Everyday Patriot

Specialist Wade Elliott Hector was born on August 3, 1968, in Lebanon, New Hampshire.

After his graduation from Lebanon high school in 1986, he enlisted in the US Army, completing a 3-year contract.  He remained in the New Hampshire Army National Guard.

After his active service, Specialist Hector worked for the Greenwood Painting Company and was an avid hunter.  He was a member of both the Grafton County Fish and Game Club and the National Rifle Association.

He deployed to Saudi Arabia to help support Operation Desert Storm/Desert Shield and on February 21, 1991, Specialist Wade Hector would lose his life in a truck accident.  He rests at the Mills Cemetery in Meriden New Hampshire.

Signalman 1st Class Douglas Albert Munro was born on October 11, 1919, in Vancouver British Columbia.  His father repatriated to America while he was young and Signalman Munro would grow up in South Cle Elum Washington.

He was musically talented, playing the drums, trumpet, and harmonica, and he regularly performed with the Sons of the American Legion Drum and Bugle Corps.  Signalman Munro was also a boy scout and wrestled for Cle Elum High School.

After graduation, he enrolled in Central Washington College of Education but withdrew in 1939 to enlist in the US Coast Guard when WWII beginning to look likely, it was at his induction ceremony that he would meet and befriend Commander Raymond Evans.  The two would become known as "the Gold Dust Twins".

After his training at Port Angeles Air Station, he was assigned to the USCGC Spencer until 1941 when the US Coast Guard was transferred from the Department of the Treasury to the Department of the Navy.  The Gold Dust Twins volun…

Private First Class Dories William Brooks Jr. was born on May 19, 1932, in Gaston North Carolina.

He enlisted in the US Marine Corps in 1951 and trained as a rifleman, deploying with the Ist Marine Divison to Korea.

On January 15, 1953, Private First Class Brooks was overwhelmed by enemy fire.

He rests at the Macedonia Baptist Church Cemetery in Mount Holly North Carolina.

Corporal Timothy William Romei was born on March 11, 1968, in Poughkeepsie New York.  He moved to California with his family in 1980 and graduated in 1986 from Abraham Lincoln High School in Almeda California.

He enlisted in the US Marine Corps shortly after graduation and served aboard the USS Shasta and USS Caron before being assigned to the USS Okinawa, which deployed to the Persian Gulf to provide support during the Gulf War.

On October 8, 1990, conducting night missions, the UH-1 he was in collided with another over the Persian Gulf.

Corporal Timothy Romei is still unrecovered. He is remembered on a memorial at the San Francisco National Cemetery.

The Gulf War, also known by its operational names Desert Storm and Desert Shield was a short-lived conflict that began on August 2, 1990, when Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait.

In response to international condemnation, then US President George Bush sent US troops to Saudi Arabia to assist with the liberation of Kuwait.   The conflict ended on February 28, 1991.

At the time, the war was a large shock to the American people, who had largely avoided any substantial troop deployment the return of the Vietnam troops in 1975 and despite its brevity, still cost us lives of 297 US service members.  Here are five of their stories.



Lance Corporal Thomas R. Adams Jr. grew up in Baton Rouge Lousiana.  He enlisted in the Marines after high school and trained in helicopter operations.


Specialist John A. Boliver Jr. had already fulfilled one contract with the US Army and had transitioned to reserve service. He would return to active duty when his unit with the Pennsylvania Army National guard activated.



C…

General Willam Allen Knowlton was born on Jun 19, 1920, in Weston Massachusettes.

He graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point in 1943 and was commissioned a cavalry officer and assigned to the 7th Armored Division.

He would deploy to France during WWII and lead an assault platoon in occupied France. He also commanded recon missions into Germany.

After the war, he would be assigned to staff postings and to the Command College before he deployed to Korea with the 3rd Armored Cavalry.

General Knowlton would return from Korea to attend the War College and was then assigned command of a brigade at Fort Knox and then to a military attache in Tunisia.

After his time in Tunisia, General Knowlton would be assigned to the US Army Chief of Staff and then to the Office of the Secretary of Defense before he deployed to Vietnam, twice, to oversee civilian operations.

On March 23, 1970, he was assigned the 49th Superintendent of the US Military Acadamy at West Point, and he reaffirmed th…