![]() |
| |||||||
| WW2 General Every WW2 related discussion besides aviation. |
![]() |
| | LinkBack | Thread Tools | Display Modes |
| | #1 |
| Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Orange County, CA
Posts: 10,281
| Its never too late to receive recognition I saw this in todays paper. Article: News - World War II veteran gets his due World War II veteran gets his due Bronze Star recipient hopes others seek medals. By CANDICE SHIH The Orange County Register BRONZE STAR: The order for Stanley Liebert's award was given on Aug. 24, 1962. The medal came in May. Six decades before Stanley Liebert received his Bronze Star, he read in a newspaper about the events of D-Day. That moment, the 17-year-old went straight to an Army recruiting office in Los Angeles. "I was a proud American. I wanted to be a part of this," said the Mission Viejo resident, now 79. "I remember the morning distinctly." He was met by a sergeant, "an old bucktoothed guy with jaundiced eyes," and tried to convince him he was 19 and old enough to enlist. It didn't work, but the sergeant told him where to get a fake ID card. Two hours later, Liebert signed up. ON THE FRONT Liebert says that nothing about his war experience, save perhaps his enlistment, was unusual. He trained at Camp Roberts in central California and was outfitted with a bayonet and a gas mask. A month later, he found himself at the Battle of the Bulge in Hagenau, France. With Germans attacking from all sides, he started throwing grenades, even taking them from fellow soldiers. "I went crazy. I hated 'em," he said of the enemy. Everyone around him fought, he said. But for his actions on that day in January 1945, he earned a Bronze Star. He didn't know it until two years ago. CONNECTION TO THE PAST Liebert had thought he deserved a Purple Heart for wounds suffered in a February 1945 battle. Again, a newspaper article triggered him. On Nov. 2, 2000, he read in USA Today about World War II veterans receiving medals for actions in combat more than a half-century ago. Others in Orange County have earned military honors decades after their service. Liebert had mixed feelings when he submitted a request for a Purple Heart. "I didn't want to go through the bureaucracy," he said. "I didn't want to look like an egotistical maniac." He never received a Purple Heart or any response. Instead, two years ago, a letter arrived at his Casta Del Sol home informing him that he had been awarded a Bronze Star. The order had been given on Aug. 24, 1962, by President Kennedy. The medal came in May, 61 years after World War II ended. There was no ceremony; Liebert said he didn't need one. SEEKING TO INSPIRE Liebert says he wants to inspire other veterans to seek their medals. He also wants to share his memories with his two grandchildren. Justin, 21, and Cameron Harp, 17, remember when "Papa" first told them about the war. About nine years ago, Justin was trying to earn extra credit in his synagogue class. The assignment was to collect memories from a grandparent. "A lot of it was brand new to me," Justin said. "I never even considered what he did when he was in the war; I just knew he was in the war." As Jews, the children were moved to hear their grandfather tell them about the concentration camp outside Dusseldorf-Essen, which his division helped liberate. "In my eyes, he definitely was a war hero," Justin said. Liebert resists the word "hero," but he knows his family is proud of him. The medals, whether they include the Purple Heart, are for them. "It's something we can keep in the family forever," Cameron said.
__________________ "Pilot to copilot..... what are those mountain goats doing up here in the clouds?" |
| | |
| | #2 |
| Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: City of the Angels California
Posts: 809
| It's bizarre that we've heard of many of these cases in like the past 10 years, so long after the war. They still review air combat reports and "new" aces are made when they decide to confirm some guy's 5th kill in 2002!!
__________________ |
| | |
| | #3 |
| Der Crewchief ![]() Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Ansbach, Germany
Posts: 33,152
|
__________________ ![]() fly boy:"isnt that the first jet bomber becasue i have flown one in a flight sim before and i know how it handles"[/I] |
| | |
| | #4 |
| "Shooter" ![]() |
__________________ ![]() http://www.vg-photo.com For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return. Leonardo Da Vinci |
| | |
| | #5 |
| "World Traveller" ![]() |
__________________ ![]() "Success is not Final, Failure is not Fatal, it is the Courage to Continue that Counts" Sir Winston Churchill "To him the People of the World Largely owe the Freedom and Liberties they Enjoy Today" Enscription on Hugh Dowding's (AOC Fighter Command 1936-40) statue in London WW2 Talk: A WW2 Discussion Forum My Photo Collections on Flickr |
| | |
![]() |
| Thread Tools | |
| Display Modes | |
| |
Similar Threads | ||||
| Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
| Too Little, Too Late - The B-32 Dominator | FLYBOYJ | Aviation | 187 | 06-03-2009 06:41 PM |
| What I Have Been Reading of Late | Royzee617 | OFF-Topic / Misc. | 50 | 10-27-2005 08:12 AM |
| Recognition game | Pisis | OFF-Topic / Misc. | 61 | 10-02-2005 02:03 PM |
| Late Bf 109 armament | Chocks away! | IL-2 Sturmovik Pilot's Lounge | 5 | 09-05-2005 02:02 PM |
| Pictures of Yokota Air base in the late 1940's- 1950's | ahanswurst | Aircraft Picture Requests | 0 | 04-11-2004 12:24 AM |