I found a USS Sable item being sold on E-Bay. When the bid was $9.99, I considered buying it. With one hour left, the bid is $89.99. Since I don’t really have a place to show it, I am skipping this USS Sable item.
Friday, July 04, 2008
Piece of history for sale
Friday, June 13, 2008
General Motors FM-2 Wildcat at Pima
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Many Wildcats also served as trainers throughout the war. One of the Navy’s largest training centers was located near Chicago. Two Great Lakes paddlewheel steamers were converted into aircraft carriers. The USS Wolverine and USS Sable sailed from Chicago’s Navy Pier each day to let new aviators practice landing and taking off from ships. The combination of new pilots and the inherently dangerous activity of landing on a moving ship resulted in many aircraft littered across the bottom of southern Lake Michigan. Fortunately for future historians Lake Michigan has just the right combination of depth, cold and fresh water to preserve these aircraft.
Pima Air Museum
Friday, May 09, 2008
Navy Pier 1941-1945
Up to 12,000 sailors at a time were housed at the Pier, stacked in triple bunks. In all, about 60,000 men received their training on the Pier. The school also provided support for two aircraft carriers that had been converted from paddlewheel passenger cruisers, the USS Wolverine and USS Sable, which the Navy used for training aircraft carrier pilots. Flying from Glenview Naval Air Station, pilots would meet the carriers out on Lake Michigan for landing and take off practice. Among those who trained on these ships was future President George H.W. Bush. The Pier functioned as a Naval Training School until 1946, when the Navy turned control of the Pier over to the City of Chicago and the University of Illinois.
Click link for more about Navy Pier and the complete photo abve.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
PO Valley then what happened?
My father never really talked about his WWII military service. He did say he was in field artillery in Italy. When he passed away last November, we got his military discharge papers. From those, I know he saw enough action in the PO Valley campaign to get a bronze battle star for his MiddleEast ribbon.
I filled out the SF180 form but was told his military records were destroyed by the fire.
I posted some of his photos at the Ft. Sills FA OCS school web site but I want to know more about his PO Valley experience. I am trying to figure out which field artillery unit he was with.
In the 1980s, my father and I went on a bus tour. It started in Frankfurt. It went to Austria and Switzerland. For Italy, we drove thru Cortina D’Ampezzo. As we drove from Villach to Innsbrook via Cortina D'Ampezzo, he mentioned serving in Northern Italy and seemed aware of Cortina so his FA unit must have been near.
If you click on the map, you will see the order of battle map at the end of the PO Valley campaign. There are three units that go right after Verona. I hope he was attached to one of this units but don’t know where they went after this map. Nor am I good in reading the markings on the map to know exact which units are shown. Can anybody help?
Sunday, February 17, 2008
A Look Back: Forty Years of Reminiscing
Richard A. "Chick" Eldridge describes the beginnings of his naval history. Click link for a Look Back He describes what he thought were problems with the Great Lake carriers.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Field Artillery Pin
My father was in the field artillery in WWII. I found this pin going thru his things. I am posting the picture here so I can post in on other forums in an attempt to identify it.
Update: The pin is from the Field Artillery OCS school. Still not sure whether students were issued the pin.
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