Remember Them
Helping Their Sacrifice Live On
There is no greater sacrifice that one can offer than their life. Memorial Day honors the men and women who have given all for their country and for freedom.
This Memorial Day, we highlight the artifacts, images and stories in our collection that honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice in one of the world’s darkest hours.
-
Private
George WatsonPrivate Watson was the first African American to receive the Army’s second-highest award—the Distinguished Service Cross—in World War II. In 1997, he was one of seven African Americans awarded the Medal of Honor by President Bill Clinton. No African Americans received the Medal of Honor in the years immediately after the war.
Learn More -
1st Lieutenant
Alexander Bonnyman Jr.A Medal of Honor and Purple Heart recipient for his bravery during the Battle of Tarawa, Bonnyman was buried in a battlefield cemetery on tiny Betio Island along with dozens of fellow Marines. The impromptu burial ground’s location was lost, however.
Learn More -
Private
Earl J. KeatingKeating, assigned to the Anti-Tank Company, 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division, died under heavy Japanese attack while his unit defended a position that would be known as Huggins Roadblock. He was buried there with Private John H. Klopp, also of New Orleans, near where the men fell.
Learn More -
Sergeant
Roland EhlersRoland Ehlers and his brother, Walter, planned to meet on the beach at Normandy after the D-Day invasion. The two, inseparable, never saw each other again.
Learn More -
1st Lieutenant
Leonard IsacksMarine 1st Lt. Leonard Isacks sustained fatal injuries on the beach at Iwo Jima in February 1945, when a mortar shell hit his foxhole. Isacks, a New Orleans native, earned a posthumous Purple Heart award for his bravery; he also left behind a wife and three kids.
Learn More -
Private 1st Class
Anthony SconzaMarie Sconza had little idea of the brutal combat her son, Anthony, saw in the war. Anthony, just 20, died in action during the Italian Campaign in 1944, after seeing some of the war’s fiercest and deadliest fighting. His mother’s ignorance to it was no accident.
Learn More -
The Crew of
The USS TangOn her final patrol, the USS Tang sent an unprecedented 13 enemy ships to the bottom. Tragically as she fired her last torpedo of the patrol, the torpedo broached and began to boomerang back towards the Tang.
Learn More -
Corporal
Germaine LavilleGermaine Laville was born in Plaquemine, Louisiana, the oldest of seven children. She graduated from Louisiana State University where she was a member of Alpha Chi Omega as well as a number of campus organizations and was beloved by her classmates.
Learn More -
Corporal
Thomas "Cotton" JonesOne of the costliest amphibious operations that year was the invasion of Peleliu, a small, but heavily-defended island in the southwestern Pacific. Nearly 10,000 Army troops and Marines were killed or wounded in the battle for Peleliu. Among the dead was Corporal Thomas Paul "Cotton" Jones.
Learn More -
Seaman 1st Class
Johnnie David HutchinsThe Congressional Medal of Honor is this nation's highest military honor. Fewer than 500 Medals of Honor have been awarded for actions performed during World War II.
Learn More -
Yeoman 2nd Class
Frederick Ruckert, Jr.Frederick Ruckert was the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Ruckert of New Orleans. He was serving as a Coast Guardsman aboard LST 167 near the island of Vella Lavella when Japanese aircraft dropped two bombs on his ship.
Learn More -
1st Lieutenant
Augustus Hamilton, Jr.Hamilton was flying top cover for the flight leader, Captain Allan Farrow, who just completed a bombing run on a rail yard, when Hamilton and his wingman were jumped by over 20 Focke Wulf 190 fighters.
Learn More -
1st Lieutenant
Gerald W. JohnstonFirst Lt. Gerald W. Johnston’s B-17 was shot down by German fighters on January 14, 1945. He was last seen at the controls of the plane, having told the rest of the crew to bail out.
Learn More -
Chief Radio Operator
Louis TaixMerchant Marine Louis Taix of New Orleans, Louisiana, was lost at sea when the SS Nicarao was sunk by a German submarine U-751 on the night of May 15, 1942, in the Bahama Islands. Louis was the Chief Radio Operator for the ship.
Learn More -
Private 1st Class
Darrel "Happy" NeilDarrel "Happy" Neil was born in 1922 in Mulberry, Kansas. When he was 20 years old, he married Wilma Harvey. Four months later, he was shipped overseas. He served with the 120th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division.
Learn More
