Everyday Patriot

1st Lieutenant Fred Warren Green was born on October 19, 1871, in Manistee Michigan.  He graduated from Michigan State Normal School (now Eastern Michigan University) and in 1898 he would receive his law degree from the University of Michigan.

He was an avid football fan, playing the game collegiately and would coach and manage teams most of his life.

He served in the Spanish American War with the 31st Michigan Volunteers, deploying on May 8, 1898, for Cuba.  His unit was fortunate and didn't suffer any combat-related casualties, although there were challenges with tropical diseases. After his return to Ypsilanti, Michigan in May of 1899, he would become the city attorney.  He also entered into a partnership with the Ypsilanti Reed Furniture Company.

1st Lieutenant Green moved to Ionia in 1904 and entered into politics. First serving as a Republican delegate before becoming the mayor of Ionia (where he established the Ionia Free Fair in 1915). He would become Treasurer of the Repu…

Colonel Ruth Cheney Streeter was born on October 2, 1945, in Brookline Massachusettes  She graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 1918.

All her adult life she would take an active interest in civic affairs, including becoming the first woman president of the Welfare Board of Morrilton New Jersey and at age 47 she would earn her pilot's license so she could join either the WAVES or WASPS as a ferry pilot.

Both rejected her on account of her age.

She would then join the US Marine Corps Women's Reserve and on January 29, 1943, would become its first director and would see almost 18,000 enlistments under her tenure.

After the war, she would return to Morrilton New Jersey and in 1947, she would be appointed to the New Jersey Constitutional Convention.

Colonel Streeter would stay active in civic and political life until her death on September 30, 1990.  She rests in Petersburgh New Hampshire.

Colonel Gregory Boyington was born on December 4, 1912, in Coeur d'Alene Idaho. His family moved to Washington while he was young and he graduated from Lincoln High School, in Tacoma Washington.

He attended the University of Washington, where he was on the wrestling and swim teams. Colonel Boyington was also in the fraternity Lamda Chi Alpha, and participated in ROTC.  He graduated in 1934 with a BS in aeronautical engineering and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the US Army Reserves.

In 1935 he would try to gain a seat in the cockpit by enlisting under the Aviation Cadet Act. Unfortunately, the code disallowed married men and he was married.  Colonel Boyington found a way around this rule.

Boyington was the colonel's birth name. Up until this point, though, he had been using the name Gregory Hallenbeck, which was the last name of his mother's second husband. While there was a recorded marriage for Gregory Hallenbeck, there wasn't any record of a marriage for G…

Sergeant Tommy Angelo Blue was born on December 20, 1957, in Spring Lake North Carolina.

He enlisted in the US Army and was assigned to the 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade and deployed to the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Storm/Desert Shield.

Sergeant Tommy Angelo Blue died of a heart attack on December 30, 1990, and rests at the Fort Bragg Main Post Cemetery.

Chief Petty Officer Don Coram Lingle was born on October 21, 1899, in Union, Illinois.

He would work as a food broker and grocery purchaser before enlisting in the US Navy on October 22, 1942.  He would be assigned to Naval recruitment.

In December 1942, Chief Petty Officer Coram hatched an idea using a pig named King Neptune to raise money for the USS Illinois.

While the USS Illinois was never completed, the pair would ultimately raise 19 Million in war bonds.

Chief Petty Officer Coram left the Navy in 1947 and retired in 1968 to Clearwater Florida. He died on February 27, 1987, and was cremated.

Captain Eugene Wesley Roddenberry was born on August 19, 1921, in El Paso Texas.

His family moved to Los Angeles in 1923 and he would keep a home in southern California most of his life.

Captain Roddenberry read a lot in his youth and was especially enthralled with pulp magazines.

Wanting to become a pilot, he enlisted in the US Air Force on December 18, 1941, eleven days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, through the Civilian Pilot Training Program.

He would deploy with the 394th Bomb Squadron to Bellows Air Field in Oahu.  On August 2, 1943, while flying out of Espiritu Santo, his plane, the "Yankee Doodle", overshot the runway, killing Sergeant John P. Kruger and Lieutenant Talbert H. Woolam.  Captain Roddenberry was cleared of any fault during the investigation and tribunal and would return stateside as a crash investigator for the US Air Force.  During this period, as a passenger, he was involved in another plane crash.

Recruited by Pan Am after the war, he would fly a…