News and Review
the way. Because of his combat service with the Screaming Eagles division, and he never spoke truer words. They were emblematic of what has come to e-mail: editor@aerotechnews.com
he was seated at a dinner with the superintendent of the U.S. Military Acad- be known as “The Greatest Generation.”
emy at West Point, “and some other nice fella. They said he was a singer.” Editor’s note: Dennis Anderson is a licensed clinical social worker at Visit our web site at
Turned out the nice fella was Bruce Springsteen, the Boss. High Desert Medical Group. An Army paratrooper veteran, he deployed with www.aerotechnews.com
Unless you are a World War II history buff, or a semi-regular traveler to local National Guard troops to cover the Iraq War for the Antelope Valley
France, you might not know that from May until late in June, the entire prov- Press. He works on veterans and community health initiatives.
Aerotech News and Review
2 www.aerotechnews.com ........ facebook.com/aerotechnewsandreview February 19, 2021