The Everyday Patriot Project

Specialist Cindy Marine Beaudoin was born on July 20, 1971. She was raised in Plainfield, Connecticut, and graduated from Plainfield High School. She enlisted in the US Army National Guard and trained as a medical technician. Specialist Cindy Beaudoin had just begun her first year at the University of Connecticut when the Gulf War erupted. In January 1991, she withdrew from college and deployed with the 142nd Medical Company to the Middle East for Operation Desert Storm/Desert Shield and the Gulf War. On February 28, 1991, while with a convoy on patrol,  Specialist Cindy Beaudoin was fatally wounded by an explosion. She died en route to the field hospital. Specialist Cindy Marie Beaudoin rests in St. John's the Apostle Church Cemetery. * Read about a.d. elliott's Everyday Patriot Project here* ****** ********************************* a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller living in Salem, Virginia.  In addition to her travel writings at  www.taket...

Staff Sergeant Francis Pershing McNamara was born on February 19, 1943, in Pollagh, Ireland. He immigrated to the U.S. at one-month-old aboard the USS Baltic and grew up in Parma, Ohio. Staff Sergeant Francis McNamara enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Services on March 19, 1942, in response to World War II and was trained as an ariel gunner. He was assigned to the 11th Bombardment Group and deployed to the Pacific theater. On May 27, 1943, during a rescue mission, the plane he was on, the Green Hornet, crashed into the Pacific. Staff Sergeant Francis McNamara, First Lieutenant Russell Allen Phillips, and First Lieutenant Louis Zamperini were the only survivors and were adrift in the ocean. After 33 days, on June 30, 1943, Staff Sergeant Francis Pershing McNamara succumbed to starvation and exposure and was buried at sea. He is memorialized in the Court of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial. * Read about a.d. elliott's Everyday Patriot Project here* ****** *********************...

First Lieutenant Edward C. Gelsleichter was born in 1921. Before World War II, he worked in Schenectady, New York as a carpenter, enlisting in the U.S. Army Air Corps on December 16, 1942, in response to World War II. Trained as a bombardier, First Lieutenant Edward Gelsleichter was assigned to the 431st Bomber Squadron,  11th Bomber Group, and deployed to the Pacific theater. On July 28, 1944,  the B24J,  #42-73018, that First Lieutenant Gelsleichter was serving aboard, was last seen in flames and crashing into the Pacific off the coast of Truk.   None of the airmen were recovered. First Lieutenant Edward C. Gelsleichter is memorialized on the Tablet of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial. *Also see: Sergeant John G. MacIntosh Jr. Captain Thor E. Hamrin * Read about a.d. elliott's Everyday Patriot Project here* ****** ********************************* a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller living in Salem, V...

Corporal Scott Francis Bianco was born on July 11, 1968.  A lover of the outdoors, he was known to backpack. He was also creative, enjoying art and music. Corporal Bianco graduated from Edwardsville High School, Edwardsville, Illinois, in the Summer of 1987 and enlisted in the US Marine Corps in December of the same year. After boot camp, he trained with the engineering corps. He was then assigned to the 1ST Marine Division, 1ST Landing Battalion in 1990 and deployed to Saudia Arabia for Operation Desert Storm/Desert Shield and the Gulf War. On February 17, 1991, during the grueling Forward Logistic Base set up before Operation Desert Storm, Corporal Bianco's forklift toppled from a pier and trapped him underwater. Corporal Scott Francis Bianco rests in the Troy City Cemetery in Troy, Missouri. * Read about a.d. elliott's Everyday Patriot Project here* ****** ********************************* a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller living in Salem, ...

Hospital Corpsman Third Class Edward Clyde Benford was born on January 15, 1931, in Staten Island, New York. His family moved to the New Jersey area while he was young, and in 1949 Hospital Corpsman Third Class Edward Benfold graduated from Audubon High School. He enlisted shortly after graduation, attending recruit training and corpsman training in Great Lakes, Illinois, before receiving Hospital Corpsman Third Class Edward Benfold's first assignment at the Naval Hospital in Newport, Rhode Island. In July 1951, Hospital Corpsman Third Class Edward Benfold returned to training at Camp Lejune, North Carolina, for combat field training.  He was briefly assigned to the 3rd Marine Division before receiving his orders to E Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Division, and deploying to Korea in July 1952 for the Korean War. On September 5, 1952, after a night spent treating men under fire, Hospital Corpsman Third Class Edward Benfold earned a Congressional Medal of Hono...