May 2024 Edition

8
Where Did We Get Such Men?
By: Chuck Dean / Vet 2 Vet
There are so many good men and women to
remember on this 2024 Memorial Day that
most of us just bow our heads and silently focus
on the thousands that gave their all while defending America in the
Armed Forces. However, this Memorial Day, I’ve one dear friend in
mind, and would like to honor him by sharing a bit of his story.
Commander William “Country” Landreth, USN (ret.), passed away
at 90 years old on Memorial Day, May 28, 2012. The cause of his death
was the lingering effects of a WWII injury.
Bill grew up in Nebraska and joined the Navy as an officer. He went
on to pilot an F4U Corsair with fighter squadron VF-17, the Jolly Rogers,
“Country”, as his
squadron mates dubbed
him, was credited with
3 kills and 1 assist while
his squadron destroyed
154 planes in 76 days
of combat in the South
Pacific. No bomber
escorted by VF-17 was
lost to enemy aircraft,
and no ship was ever
hit by a bomb or aerial
torpedo. They were at
the top of their game.
In March 1945,
on his first day of combat with a different squadron, fighter/bomber
squadron VBF-10, Bill was launched from the carrier Intrepid and
never returned. His plane went down after flying through the explosion
caused by his own low-level strafing of a camouflaged ammunition
dump.
After 3 days in a raft in freezing rain with a broken back, he was
captured and spent the last 6 months before liberation as a POW in
Ofuna, Japan.
Country’s Navy career decorations include the Distinguished Flying
Cross with Gold Star; Air Medal with 4 Gold Stars; Purple Heart; Navy
Unit Commendation; Prisoner of War Medal; and numerous theater
ribbons.
I got to know Bill when I became the National Director of a veteransfor-veterans
support organization, and my numerous visits and
conversations with “Country.”
I recognized a common trait that I have seen in all heroes, regardless
of which war they were in: They possess a sense humility, and a deep
appreciation for life that strikes at one’s heart.
Quoting Rear Adm. George Tarrant in 1954, “Where Did We Get
Such Men?”
Chuck Dean served as an Army paratrooper in Vietnam and
through that experience was led to address the many transitional
issues veterans struggle with. He is the author of several important
books for veterans.
May 2024
You Gotta Laugh (and
Admire) Moms
By: Bill Caserta / Bill’s Blurbs
In honor of Mother’s Day, what better way to
show our love and appreciation than to run
the following words of wisdom? Agree, disagree,
smile, laugh or shake your head all you want, but
you know that the quotes below are entirely true.
To moms and grandmas everywhere, a very Happy Mother’s Day.
1. When your mother asks, ”Do you want a piece of advice?” it’s
just a mere formality. It really does not matter if you answer yes or no.
You’re going to get it anyway. - Erma Bombeck
2. An ounce of mother is worth a ton of priest – Spanish Proverb
3. There is only one pretty child in the world, and every mother has
it. – Chinese Proverb
4. A mother is a person who, seeing there are only 4 pieces of pie for
five people promptly announce she never did care for pie. – Tenneva
Jordan
5. The phrase “working mother” is redundant. - Jane Sellman
6. A mom forgives all our faults, not to mention one or two we don’t
even have. – Robert Brault
7. We have a secret in our culture and it’s not that child birth is
painful. It’s that women are strong. – Laura Harm
8. Any mother could do the jobs of several air traffic controllers with
ease. - Lisa Alther
9. It’s not easy being a mother. If it were, fathers would do it. – The
Golden Girls
10. I want my children to have all the things I couldn’t afford. Then,
I want to move in with them. – Phyllis Diller
11. God could not be everywhere, and that’s why he made mothers.
– Rudyard Kipling
12. Mom, I do love you, even though I’ll never accept your friend
request. – Unknown (obviously)