Everyday Patriot

Born on June 6, 1900, in Lake Wilson, Minnesota, Lieutenant Colonel Nola Forrest attended Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and completed nurses training at Eitel Hospital, also in St. Paul. She enlisted in the U.S. Army Nurses Corps on February 25, 1927, eventually taking her to the Philippines as the Director of Nurses in the South Pacific. She was in the Philippines when World War II erupted. Lieutenant Colonel Nola Forrest led nurses from field hospitals into Leyte, setting up a field hospital in an old cathedral under enemy fire, receiving more than 600 patients within the first three hours of the nurses' arrival. Later, she led the detail of nurses into the liberation of Santo Thomas, taking over the care of the POW soldiers and nurses. Lieutenant Colonel Nola Forrest retired from the army on September 30, 1946, and lived in the D.C. area until her death on July 30, 1999 and rests at Arlington. Her life is memorialized in the book "Fearless Presence: Th...

Lieutenant Colonel Ernest Childers was born on February 1, 1918, in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.  A graduate of the Chilocco Indian Agricultural School (he was Muscogee), he enlisted in the Oklahoma National Guard and was assigned to the 180th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division. Deployed to Italy at the beginning of the U.S. entry into World War II, he earned a Congressional Medal of Honor for single-handedly attacking two machine gun nests, killing two snipers, and capturing an artillery observer with a broken foot.  Lieutenant Colonel Ernest Childers accomplished this task by throwing rocks into the nests, which were mistaken for grenades. He was the first Native American to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor since the Western Frontier wars of the 19th century. Lieutenant Colonel Ernest Childers remained in the U.S. Army until 1965, teaching jungle training and winter training. He died at the age of 87 on March 17, 2005, and rests at the Floral Haven Memor...

Born on September 10, 1948, in Cumberland, Virginia. Private First Class Garfield McConnell Langdon moved with his family to Brooklyn, New York, while he was young. An accomplished mechanic, who loved working on his car and playing guitar, Private First Class Garfield Langhorn was drafted into the U.S. Army shortly after he graduated from Riverhead High School in 1967. Private First Class Garfield Langhorn deployed to Vietnam for the Vietnam War as a radio operator with the 7th Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Aviation Brigade. On January 15, 1969, his unit attempted to rescue the crew of a downed helicopter when they came under attack. Private First Class Garfield Langhorn threw himself upon a live grenade in defense of his squad mates and was killed. He earned a Congressional Medal of Honor for his sacrifice.  He rests in the Riverhead Cemetery in Riverhead, New York. In his honor, the Pulaski Elementary School holds an annual "Garfield Langhorn Essay Cont...

Born on November 19, 1897, in Washington D.C, Lieutenant Quentin Roosevelt, the youngest son of President Teddy Roosevelt, was raised in the White House. Known as an incurable "bad boy," Lieutenant Quentin Roosevelt was known for pelting Secret Service members with snowballs, tossing spitballs at official portraits, and creating a baseball diamond in the White House Lawn. Lieutenant Quentin Roosevelt was also a good student with an incredible mechanical aptitude and was accepted to Harvard University in 1915. When World War I erupted, Lieutenant Quentin Roosevelt, thinking his mechanical skills and his fluency in French would be helpful, enlisted in the 1st Reserve Aero Squadron before moving to the 95th Aero Squadron.  In addition to learning to pilot, he also handled the supplies for his squadron.  While in France, he tussled with a higher-ranking officer (Captain) about boots for his men, which he got, despite threats of physical violence and a court marshall (a Maj...

Captain Edward Rickenbacker was born on October 8, 1890, in Columbus, Ohio. Forced to leave school early after his father's death to help support his family, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker continued to learn and study independently and enrolled in many correspondence courses. Fascinated by cars (and machinery in general), he began working as a salesman at the Columbus Buggy Company. Captain Eddie Rickenbacker golfed and raced cars as a hobby, competing in the Indianapolis 500 four times before the beginning of World War I and setting a world speed record in 1914 at Daytona. Eager to support the war, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Service in 1917. Wanting to fly, his lack of formal education and his age barred him from flight school. Instead, he was assigned to work as a chauffeur and mechanic. Undaunted, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker learned to fly independently and was finally awarded his wings. He had a stellar career, earning the 'Ace' designation with 26 victories and ...

Brigadier General James Leo Dalton II was born on January 20, 1910, in New Britain, Connecticut.  He was raised in Naugatuck, playing football and running track for Naugatuck High School. After his high school graduation in 1927, Brigadier General James Dalton entered the Military Academy at West Point in 1929 and graduated in 1933. Initially,  with the Calvary, General James Leo Dalton received a spinal injury while playing polo. After a lengthy hospital stay, he was reassigned to the infantry. Assigned to the 161st Rifle Regiment, he was posted at Pearl Harbor during the attack in 1941 and the entry of the US into World War II. In 1943, after the 161st was deployed to Guadalcanal, Brigadier General James Dalton received the command for the 161st and led the regiment through the New Georgia Island campaign. During the Battle of Luzon, Brigadier General James Leo Dalton was reassigned to the 25th Infantry Division as the assistant commander. He was killed in action duri...

Born on December 27, 1887, in Winchester, Virginia, the baseball legend Spottswood Poles made his way to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he started playing with the Harrisburg Colored Giants in 1906. Turning professional in 1909 with the Philidelphia Giants, Sergeant Spottswood Poles followed manager Sol White to New York, where he spent most of his career with the New York Lincoln Giants. Hearing the call of World War I, he took a break from his career to enlist in the U.S. Army and was assigned to the 369th Infantry Regiment, commonly known as the "Harlem Hellfighters." Sergeant Spottswood Poles served honorably, earning five Battle Stars and a Purple Heart. After the war, Sergeant Spottswood Poles continued to play professionally until 1923, when he retired to work as a taxi cab driver and worked as a civilian at Olmstead Airforce Base. On September 12, 1962, he died in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. * Read about a.d. ellio...

Staff Sergeant Ruben Rivers was born on October 31, 1918, in Tecumseh, Oklahoma. In response to the US entrance into World War II, he enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942 and was assigned to the 761st Tank Batallion, known as the "Black Panthers" (Sergeant Rivers was of African and Native American descent). Staff Sergeant Ruben Rivers was assigned to George S. Patton's Third Army. The 761st, along with the 104th Infantry, were picked to aid in the Saar Campaign. During Staff Sergeant Reuben Rivers's military career, he distinguished himself several times. The first, on November 8, 1944, he left his tank and moved an enemy roadblock, using only his sidearm for defense. Later, on November 16, he received severe leg wounds after his tank activated a land mine. Despite orders to evacuate, Staff Sergeant Ruben Rivers remained in the field. On November 19, 1944, underfire and in the defense of the rest of his unit, he located and drew fire from an enemy anti-tank unit and ...

Seaman Cesar Estrada Chavez was born on March 31, 1927, in Yuma, Arizona.  During the Great Depression, his family lost their ranch, grocery store, and farm, forcing the family to move to California and become migrant farmworkers. Seaman Cesar Chavez quit school in 1942 to help support the family, joining the U.S. Navy in 1946 with a two-year contract.  Seaman Chavez fulfilled his contract with an honorable discharge in 1948 and returned to farm work until 1952. In 1952, Seaman Cesar Chavez began pursuing the cause of the Mexican American agricultural worker, organizing the Community Service Organization (CSO), and, in 1962, founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) (later called  United Farm Workers UFW) with Dolores Huerta. Through the NFWA, he organized and supported strikes for farmworkers, winning concessions in wages and working conditions, including the California Agriculture Labor Relations Act and the ending of the Bracero Program. Seaman Cesar ...

Sergeant Dashiell Hammett was born on May 27, 1894,  he was raised in Baltimore and Philadelphia. He left school at the age of 13, working at odd jobs before joining the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. Sergeant Dashiell Hammett worked as a Pinkerton detective from 1915 to 1922, leaving in 1918 to enlist in the U.S. Army Ambulance Corps for World War I.  During his enlistment, Sergeant Dashiell Hammett contracted the Spanish Flu and then Tuberculosis, which would plague him for the rest of his life. Unable to maintain his career as a detective, Sergeant Dashiell Hammett began publishing detective novels, including  The Maltese Falcon . In addition to his writing, he was also a left-wing activist and, in 1930, joined the Communist party. Despite his political affiliations and Tuberculosis, he managed to re-enlist in the U.S. Army in 1942, after the attack on Pearl Harbor and in response to World War II. Sergeant Dashiell Hammett was assigned as editor of...

Born on October 4, 1923, in the suburbs outside Chicago, Staff Sergeant Charlton Heston spent his childhood in the woods of Northern Michigan, returning to the Chicago area later, graduating from New Trier High School and Northwestern University on a drama scholarship. Staff Sergeant Charlton Heston joined the U.S. Army Air Force in 1944 in response to World War II, spending his enlistment as a radio operator and machine gunner for the 77th Bombardment squadron's B-25 Mitchells in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. After his enlistment ended, Staff Sergeant Sergeant Charlton Heston worked as a highly prolific actor, starring in more than 80 productions, including The Ten Commandments, Ben Hur, and Planet of the Apes (1968 version).  During his career, he was known for supporting the Civil Rights Movement, joining a picket line outside of a segregated Oklahoma City Theater showing El Cid. He was also spotted picketing segregated Oklahoma City restaurants during the same trip. ...

Corporal Joseph Gifford was born on March 27, 1909, in St. Paul, Minnesota.  He relocated to Cornville, Arizona, to farm before enlisting in the US Marine Corps in 1928. He was first deployed to China before being selected for a Marine Raider unit that was created during World War II and considered one of the first "Special Operations" military units developed by the US Military. Corporal Joseph Gifford was assigned to the 2nd Raider Battalion, also known as "Carson's Raiders" Corporal Gifford took part in the raid of Makin Island and was captured by the Japanese.  Corporal Joseph Gifford was executed on October 16, 1942, and is memorialized in the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial. *Also see Private Alden Curtis Mattison * Read about a.d. elliott's Everyday Patriot Project here* **************************************** a.d. elliott is a wanderer, writer, and photographer currently living in Salem, Virginia.  In addition to the travel writings...