The Word Of An Airmen
Of a certain Aleutian airmen to be exact… my buddy Lt. Col (RET) Bob Brocklehurst. This Veterans Day is dedicated to him and all those that flew with him in the Aleutian Campaign as well as throughout his 28 year Air Force career. Please take an hour out of your day, perhaps while you are […]
WWII at Elmendorf Air Field
Last Sunday, on Canada Day nonetheless, I was blessed with the opportunity to fly out of the very same airfield as my grandfather did 76 years prior, Elmendorf Field, (Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson). It was 1942 and the RCAF had just arrived in Anchorage to commence joint operations with the U.S. Army Air Corps. Here […]
Thanksgiving 1942
Normally, when Canadian Thanksgiving rolls around, I am on some softball park sweating every once of fluid I have out of my body while I watch my daughter play softball. But not this year…. This year, for the first time in close to a decade, I had the chance to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving, albeit still […]
A WW2 Thanksgiving, 1942
As we sit down to enjoy the feast and family of the season, let us keep in mind those who came before us to make the celebration of this day possible. Our world would look so very different if it were not for those brave enough to sacrifice themselves in order to protect our way […]
Where Do I Possibly Start?
Where do I possibly start with a trip that held so much sentiment as this one did for me? At the beginning? Nah… Way to predictable. View from atop a hill over looking Umnak’s two WW2, still functioning, airstrips. I had held it together until this point. The second last stop of the trip- Umnak […]
Hello Kodiak..
Ahem.. where was I…. Without ever having been there, I saw Kodiak as a special place. I have not quite figured out why exactly besides the fact that my grandfather spent much of his WW2 time on this awe inspiring island. I could not wait to get my feet planted on that majestic soil. First […]
Roy Winebaugh, U.S. Army Medic
One of the most remarkable things that I continue to encounter is the closeness of the world we live in. What is that saying? 6 degrees of separation? Somehow, in some way, we are all connected. This expression has proven itself again on my quest to find veterans who served in the remote Aleutian Islands […]
Ebb and Flow
As I sat at the beach one morning contemplating how to start this come-back post it had occurred to me that any excuse I have sounds pathetic in comparison to the sacrifices the people and families that I write about endured. Sacrifices that allow us the life of freedoms that we enjoy today. […]
Jack Kotlovker
I can not emphasize enough to everyone that you just never know who has family members who served in the Aleutian Islands in WW2. About a month ago, I was in my daughters fourth grade classroom discussing the blog with the greatest teacher on earth, Mr. Leduc (he made me say that), when the […]
RCAF F/O Louis Cochand
Along with the RCAF 111(F) Squadron, the RCAF 14(F) Squadron arrived in Umnak, AK in March, 1943 to aide in the war in Alaska. Louis Cochand was part of that 15 strong P-40 Kittyhawk squadron. Flying Officer Cochand was from St. Marguerite, Quebec. He joined the RCAF as a fighter pilot at the age of […]