|
SPECIAL
GUEST SPEAKERS:
Don
Malarkey
Tech. Sgt. Don Malarkey of "Easy Company," 506th Parachute
Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne, whose story was
highlighted in the acclaimed Band of Brothers
HBO series. Sgt. Malarkey received the Bronze Star
with Oak Leaf Clusters for his heroic feats at D-Day.
He fought with the 101st Airborne in Normandy, Holland,
Belgium, and Germany…and was at Bastogne during the
famous Battle of the Bulge. His continued exploits
carried him eventually into Austria. His unit suffered
over 150 percent casualty rate and Sgt. Malarkey served
more days in combat without a wound than any other
man from "E" Company. >See
More Photos
 |
Alter
Wiener
A survivor of several Nazi camps located in Poland
and Germany, Alter Wiener lost 123 family members
in the Holocaust. He was age 13 when the German armies
invaded and conquered his native Poland. His father
was one of 38 Jews taken from their hometown near
the German border and was killed by the Nazis. Two
years later, Mr. Wiener was deported and subjected
to slave labor camps in five different locations until
the war ended in 1945. He survived, but his family
had been decimated. Mr. Wiener came to the U.S. in
1960 and today is married and has two sons. Warner
Pacific College recently awarded Wiener an Honorary
Batchelor Degree, in recognition of his message about
the importance of freedom and education, derived from
his Holocaust experience. >Read
More >See
More Photos
 |
Kennie
Namba
Mr. Namba was a Nisei volunteer with the 442nd Regimental
Combat Team, 100th Battalion during World War II.
A Japanese-American teenager who was interned with
his family in a "relocation" camp after Pearl Harbor,
Kennie chose to fight in the all Japanese-American
442nd Regimental Combat Team. The 442nd is credited
with rescuing "The Lost Battalion" though suffering
enormous casualties in doing so. The 442nd continues
to be the most highly decorated unit of its size and
duration in U.S. history. Mr. Namba earned both the
Purple Heart and Bronze Star. After the war, he fought
a "second war" to restore his family's civil rights.
>See
More Photos
CONFIRMED
SPECIAL GUESTS IN ATTENDANCE:
Mr.Jake
DeShazer flew with Col. Jimmy Doolittle's group
to Bomb Tokyo after Pearl Harbor was attacked, was
captured and spent 3 1/2 years in a torture camp.
After the war, Mr. DeShazer went to seminary and returned
to Japan as a chaplain, helping to restore the Japanese
people's hope and trust, and earning the reputation
of a man of extreme benevolence among Japanese citizens.
Howard
Ramsey, one of just 30 remaining Veterans of World
War I, was in attendance. One of the few men at that
time who could drive a motor vehicle, Ramsey drove
cars, trucks and motorcycles during the war. Ramsey
drove trucks to the lines where soldiers had been
killed to help transport their bodies back to the
United States. He chauffeured officers, drove ambulances
and taught other soldiers how to drive. He
was awarded the 14th National Convention 1932 American
Legion US Portland, Oregon medal; the World War Service
medal from the State of Oregon; the 75th Anniversary
of WWI medal; two Republic Francaise medals (awarded
to US citizens by France). >Read
More >See
Photo
|
