On April 25, 1951, his unit was ambushed as it pulled back from the Chinese attack near Chongpyong, South Korea. He was seriously wounded by a small arms bullet to his chest and died of those wounds on April 27, 1951 as he was being evacuated from a field hospital to a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital.
We honor you, Claire Martin.
Lane Schofield Anderson was born February 14, 1896 in Richmond, Virginia to Justin K. and Fannie Anderson. He attended schools in Mercer, Mingo and Kanawha counties in West Virginia.
He graduated from Charleston High School in 1916. He excelled in track, becoming the first West Virginian to run the 100 yard dash in 10 seconds. He was a student at West Virginia University for a short time before entering Camp Benjamin Harrison for Officers Training, later being commissioned a Second Lieutenant. He married Julia L. de Gruyter on February 13, 1918. They had one child.
Lieutenant Anderson went overseas as a member of Company G, 26th Infantry, 27th Division. While in France he served under British Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig. This company took part in the Battle of Argonne and broke through the Hindenburg Line.
The testimony of men who served with Lieutenant Lane Anderson attests to his bravery in battle after taking command when the leader of his platoon was killed. Under heavy enemy fire, Anderson left his safe position to lead his men to their objective and was wounded. Various accounts were given to his family as to the exact manner of his death. By some accounts he died shortly after, but other reports state he was captured and died in a German prison. His official date of death is September 7, 1918.
In a sworn deposition given March 5, 1919, Sergeant Harry S. Lynk, a comrade of Lane Anderson stated that during the initial stages of their attack on the Hindenburg line, two platoons of Company G lost contact. In order to regain contact, Lieutenant Lane Anderson, braving heavy enemy fire, did reconnaissance in an effort to locate the men of the platoons of Company G. It was discovered that they had enough men to hold their front line position. Captain Hardy, who had been in command, was killed and full command fell to Lieutenant Anderson.
Enemy forces were on both flanks and Anderson made the decision that the position should be “put out of action” in order to spare the remaining men. Sergeant Lynk stated that it was “sure death to show yourself” and related how Anderson “jumped up on the top Himself” while firing a rifle and “loaded down with bombs” in an effort to lead his men to a safer position. At this time, Lane Anderson was wounded by machine gun bullets. “For this and other acts of bravery,” said Sergeant Lynk, “I Know Lt. Anderson should receive the highest decoration that could be awarded by any government.” Sergeant Lynk, who himself had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery in the same battle, believed Lieutenant Lane Anderson more worthy of recognition than himself.
Lane Schofield Anderson was buried in Somme American Cemetery in Bony, France. For his bravery, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross posthumously. The award was presented to his widow, Julia L. Anderson. A VFW post was later named for him.
We honor you, Lane Schofield Anderson.
Born in 1919 to immigrants from Yamaguchi, Japan, Akira Akimoto grew up in Honolulu. His mother was a maid and his father worked for Young Laundry Company. Akira went to Kaiulani Elementary and Kalakaua Intermediate and graduated from McKinley High School. After graduation, he worked at the Hawaiian Pine Company.
Akimoto was drafted and entered the army in November 1941. An original member of the 100th Infantry Battalion, he was first assigned to B Company and then to Headquarters Company, attaining the rank of corporal.
The 100th had many good baseball players, including Akimoto. While the 100th was in basic training at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, a baseball team called the Aloha Team was formed. It played teams throughout the state of Wisconsin. Akimoto was second baseman and outfielder.
After the war he worked at Hickam Air Base in the supply warehouse and office.
We honor you, Akira Akimoto.
(1914-1981) One of the world’s best-known athletes, Louis’s enduring popularity was partly due to his sheer dominance: Of his 25 successful title defenses, nearly all came by knockout. But in winning, Louis also showed himself to be a gracious, even generous victor. He also drew praise for his support of the country’s war effort, as he enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942 and donated prize money to military relief funds.
After reigning as heavyweight champion for 11 years and eight months, a record, Louis retired on March 1, 1949.
We honor you, Joe Louis.
Mrs. Dixon was working for the War Department’s secretarial pool at the newly constructed Pentagon in 1943 when she enlisted in the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps, soon to be called the Women’s Army Corps.
She was initially limited to administrative assignments in Iowa and Texas. But in 1945, she joined the newly established 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. The battalion was the only unit of black WACs to serve overseas in World War II and was led by Charity Adams, one of the first black female commissioned officers in the war.
The Army was segregated, and Mrs. Dixon’s battalion — made up of more than 800 African American woman and posted in England and France — dined and was housed separately from other WACs.
The 6888th was tasked with sorting and distributing what she estimated were billions of backlogged letters and packages to soldiers — a pileup attributed to the disruption in delivery caused by the Battle of the Bulge.
Their mission was deemed vital to sustaining morale on the front lines, but a significant hurdle was identifying a piece of mail’s ultimate destination based on incomplete information supplied by the sender.
“A lot of mothers wrote to ‘Buster, U.S. Army,’ or ‘Junior, U.S. Army,’ ” Mrs. Dixon told an Army publication. “We knew every service member had a number and we had difficulty finding them; however, we found every person. Also a lot of wives and sweethearts wrote to soldiers every day. There were stacks and stacks of mail we had to send back indicating deceased. That was sad.”
She added: “We had to fight mice and rats while sorting the mail. People down south from Alabama were sending fried chicken and bread to soldiers in France.”
Working three shifts a day, seven days a week, the battalion accomplished in three months what was projected by the brass to take half a year.
Mrs. Dixon returned to Washington in the late 1940s and worked for the Census Bureau and later the Pentagon, retiring in 1972 as a purchasing agent.
We honor you, Alyce Dixon .
The presidency of George Washington began on April 30, 1789, when Washington was inaugurated as the first President of the United States, and ended on March 4, 1797. Washington took office after the 1788–89 presidential election, the nation’s first quadrennial presidential election, in which he was elected unanimously. Washington was re-elected unanimously in the 1792 presidential election, and chose to retire after two terms. He was succeeded by his vice president, John Adams of the Federalist Party.
Washington had established his preeminence among the new nation’s Founding Fathers through his service as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and as President of the 1787 Constitutional Convention. Once the Constitution was approved, it was widely expected that Washington would become the first President of the United States, despite his own desire to retire from public life. In his first inaugural address, Washington expressed both his reluctance to accept the presidency and his inexperience with the duties of civil administration, but he proved an able leader.
Washington presided over the establishment of the new federal government – appointing all of the high-ranking officials in the executive and judicial branches, shaping numerous political practices, and establishing the site of the permanent capital of the United States. He supported Alexander Hamilton’s economic policies whereby the federal government assumed the debts of the state governments and established the First Bank of the United States, the United States Mint, and the United States Customs Service. Congress passed the Tariff of 1789, the Tariff of 1790, and an excise tax on whiskey to fund the government and, in the case of the tariffs, address the trade imbalance with Britain. Washington personally led federal soldiers in suppressing the Whiskey Rebellion, which arose in opposition to the administration’s taxation policies. He directed the Northwest Indian War, which saw the United States establish control over Native American tribes in the Northwest Territory. In foreign affairs, he assured domestic tranquility and maintained peace with the European powers despite the raging French Revolutionary Wars by issuing the 1793 Proclamation of Neutrality. He also secured two important bilateral treaties, the 1794 Jay Treaty with Great Britain and the 1795 Treaty of San Lorenzo with Spain, both of which fostered trade and helped secure control of the American frontier. To protect American shipping from Barbary pirates and other threats, he re-established the United States Navy with the Naval Act of 1794.
Greatly concerned about the growing partisanship within the government and the detrimental impact political parties could have on the fragile unity of the nation, Washington struggled throughout his eight-year presidency to hold rival factions together. He was, and remains, the only U.S. president never to be affiliated with a political party. In spite of his efforts, debates over Hamilton’s economic policy, the French Revolution, and the Jay Treaty deepened ideological divisions. Those that supported Hamilton formed the Federalist Party, while his opponents coalesced around Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson and formed the Democratic-Republican Party. While criticized for furthering the partisanship he sought to avoid by identifying himself with Hamilton, Washington is nonetheless considered by scholars and political historians as one of the greatest presidents in American history, usually ranking in the top three with Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
We honor you, George Washington.
Denise Rohan was elected national commander of the 2 million-member American Legion on Aug. 24, 2017, in Reno, Nev., during the 99th national convention of America’s largest veterans organization.
Born in McGregor, Iowa, Denise (Hulbert) Rohan lived in Elkader, Iowa, until leaving for U.S. Army basic training at Fort McClellan, Ala., in 1974. She served on active duty as a stock control and accounting specialist and repair parts specialist course instructor at Fort Lee, Va., until her honorable discharge in August 1976.
Rohan and her husband, Mike, currently live in Verona, Wis., where she has served The American Legion since 1984. Prior to her transfer to Post 385 in Verona, she served as the commander of Post 333 in Sun Prairie, Wis., where she established a Sons of the American Legion squadron and chartered a Boy Scout troop. She has also served as the department commander of Wisconsin.
Rohan and Mike are both 2006 graduates of the National American Legion College and 2015 graduates of the Wisconsin American Legion College-Basic Course, and have gone on to serve as department and national American Legion College facilitators.
Rohan was employed with the University of Wisconsin Madison as the assistant bursar of student loans until her retirement in 2012. She managed the University of Wisconsin Madison, University of Wisconsin Green Bay and University of Wisconsin Colleges $120 million loan portfolio made up of approximately 200 different federal, institutional and state programs in compliance with all laws, regulations and policy. She was responsible for the efficiency and design of the computerized student loan accounts receivable system.
She is a graduate of Mount Senario College in Ladysmith, Wis., and The Collegiate Management Institute.
Rohan served the Family Readiness Group as a civilian volunteer with the Wisconsin Army National Guard 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team and 1-105th Cavalry Squadron. She also served with the 115th Fighter Wing, Wisconsin Air National Guard Airman and Family Readiness Program.
Her theme as national commander is “Family First” and her fundraising project is the Legion’s Temporary Financial Assistance program and the Legion’s service officer program. TFA awards cash grants to minor children of veterans who are eligible for American Legion membership. These grants help families in need meet the cost of shelter, food, utilities and health expenses, thereby keeping the child or children in a more stable environment.
Rohan has been married to Mike since 1976, and they have a son, Nicholas, daughter-in-law Angie, and two grandchildren, Sawyer and Isla. Mike is very active with The American Legion on both the state and national levels and is a past department adjutant. Nick and Sawyer are members of Squadron 385, and Isla is a member of Unit 385.
We honor you, Denise Rohan.
