George showed Simon a model of his ship, LST 515.

George Sarros served as a Motor Machinist on LST (Landing Ship, Tanks) 515, landing on the beach in Normandy on June 6, 1944. LST 515 opened its giant door and unloaded tanks, ambulances and hundreds of soldiers as part of the largest amphibious military operation in history. Along with approximately 160,000 of their comrades from the sea and falling from the sky, they successfully began what has been called ���the beginning of the end of World War II.��� George had joined the US Navy at age 17 (with his parents��� signatures).

Simon was interested in George’s mementoes and medals.

The Belgian Brigade Piron moved further north in France, and on September 3, 1944, Piron and his men crossed the French-Belgian border. One day later they liberated Brussels and participated in the liberation of The Netherlands.

Simon Gurdal���s 1c Bataillon also fought in Market Garden, the Allies��� attempt to cross the Rhine (documented in the book and movie,��A Bridge Too Far). Simon was 17 years old, having fudged his age to join the army. The Belgian Brigade Piron continued the fight northward beginning three months after D-Day.

��From birthplaces 4,000 miles apart, these brave 17-year-olds had joined the fight against tyranny. Simon had felt this through Germany���s occupation of his homeland since 1940. These men now connected their experiences in the geography of Europe from June through September 1944.

Simon and George found something else in common���they both speak Greek. After a short conversation in Greek over lunch of pizza and French fries, Simon said to George, ���As soon as I saw your last name, I knew you were Greek.���

��Laughing, George said, ���I had to learn to speak Greek. My Greek grandmother lived with us in Chicago, and she spoke no English. When she called me in Greek to come to her, I had to know what she was saying or I would���ve been in big trouble.���

��Simon learned Greek while living on the shore of Lake Tanganyika, where a large settlement of Greek fishermen made their living night-fishing from the lake.

The WWII��veterans��shared their service connection, their fight for freedom, and even a knowledge of the Greek language. When they parted, they vowed to see each other again.

Top photo: Eighty-two years after fighting for freedom, WWII veterans Simon Gurdal (left) and George Sarros met and swapped stories of their war experiences

This Memorial Day, we remember those who sacrificed so we could live in freedom, those who gave their lives while serving. And we���re thinking of those who have lost someone they love. Thank you for your sacrifice. Thank you for our freedom!

Charles George: The Korean War Hero from Cherokee, NC

A duplicate of this bronze statue of Charles George in the Cherokee Veterans Memorial Park in Cherokee is located outside the Charles George Dept. of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Asheville, NC.

Pfc. George���s indomitable courage, consummate devotion to duty, and willing self-sacrifice reflect the highest credit upon himself and uphold the finest traditions of the military service.

Cycling Fundraiser on the Natchez Trace Parkway

Once again, intrepid athletes Rich Clarke and John Buford are pedaling to benefit the 91做厙! This time, their endurance, grit, and determination will be tested on the 444-mile Natchez Trace Parkway which winds from Natchez, Mississippi, to just south of Nashville, Tennessee.
The trek begins on April 12th.

Last year, those who supported the bikers’ 500-mile marathon enabled us to:

• Refurbish our library, allowing students and adults to research projects from the First World War through the Global War on Terrorism;
• Offer the community free programs which celebrate our veterans��� stories and honor their sacrifices;
• Provide private group tours to public school classes, homeschoolers, scout troops, Jr. ROTC, and adult groups; and, most importantly,
• Keep our doors open despite a large drop in attendance and donations immediately following Hurricane Helene.

We hope you will pledge your support of these dedicated cycling veterans in their epic ride while ensuring the mission of the museum continues its growth in educating, preserving and honoring the United States military veteran.

Here’s how to pledge (billed later):

1. EMAIL your pledge to museum Treasurer Michel Robertson: mjrobertson@comporium.net
   (note second letter is a “j”)
2. Call 828-884-2141 or drop by the museum: 21 E. Main St., 91做厙.
3. To , click HERE to go to our website; include “bike ride” in your notes.

Honoring��the��Service of��Veterans’ Families

Joy and Ted Minnick — in love for 58 years.

Joy and Ted Minnick — in love for 58 years.

Ted Minnick holds his daughter Kim��the day before��his departure to Vietnam.

Upon Ted’s departure, Joy made a point of telling lots of “Daddy stories” to their infant daughter, Kim.

I saw Ted, but he walked right past me — I had lost weight since the baby and he didn’t recognize me. I reached out and grabbed him.

It was a great reunion until��the��next morning when we were awakened by��the��pounding of a jack hammer at a construction site nearby. As soon as it started, Ted grabbed me and we hit��the��floor. It was a while before we could breathe again.

Other than that,��the��week was like a fairy tale. Memories we will hold forever.
Then, back to reality. Six more months of watchful waiting, viewing horrific news reports. Good Morning America received several letters from me asking why they only reported��the��terrible events. I’m not sure what I thought they��should��report, but��the��letters made me feel better.

Kim had her first birthday without her Daddy, but he sent her a letter in a card and made one of the ���OVER��� phone calls. Somehow, we both survived those 365 days, 8,760 hours, 525,600 minutes. We loved, we wrote, we talked, we cried, we laughed, and we survived. That was one year out of our now 58 years together.

The��Minnicks have served their country for more than half a century.

Top Photo: A happy family reunion: after a year’s separation, Ted, Joy, and Kim are reunited.

Editor’s Note:��the��following essay was written by Joy Minnick, wife of Vietnam War��veteran Lt. Col. Ted Minnick, USA, Retired.

Ed Cottrell ,Lt. Col. (Ret.), Honorary Board Member of the museum, and Gary Rodbell, Cpl. IDF Special Forces Golani Brigade, museum volunteer extraordinaire, at The Cliffs.

Ed Cottrell captivated his audience, old and young alike, and answered questions from the large attentive crowd.��

Gary Rodbell and his wife, Colette listening to Ed Cottrell’s presentation

On behalf of the entire Walnut Cove Team we presented Ret. LT Col. Ed Cottrell with a parting gift as a token of our sincere appreciation for sharing his time and insights with our members and staff. We are honored ot have had the opportunity to hear his story. We extend our deepest gratitude for his contributions to our country and our community.

Article by by Gary Rodbell

Photo Top Left: Jim Tyson holding a book of his father���s oral history remembrances
Photo Top Right: US Navy Full Lieutenant James Tyson

Doctor James William Tyson has led a life of uncommon drama, challenge and service to others.

Born in the Philippine Islands on February 6, 1941, just nine months before the Japanese invasion, Jim Tyson and his parents endured the next four years living under the harsh, near-starvation conditions of a Japanese internment camp. On his fourth birthday in 1945, liberation from the internment camp came with the arrival of American forces. Later in life, he credited the entire experience with giving him a profound sense of humility and a strong sense of personal responsibility.

After returning to the US, the family spent several years in Iowa and Nebraska, with his father becoming a college professor in Omaha, Nebraska. When Jim was twelve, the family moved to Denton, Texas, where he spent his key formative years ��� which may explain his lifelong devotion to the Dallas Cowboys.

In his teen years, having a strong love for animals, Jim worked extensively as a veterinary assistant, resulting in his making veterinary medicine his career choice. After successfully passing the Medical College Administration Test (MCAT), however, he came to realize he could serve society better by becoming a fully-qualified family physician.

In 1962 he began a four-year program of study at the University of Texas Medical School at Galveston. In his junior year, he met and married his wife, Carol (who was a working registered nurse from Ontario, Canada). They would later become the parents of two children, a son and a daughter. Tragically, the son, Jimmy, died of cystic fibrosis at the age of ten, but surviving daughter Heather, is a retired Navy nurse.

In 1965, during his medical school senior year, he was commissioned as an ensign in the US Navy under the ���Ensign 1915 Program.��� Thus began a military career that eventually totaled more than 22 years of combined active and reserve military service in both the US Navy (with rank of commander) and US Army Medical Corps Reserve (with rank of lieutenant colonel).

Jim served five year as flight surgeon in a US Marine Intruder A-6 squadron.

Upon graduation, Jim served five years of active duty as flight surgeon in a US Marine Grumman Intruder A-6 squadron at Cherry Point, NC, participating in occasional flights in that jet aircraft. Because his squadron medical responsibilities extended to caring for the family members as well as the squadron flying personnel, that assignment greatly prepared him to broaden his medical skills in subsequent years as a practicing physician.

In 1969, Dr. Tyson ended his US Navy active-duty service to start what was to become a long and celebrated private medical practice in 91做厙, North Carolina. Upon his leaving active duty, the Navy supported his studies at the University of North Carolina preparing to take the then-relatively new American Board of Family Practice. That effort was successful, and he achieved full American Board of Family Practice certification that same year.

When he fully retired as a physician in 2008, Doctor Jim Tyson had served as physician for both military and civilian families for a continuous total of more than 43 years. Those years as a dedicated military service member and family medical provider earned him the strong respect and admiration of legions of friends and beneficiaries of his dedicated service.

Editor’s note:
This holiday favorite is back by popular demand;
i.e., one person asked for it.

The Night Before Christmas

by Michel Robertson
(with apologies to Clement Clarke Moore)

���Twas the night before Christmas in our little town.
The sheriff was making his Christmas Eve rounds.
The streets were deserted, the tourists were home.
The shops were all empty. He was quite alone.

The Vet���rans museum on twenty-one Main
Was closed up and locked ��� or so someone claimed.
When all of a sudden a shrill filled the air.
The museum���s alarm woke the town with a BLARE.

The Mayor arrived in response to the clatter.
Policemen rushed in, yelling ���What is the matter?���
The Sheriff responded, ���We have an intruder!
He���s in the big room. He might be a looter!���

They crept down the hallway, their guns at the ready.
���Be careful,��� the chief warned. ���Now steady, boys, steady.���
As they rounded the corner, their backs to the wall,
They saw that it wasn���t a thief ��� not at all!

A jolly old fat man in red was asleep —
He was taking a nap in the old Willys Jeep.
He awoke with a start and said, ���Boys hold your fire!
���It���s been a long night, and Rudolph is tired.

���The reindeer are sleeping outside on the lawn.
���If I borrow this Jeep, I���ll be back before dawn.���
So he loaded the Willys with gifts from the sleigh,
Shouting ���HO HO HO HO,��� he was up and away!
And we heard him exclaim as he roared out of sight,
���Thanks for your service and to all a good night!���

Three Special Guests ���Dropped In��� to Ed Cottrell���s Commemoration

While D-Day was yet a moonlit night, the 101st��and 82nd��Airborne Divisions delivered some 13,000 paratroopers into battle, the very edge of an Allied wave that would free the French people from years of oppression. Just months later pilot Ed Cottrell would fly the first of his 65 missions from the newly liberated Cambrai airfield north of Paris.

So through what magic tear in the fabric of time did three paratroopers slip from so long ago to appear at this summer���s ceremony marking Ed���s heroism in the epic liberation of Europe? That would be the magic of the All Airborne Battalion, a non-profit and all volunteer organization determined to ���live the legacy���, most notably by portraying the experiences of U.S. paratroopers in WWII, performing commemorative, static line airborne operations and jumps. Members join in memorial services, sometimes involving surviving WWII veterans, provide group tours of battlefields and military museums, participate in educational outreach and commemorative events, and provide support to veterans and first-responders. Many members are veterans and have previous jump experience, but neither is necessary to participate. For more information see

As a bookend to the 65 combat missions he flew in WWII, Ed has made five trips to Normandy in recent years to participate in commemorative events. This is where the connection that brought our surprise visitors to 91做厙 was formed. While visiting the Veterans History 91做厙, Sean Lockhead, All Airborne Battalion Board Member and Director of Veteran Affairs, shared two remarkable stories of commemorative jumps from this summer���s 80th��anniversary D-Day remembrances.

The Bravery of a Normandy Village

The little-known tale of Graignes, a small village 17 miles south of Utah Beach, is often referred to as The Secret Massacre or the Story of the Lost Paratroopers. The unit was the 507th��Parachute Infantry Regiment, of the 82nd��Airborne Division. At 2 AM on D-Day their 12 planes ran into heavy flak while approaching the French coast and veered off course, leaving the troopers with no option but to jump into a dark and unknown territory. In fact, many landed in marshes along with their equipment near the farming community of Graignes. Their intended landing zone was fully 18 miles northwest, enshrining this mis-drop as D-Day���s worst.

Though deep behind enemy lines, the good news was that no German units had discovered them and exploited their chaos after the calamitous drop. Commanded by Major Charles D. Johnston, the unit would dig in and defend the area, blocking any German advance toward the Allied beachhead. The villagers of Graignes woke up to find wet and bewildered American troops in their fields and streets. The mayor called a town meeting. Despite the certain risk of German reprisal if caught helping the Allies, the citizens of Graignes voted unanimously to do so. Food was a pressing need, so the townsfolk organized a massive cooking operation to provide two meals a day. Supplies such as mortars and machine guns had landed in the marshes, so the men, women, and even children of the town used their boats and wagons to collect and bring everything to the town Perimeter.

It took two days for all the troopers of the 507th��to find their way out of marshes and fields and assemble 182-strong in Graignes. They had an additional two days to dig in and refine their defenses. On the fifth day they skirmished with and repelled a reconnaissance unit from a large, armored division. Villagers were sent away. The following day the 507th��held the town against heavy artillery and a force of 2,000. By evening with ammunition in short supply and defenses tattered, the 507th��retreated, divided into pairs trying to find their way across the countryside to Allied lines.

The story of Graignes is little known and that may be because its denouement is heartbreaking, even bitter. The unit���s surgeon, two medics and 14 wounded remained behind and surrendered to the Germans. They were promptly marched off and either bayoneted and tossed in the marsh or forced to dig their own graves and then shot in the head. Both clerics from the church were shot, two elderly residents were shot in their beds, and 44 townspeople were accused of collaboration and executed. The town was set afire. Of two hundred buildings only two remained unscathed by artillery or the blaze.

Zee Fan Little & Sean Lockhead tour museum galleries with museum Board member Phil Davis

Ed Cottrell with Sean Lockhead, a friend from recent Normandy commemorations

After the ceremonies at the church, people gathered in the town square to socialize and enjoy wine and beer and lighten the mood. As the evening progressed, the town held a dinner and dance for the residents and special visitors. As the beer flowed, the somber mood of the earlier remembrances dissipated to be replaced with festivity and dancing, turning the last of the day���s events into a celebration of life.

��A Second Legion of Honor Inductee

Young Marthe Rigault was 12 years old living at her family���s farm just outside of Graignes, when, awakened by the turmoil of D-Day, the family found lost and soaking wet paratroopers knocking at their door. In the ensuing days the family ��� including young Marthe ��� went into the marshes using their boats and wagons to recover munitions, weapons, parachutes, and supplies. Later when the Americans were forced to retreat, the Rigaults managed to hide 21 men until it was safe for their escape.

Marthe is now 92 and still lives near Graignes, where she participates in D-Day remembrances and has been befriended by many veterans returning to recall their WWII experiences. This includes members of the All Air Battalion who enjoyed breakfast with Marthe the day following their jump.

On July 3, 2024, Marthe Rigault was inducted into the French Legion of Honor for her bravery in assisting the Lost Paratroopers of the 507th��even though still a child at the time. Just six days later, Ed Cottrell received the same honor for his part in the same battle to liberate Europe. All Air Battalion just happened to make it their business to stand up and reach out to both honorees, making clear the thread that binds these acts of bravery together.

The Band of Brothers

Band of Brothers is a 10-part HBO mini-series premiered in 2001, produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, which meticulously tells the tale of “Easy” Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division during WWII. The young actors prepared and bonded together by attending a 10-day boot camp ��� but they never actually jumped out of a plane or parachuted to the ground. They also met and learned from surviving veterans of the unit whose war experiences they were portraying. The effect for the actors was profound, and over the ensuing years many cast members regularly attended events in Normandy commemorating D-Day.

During recent years an idea developed during these gatherings: what if the now-aging cast trains and executes an actual jump into Normandy for the 80th anniversary of D-Day. One of the cast, Alex Sabga-Brady, would spearhead the effort to make the adventure into a documentary film and use it to raise money supporting veterans��� charities. Among the friends the cast members made during their visits to Normandy, several were busy forming the All Air Battalion, which became part of the project to have Band of Brothers cast members perform an actual ���Easy��� company commemorative jump.

��The Jump: Currahee to Normandy

Band of Brothers��was filmed in Europe and the actors’ ���boot camp��� was in Europe. But the real-life ���Easy��� company trained at Camp Toccoa, Georgia, located near the base of Currahee Mountain. The camp was closed shortly after the war but is now preserved as an historical site with some original and refurbished buildings. Running the Mountain was an everyday part of the paratroopers training, with the regular chant: ���3 Miles up, 3 Miles down���. For their second ���basic training��� the reunited Band of Brothers would tread closer to history by training at Camp Toccoa and running up and down Currahee.

The All Air Battalion made this possible by operating the camp and providing basic training including practice jumps from the Tunison Foundation���s ���Placid Lassie���, a vintage WWII Douglas C-47 Skytrain, a true D-Day and WWII veteran herself, not a replica. The actors stayed and trained at the original Camp Toccoa barracks in March 2024, including a charity run up Mt. Currahee, meeting currently serving troops, veterans, and families of the original members of ���Easy��� Company.

With training under their belt, the experience culminated in two airborne operations, jumping into France���s Cotentin peninsula on June 3rd��and June 8th. Along the way there were constant interactions with veterans and the public plus attendance at various ceremonies. The culmination was a huge gathering at St.-Mere-Eglise, (the first French town to be liberated by U.S. Paratroopers) where members of the cast performed a rock concert for a crowd of more than 10,000 people.

Ed Cottrell and his daughter Sue Nation (seated) with members of the All Airborne Battalion

The documentary, ���Currahee to Normandy,��� will be a testament to the deep connection between the people of Normandy, veterans, and the actors who continue to keep these heroes’ legacies alive. To learn more, visit��

.

Top Photo: All Airborne Battalion members Sean Lockhead, Zee Fan Little and Russ Battiato during their visit to 91做厙 to honor LTC Ed Cottrell