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Gabriel "Bart" Bartholomew - (October 3, 1923 - January 30, 2014) - Col. Gabriel Peter "Bart" Bartholomew, USAF Retired 90, of Clovis, NM went to be with the Lord on Thursday, January 30, 2014 at the VA Hospital in Amarillo, TX. Closed casket services will be held 1 PM Wednesday, February 5, 2014 at The Chapel 1500 Thornton with Rev. Dick Ross officiating. Burial will follow in the Garden of Honor at Lawn Haven Memorial Gardens with full military honors by the Cannon AFB Honor Guard. Honorary pallbearers include; David Bartholomew, Robert Bartholomew, Russell Bartholomew, Nevin McIlwaine, Troy McIlwaine, Michael Bartholomew and Jacob Bartholomew. The family will be at Muffley Funeral Home Tuesday, February 4, 2014 from 5-7 PM for visitation, Bart was born on October 3,1923 in Los Angeles, California to Italian Immigrants, Gabriel Bartolomea and Rose Aimino. He grew up during the depression era and helped his family by working odd jobs. He was drafted into the US Army in 1943 and was accepted into the Army aviation program where he flew the Boeing Stearman in primary flight school, and earned his wings and commission. In 1944, he flew combat missions in France just days after the invasion of Normandy in a P-47 Thunderbolt flight aircraft. He supported Allied Troops by bombing and strafing targets on the ground. After many successful missions he was shot down but was rescued by the French Resistance. They eventually hid Bart from the Germans and helped smuggle him across enemy lines. During the Korean War, Bart flew combat missions against Mig 15s in an F-86 Sabre jet fighter. He was shot down, captured and spent almost a year in a Chinese prisoner of war camp. As a POW he endured interrogations, beatings, starvation and isolation before being repatriated in 1953. Bart served in many other assignments and capacities including being a member of the USAF Red Devil aerobatic team flying p-51 Mustang, commanding the first F-111 training squadron and flying combat missions in an F-4 Phantom during the Vietnam War. He retired from the Air Force in 1974 as the Cannon AFB Base Commander after 32 years of service.
Bart loved fishing and woodworking, was of the Baptist Faith and was a member of the Daedalians and VFW Post 3280. He married Nancy White September 2, 1989 in Lovington, NM.
Bart is survived by his wife, Nancy, of the home, five sons; David (Eli) Bartholomew, Paso Robles, California, Robert Bartholomew, Seattle, Washington, Russell (Susan) Bartholomew, Albuquerque, NM, Nevin McIlwaine, Clovis, NM and Troy (Debbie) McIlwaine, Albuquerque, NM, a daughter, Katie (Duane) Robinson, Clovis, 11 grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded by his parents, one brother, Dominick Bartholomew and one sister, Angelina Signor.
The family suggest memorial contributions to the Wounded Warrior Project, PO Box 758517, Topeka, KS 66675 or the Disabled American Veterans organization at DAV, PO Box 1430, Cincinnati, OH 45250-0301 in Memory of Col GP Bartholomew. Arrangements have been entrusted to Muffley Funeral Home (575) 762-4435 www.muffleyfuneralhome.com.
(CNN) -- William Guarnere, a World War II veteran popularized by the "Band of Brothers" miniseries, has died. He was 90.
Guarnere was rushed to a hospital early Saturday morning and died of a ruptured aneurism that night, his son, William Guarnere Jr., told CNN.
"He lived a good life. He traveled a lot. He pretty much did everything he could have done," the son said Sunday.
During the war, Guarnere earned the nickname "Wild Bill." He lost a leg trying to save a friend on the battlefield.
The HBO miniseries was based on a book by Stephen E. Ambrose.
It told the story of Easy Company, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, U.S. Army. Guarnere was played by actor Frank John Hughes.
The family is planning a funeral this week in Philadelphia, where Guarnere was born and lived most of his life, his son said.
Malcolm L. Baker, 86, passed away peacefully on March 15, 2014 at his home at Manor Care at Summer Trace in Carmel. He was born in New Market, Indiana, the only child of Charles and Pearl Fern Snyder Baker. Mr. Baker was a graduate of Marshall High School in 1945. He attended Indiana State Teachers' College and served in the U.S. Army during World War II. Mr. Baker spent his working career in the tobacco industry retiring as Division Manager for P. Lorillard Co. and Swisher International in 1994.
67, of Greenfield, IN, passed away Sunday, March 16, 2014 in Indianapolis. He was born on October 27, 1946 in Elkhart, Indiana, the son of the late George and Reba Burrell.
He was employed at the Finance Center at Ft. Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis for over 20 years, retiring in 2008. Richard was a Vietnam Veteran and a member of VFW Post #2693, Greenfield serving as Post Commander for 4 years.
He is survived by his wife, Connie; sons, Matthew (Jean) and Nicholas Burrell; sister, Rita Hupp; grandchildren, Samuel and Ava; stepchildren, Misty and Tommy Chew and Stephanie Dublin; family friend, Peter Gomez.
A celebration of Richard's life will take place on Saturday, March 29th at 1:00 p.m. VFW Post #2693, 529 Apple St., Greenfield, IN. Stillinger Family Funeral Home is entrusted with the arrangements.
This thread is dedicated to those who have worn the uniform and have passed on.
This is not meant to only honor those who died in combat, but everyone who once wore a uniform and has now passed on.
They all made a sacrifice and in this thread, we shall tell their stories.
My family kept after my dad to make a small book for family only about his time in WWII, from physical to discharge. One of his last statements in the book were "Before I finish, I want to say anytime I said "I", most of the time I should be saying "we". I didn't do anything. We did. This was a team thing. The boys who were drafted and stayed on this side of the ocean were doing their jobs, and the boys who were drafted and went overseas were doing their jobs. So we all just had to do our jobs. No one is any more of a hero than the other one. It wouldn't have worked if each man hadn't done his job. Heroes are just people who were at the right place at the right time and react the right way.
In the words of King David, 'The men who guard the supplies are as important as those who fight.'"
I would like to remember my Great Uncle Robert French Abbott who passed away a few months ago. Robert enlisted in the U.S. Navy in February 1942. He attended a subchasers school in Miami, FL. and served on a subchaser in Atlantic-Pacific-Aleutians and Mid-Pacific. He took part in the Kwajalein invasion. He also attended Gunnery School in Washington, D.C. He was discharged in December 1945 as Gunners Mate, 1st class.
Robert's surviving widow Charlotte M. Abbott (Welty) was a WWII war widow as she was married first to Robert's first cousin John (Jack) Walter Abbott who served in the U.S. Navy as a Machinest's Mate 3rd class and was killed on the island of Guam on June 12, 1945.
I would also like to mention Robert's 2 older brothers: Carl Frederic Abbott who served with the 40 Tank Co. of Salinas (CA.) and was killed on Oct. 2, 1942 at Luzon in the Philippines and received posthumously a Bronze Star Medal with V device; Kirk Bedford Abbott who served in the Army Air Corps 1942-1945, 78th Service Squadron. He is also deceased several years ago.
I would like to remember my Great Uncle Robert French Abbott who passed away a few months ago. Robert enlisted in the U.S. Navy in February 1942. He attended a subchasers school in Miami, FL. and served on a subchaser in Atlantic-Pacific-Aleutians and Mid-Pacific. He took part in the Kwajalein invasion. He also attended Gunnery School in Washington, D.C. He was discharged in December 1945 as Gunners Mate, 1st class.
Robert's surviving widow Charlotte M. Abbott (Welty) was a WWII war widow as she was married first to Robert's first cousin John (Jack) Walter Abbott who served in the U.S. Navy as a Machinest's Mate 3rd class and was killed on the island of Guam on June 12, 1945.
I would also like to mention Robert's 2 older brothers: Carl Frederic Abbott who served with the 40 Tank Co. of Salinas (CA.) and was killed on Oct. 2, 1942 at Luzon in the Philippines and received posthumously a Bronze Star Medal with V device; Kirk Bedford Abbott who served in the Army Air Corps 1942-1945, 78th Service Squadron. He is also deceased several years ago.
Thanks for sharing.
Anything else you'd like to tell us about Robert and/or his brothers? Anything you know about them. Favorite fish, funny story, tattoos, Christmas memories, etc.
Charles H. Haas, age 89, of Clovis, died in the early morning of Thursday, March 27, 2014, at Plains Regional Medical Center. He was born August 2, 1924, in Carlisle, PA, and was the son of the late Mildred O. Maggs.
Charles was preceded in death by his parents; his wife of 53 years, Betty Parks Haas; and his daughter Michelle Haas. He is survived by several nieces, nephews, brother and sister-in-laws. Charles served our country for 22.5 years in 3 branches of the military. He joined the Navy in 1941 followed by service to the Army and Air Force from which he retired. Charles served both stateside and abroad including WW II and the Korean War. Charles arrived in Clovis in 1957 for his last assignment with the military at Cannon Air Force Base. Following retirement from the Air Force, Charles and Betty considered Clovis home and opted to stay in Cloves.
Charles was a member of Central Christian church; a lifetime member of the VFW Post 3280 having served as treasurer and a member of the Board of Directors. He was also a member of the Disabled American Veterans where he was a past Post Commander, and a member of the American Legion, Elks, and Eagles. Charles was very involved in Golden Gloves Boxing. Since his arrival in Clovis until 2010, Charles coached youth boxing at Roy Walker Gym. Charles coached many boxers over the years that won Golden Gloves state and national championships. Charles was an avid Penn State University and Eagles Football Fan. For the past several years, his greatest joy has been traveling to the various race tracks to watch his favorite horses run.
Charles was blessed to have many good friends in the Clovis area. The family would especially like to thank Jimmy and Joy Hailey and George Senos for their friendship, love, and devotion over the years.
Memorial services will be 10:00 a.m., Saturday, April 5, 2014, at The Chapel 1500 Thornton. Burial will follow at Lawn Haven Memorial Gardens. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to , P.O. Box 1856, Clovis, NM 88101 or to the . The family would like to thank the doctors and staff at Gentiva Hospice for their compassionate treatment and care throughout the past years.
Arrangements are entrusted to Muffley Funeral Home & High Plains Crematory www.muffleyfuneralhome.com (575) 763-4435.
Published in the Clovis News Journal on Apr. 2, 2014
Chester Nez, the last of the “Original 29″ Navajo Code Talkers who developed and implemented a top secret code that confounded the Japanese in World War II, died Wednesday at his home on Albuquerque’s West Side. U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Manfred Hermann had just returned from Iraq in this Nov. 12, 2007, photo when he shook hands with Navajo Code Talker Chester Nez. Nez, 93, died Wednesday. He was the last surviving member of the original 29 Navajo Code Talkers, who developed and fielded the top secret code during World War II. (Albuquerque Journal File) Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly on Wednesday issued a proclamation directing all flags on the Navajo Nation to be flown at half-staff in Nez’s honor from sunrise today until sunset Sunday. The Code Talkers took part in every assault the Marines conducted in the Pacific, sending thousands of messages on Japanese troop movements and battlefield tactics, directing artillery attacks and providing other communications critical to the Allied victory – an important contribution that was a closely guarded secret for another 40 plus years. In a White House ceremony on July 26, 2001, then-President George W. Bush presented Nez with a Congressional Gold Medal, the nation’s highest civilian award. Though there were only a handful of the Original 29 on hand to receive the medals, all 29 received the honor. All other Code Talkers were awarded the Congressional Silver Medal. Nez, whose health had been deteriorating the past few years, was 93. One of nine children, Nez was born at Cousin Brothers Trading Post on the Navajo Nation, about 15 miles southwest of Gallup. His family isn’t certain of his birth date, but government officials have set it at Jan. 23, 1921, according to his son, Mike Nez of Albuquerque. Nez grew up at Chichiltah – which translates to “among the oaks” – on the Navajo reservation where he tended the family’s sheep herd and lived a traditional Navajo boy’s life until, at age 9, he was sent to Tohatchi Boarding School. By the time he was 18, Nez had attended boarding schools in Fort Defiance, Ariz., Gallup and Tuba City, interspersed with “vacations” back home on the reservation. “He was in the 10th grade at Tuba City Boarding School when the (Marine Corps) recruiters came to the school,” Mike Nez said in a 2011 interview. “They were specifically looking for Navajos. They (the students) didn’t know they would be Code Talkers when they were recruited.” In 1942, Philip Johnston, a World War I veteran and non-Native American who grew up on the Navajo reservation and spoke fluent Navajo, proposed that the military base a secret code on the complex language. After demonstrating to the military that Navajos could quickly encode, transmit and decode an otherwise undecipherable three-line message in 20 seconds, the Marine Corps brass authorized the recruitment of Navajos to create and implement the code as soon as possible. Nez and other new recruits were bused to Fort Defiance and sworn into the Corps in May 1942. From there they went to Camp Pendleton in California for basic training, and then 29 of them were selected and assigned to the 382nd Platoon. “After boot camp training was over they sent us to Camp Elliott, and that’s where we started doing the code,” Nez said in the 2011 interview. “It was kind of hard work, but it didn’t take us too long to develop the code.” Day in and day out, the group worked on nothing but the code, Nez said. They first developed an alphabet using common Navajo words. For example, “A” became the Navajo word for “ant” or wolla-chee. “A” could also be bela-sana, the Navajo word for “apple,” or tse-nill for “ax.” The use of multiple words for a single letter helped make the code undecipherable. The code-makers also substituted familiar Navajo terms for military terminology. For example, a submarine became an iron fish, a tank became a tortoise and a grenade was a potato. Each Code Talker memorized the code through constant repetition, not only at Camp Elliott but during breaks, at night, during meals and on long ship voyages throughout the Pacific. Once the code was fully developed, it was taught to other Navajo recruits while Nez and his fellow Marines headed for the Pacific theater. The Code Talkers worked in teams of two, one sending coded messages by radio while the other cranked the radio’s internal generator and watched for the enemy or returned fire. After a few hours, they would switch, Nez said. Nez left active duty in 1945 and went into the Marine Reserves until he was reactivated for the Korean conflict in 1951. He left the military in 1952 with the rank of corporal and soon enrolled at Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kan., now known as Haskell Indian Nations University, where he earned his GED and met his future wife, Ethel. The couple married in 1953 in St. Michaels, Ariz., and raised three sons and a daughter. They eventually divorced, and Ethel died of a heart attack in the early 1990s. Nez – who had a talent for drawing – worked as a painter at the Raymond G. Murphy Veterans Affairs Medical Center for 23 years before retiring in 1974. The walls of the center’s recreation building feature several of his works. For decades, none of Nez’s family had any idea what he did during the war, other than loose references to being a “radio man.” All Code Talkers were under strict military orders to keep the code secret, and were not allowed to reveal their true roles in the war until the code was declassified in 1968. Once that secret was made public, the roughly 400 Navajo Code Talkers who served during the war became celebrities. In April, Nez traveled to Quantico, Va., to attend the dedication of a Marine Corps building to the Navajo Code Talkers. In 2012, a book titled “Code Talker,” written by Tijeras author Judith Schiess Avila, was released chronicling Nez’s life and the contributions of the Code Talkers to the war effort. Until recently, Nez would attend book signings and pen his name in beautiful script, accompanied by a title only he could include – “Original 29.” Mass of Christian Burial will be held Tuesday, June 10, 2014, 10:00 a.m., at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church, 4020 Lomas Blvd. NE. Interment will follow at Santa Fe National Cemetery. Friends may visit FRENCH – Lomas on Monday, June 9, 2014, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Sgt. 1st Class Robert E. Rooney, 43, a former Plymouth resident, died Sept. 25 in an accident in Kuwait. He was struck by a forklift while unloading on a pier in Shuabai Port/Spod.
I have read some awesome tales and stories here. I thank God we have such dedicated men and women who take up arms to protect and defend our country. I am still serving and with 36 years I can tell you I have lost too many to list but I love them all as brothers and sisters. Bob here was 2 days away from being back home after 6 months in Iraq/Kuwait in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. His death happened while I was also serving in theater and his death saddened me deeply.
Thank you for all the posts here and for remembering those who served no matter how long they served. Each one of them are a part of what makes us who we are.
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To my friend SFC Robert Rooney
