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The Sergeant John W. Gabersek Jr. Memorial Scholarship

The Latest News, Events and Veteran Profiles!

With great sadness I must report to you that my friend Bud Hansen passed away March 25th, 2011.  Bud and met Johnnie and I in 2007 at the WWII Memorial.  By mere fluke we met 2 more time at the Memorial.  From our first meeting, John and I had a great liking to Bud and his wife Linda.  Please kindly visit Bud's profile here.

Update February 2011 - Dear friends...  My continued neglect of Soldiers and Sailors will soon be coming to an end. My efforts recently have been focused on the D-Day Living History Event in Conneaut Ohio.   Honestly, it's been hard to keep up with both sites, so some help is on the way.  I am giving my control of the D-Day Conneaut site, ddayohio.us, so I can focus on other issues in need of my help there. So that will give me some time to move my attention back over to soldiersandsailors.  My role in the 2011 D-Day Event is Veterans and who better suited to take on that mission than me?
 

Please visit the web site... www.ddayohio.us and try to attend if you can.  August 19th and 20th 2011

January 11th 2009 - Ed Marriott sadly passed away.  A member of the 6th Beach Battalion, he joins his wife Betts in heaven. Ed and I have been friends for a number of years now and he and Betts were instrumental in educating those unfamiliar with the role of the Naval Beach Battalions.   He was feet from my great uncle Amin when the blast which took my uncle's life on D-Day occurred. I recently visited Ed in Atlanta were he had been fighting for life. Ed and I shared some really good moments together as he told me stories about his Naval career. I will miss him a lot as he had been my closest Beach Battalion friend. Rest in peace now my friend for I am proud to have been yours...

Coxswain Amin Isbir's - Head Stone Replacement
Lt. James E. Meena - Tribute Page
PFC Hans Bergmayr - Killed in Action - Netherlands - Identified!
Help Identify TSgt Cliffe Wolfe - Missing in Action - Netherlands

Upcoming Events
Reading Airshow 2011 - June 3rd 4th and 5th
D-Day Conneaut - August 19th/20th 2011


Upcoming Veteran Profiles
I must apologize to all which have waited patiently, but I am now working on completing the profiles of these men.  With John's illness and tragic death, and work on the D-Day event in Conneaut Ohio, my efforts have been focused away from the men below.  So please bare with me as I assemble their profiles as soon as possible.  Thank you for your understanding.


Lt. Colonel John E. Rauscher
Completed January of 2011

Corporal Ed Sarkisian - USMC, Bugler, USS Yorktown CV-10
I've interviewed Ed 4 times and this extensive set will be completed Spring of 2011!

George Mills - 28th Division - Captured at the Battle of the Bulge
I recently visited George in Alabama and talked with him extensively.  A remarkable man.


Bud Hansen - USMC 4th Division
Drummer in the first Marine Corps bagpipe band, Londonderry Ireland, 1943-1944
Served with the 4th Marine Division at Iwo Jima
Completed March of 2011

Steve Burnelko - 29th Division, D-Day, Wounded June 10th

Bill Wilch - 29th Division, D-Day Veteran

Bill Wetzler - Signal Corps, Lost His Leg in Italy

Wesley O. Niccolls Sr. - Signalman US Navy, Invasion of Okinawa Veteran

Chester Maley - USS Franklin, Survivor of Kamikaze Raids

Past Reenacting Events by Date
More to come...

2007 Reading Air Show - Reading PA
2007 D-Day Ohio Reenactment  - Conneaut Ohio

2008 Reading Air Show - Reading PA
2008 Battle of the Bulge Reenactment - Fort Indiantown Gap Pennsylvania

 

On December 15, 2007, Ed Marriott, 6th Naval Beach Battalion veteran and I met for the first time as we attend the Commissioning Ceremony of the USS Mesa Verde LPD-19 in Panama City Florida.  The USS Mesa Verde is twice as long as LCI-88 which brought Ed, Joe, Amin and Company C-8 to the shore of Normandy France, June 6th 1944.  Read more here about the USS Mesa Verde and my press release for Ed's appearance here.

Sgt. John W. Gabersek Jr. Memorial Scholarship - Plans are in the works for a scholarship to be awarded on a annual basis to a son or daughter of a fallen or severely wounded Iraqi or Afghanistan veteran.  The scholarship will assist in the acquisition of text books for one student per year.  A fund will be established to allow for contributions to be made so that the scholarship will continue to grow and be distributed to more than one student per year.  More to come very soon regarding this most important cause.

Posthumous Purple Heart for Uncle Johnnie
  I continue to try and find fellow soldiers that may have witnessed great uncle John's incident with a Japanese Tank on Luzon, summer 1945.   

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