July 4th, 2010

Interview with WWII Veteran Clyde Russell McCumber at Delaney Street Baptist Church in Orlando, FL, June 30th, 2010. Veteran McCumber was on his way to church when the war began and was dodging bullets in the Philippines when the war ended. He served in the Army Air Corps from March 1st, 1943 to March 1st, 1946. He remembers those who didn't come home and gave their life so he could keep on living. Veteran McCumber has an appreciation for our country and all the advantages we have in the United States: "I think America is the greatest!"

Interview with WWII Veteran William M. Turner at Delaney Street Baptist Church, June 30th, 2010.

Veteran Turner served in both WWII and the Korean War. During WWII he trained in aviation and during the Korean War was part of the 278 Regimental Combat Team from Cleveland, TN. Serving his country gave him the opportunity to go to college under the GI Bill of Rights. He earned an engineering degree from the University of Tennessee and a degree in electrical engineering from John Hopkins University. Later he and his wife and two daughters moved to Orlando so he could work for the Martin Company now known as Lockheed Martin.

He shares his story of meeting a Civil War Veteran in Tennessee and his gratitude for all the people who have offered their lives so that we could be a free nation.

Interview with attorney Frank Pyle at Delaney Street Baptist Church in Orlando, FL, June 30th, 2010. Mr. Pyle served 26 years in the military nd shares his experiences as a military lawyer including assignments such as visiting American GI's in German prisons. He remembers well those who have sacrificed for their country. As a WWII buff he recounts the personal memories of servicemen who served in WWII fighting so hard for the guy next to him. He says, "Stand up for your country. Stand up for your servicemen.... Living in the United States is incomparable to anywhere else."

Interview with Korean War Veteran Robert L. Claudy, Jr. at Delaney Street Baptist Church in Orlando, FL, June 30th, 2010. Robert Claudy, Jr. is an Orlando native and remembers playing ball at Hillcrest School when Mills Ave. was a clay road. If you made it to the clay it was a home run. He says there were lots of orange groves in the area, people were simple and you "learned how to squeeze the nickel". Veteran Claudy served in the United States Navy Submarine Service during the Korean War and did operations out of Key West, FL. He recalls shooting the stars with a sextant for navigation. He was aboard the USS Cochino doing operations off the coast of Russia when the battery exploded and the submarine later sank in the Barents Sea off Norway. Hear his firsthand account of this historic event.

Interview with WWII and Korean War Veteran Liston "Alex" Coomer at VFW 2093 in Orlando, FL, June 25th, 2010. Veteran Coomer flew with Captain Chuck Yeager, worked as a flight engineer on B-29's, B-50's, B-36's, C-124's, earned his million mile certificate and retired as a Master Sergeant. He recalls learning to fly on a KR 21 paperwing biplane at John Roberts airport in Honolulu, Hawaii in July 1941 and went on to serve in the Administrative Flight Section in Dayton, Ohio. Regarding his experience serving our country, he says, "I'd do it again any day."

Interview with WWII Veteran Keat Spriggs at Delaney Street Baptist Church in Orlando, FL, June 27th, 2010. Veteran Spriggs served in the U.S. Navy in the South Pacific during WWII aboard the USS 20 until it was decommissioned in Boston after the war. He really appreciates that he could serve our country against a nation that had shown its power against us back in 1941. He recalls Orlando as a small town when he came here with his wife in 1959 when the highways were all two lane roads. He worked for Martin Marietta for 30 years and retired in 1987. He is proud that we are a nation that helps people and has a great appreciation for being an American.

Interview with WWII Veteran Tom Connors at St. James Cathedral Church, Orlando, FL, July 1st, 2010.

Veteran Connors served in the Southwest Pacific during the war in extremely native areas such as New Guinea and Okinawa. He is the only living survivor from the original WWII Navy 7th Fleet Amphibious Force. Hear his firsthand detailed account of landing in New Britain, delivering mail through New Guinea, listening to Tokyo Rose on the radio, seeing the Bob Hope Show in New Guinea and meeting Russian female soldiers on a train from Manchuria. Veteran Connors shares his memories of the crew and ships he experienced while serving his country. At the beginning of WWII they worked on a wooden ship from WWI because that is what they had. They had a good navigator Bill Robinson, who went on to become managing editor of Yachting magazine.

Having studied radio in New York at RCA Radio School, Veteran Connors worked the radio shack on the ship and was the radio man receiving the message from President Truman: "We have dropped an A-bomb on Hiroshima". He discusses the Japanese suicide bombers, typhoons and mines at sea.

He is thankful to God to be close to death and survive it. He says, "If you're ever called on to serve this country, serve it. It will be an honor and you'll be proud."

Interview with WWII Veteran Tom Connors at St. James Cathedral Church, Orlando, FL, July 1st, 2010. Veteran Connors served in the Southwest Pacific during the war in extremely native areas such as New Guinea and Okinawa. He is the only living survivor from the original WWII Navy 7th Fleet Amphibious Force. Hear his firsthand detailed account of landing in New Britain, delivering mail through New Guinea, listening to Tokyo Rose on the radio, seeing the Bob Hope Show in New Guinea and meeting Russian female soldiers on a train from Manchuria. Veteran Connors shares his memories of the crew and ships he experienced while serving his country.

At the beginning of WWII they worked on a wooden ship from WWI because that is what they had. They had a good navigator Bill Robinson, who went on to become managing editor of Yachting magazine. Having studied radio in New York at RCA radio school, Veteran Connors worked the radio shack on the ship and was the radio man receiving the message from President Truman: "We have dropped an A-bomb on Hiroshima".

He discusses the Japanese suicidal bombers, typhoons and mines at sea. He is thankful to God to be close to death and survive it. He says, "If you're ever called on to serve this country, serve it. It will be an honor and you'll be proud.

Interview with WWII Veteran Tom Connors at St. James Cathedral Church, Orlando, FL, July 1st, 2010.

Veteran Connors served in the Southwest Pacific during the war in extremely native areas such as New Guinea and Okinawa. He is the only living survivor from the original WWII Navy 7th Fleet Amphibious Force. Hear his firsthand detailed account of landing in New Britain, delivering mail through New Guinea, listening to Tokyo Rose on the radio, seeing the Bob Hope Show in New Guinea and meeting Russian female soldiers on a train from Manchuria. Veteran Connors shares his memories of the crew and ships he experienced while serving his country. At the beginning of WWII they worked on a wooden ship from WWI because that is what they had. They had a good navigator Bill Robinson, who went on to become managing editor of Yachting magazine.

Having studied radio in New York at RCA Radio School, Veteran Connors worked the radio shack on the ship and was the radio man receiving the message from President Truman: "We have dropped an A-bomb on Hiroshima". He discusses the Japanese suicide bombers, typhoons and mines at sea.

He is thankful to God to be close to death and survive it. He says, "If you're ever called on to serve this country, serve it. It will be an honor and you'll be proud."