Holsey Gillis

Jun 28, 2018 | Marines

Holsey Gillis was born in Georgia and was one of six brothers and two sisters in the family. His father had a farm and Holsey learned to work at an early age. Between climbing pecan trees to knock down the nuts to milking cows, Holsey kept busy. After graduating from...

PFC Samuel Tom Holiday

Jun 23, 2018 | Marines

Holiday, who was born to a medicine woman in Monument Valley on the Arizona-Utah border, was unsure of his exact birthday, but family members assigned him the date of June 2, 1924, based on the weather and season at the time. Holiday was 19 when he went through Marine...

PFC Howard P Perry

Jun 14, 2018 | Marines

Breaking a tradition of 167 years, the U.S. Marine Corps started enlisting African Americans in 1942. The first man to enlist was Howard P. Perry. With 119 other recruits, he began the grueling process of becoming a Marine at Montford Point near Camp Lejeune, North...

WASP Marie “Deanie” Bishop Parrish

Mar 26, 2018 | Air Force

Born and raised in Florida, Marie Deanie Bishop grew up with a determination to prove herself. On her twenty-first birthday Deanie, who had learned to fly, reached the age requirement for admission to the WASP program and applied that day. After acceptance, Deanie...

Col Gail S. Halvorsen

Dec 25, 2017 | Air Force, Army

Colonel Gail S. Halvorsen, or, “The Berlin Candy Bomber” served as a catalyst for this operation. As America geared up for the looming world war, Halvorsen was awestruck with the planes he saw flying while he labored on his father’s sugar beet farm...