The Everyday Patriot Project

  Master Chief Machinist Mate Ira Russell "Mack" McCurry was born on August 25, 1939, in McGehee, Arkansas.   He enlisted in the US Navy on February 20, 1955, and served throughout the Vietnam War aboard the USS Josephus Daniels. MMCM McCurry retired from the US Navy on February 25, 1975. After retirement from service, MMCM McCurry joined the Salem, Virginia police department and, on February 29, 1976, while investigating an automobile burglary, was fatally shot. He rests at Sherwood Burial Park in Salem, Virginia. * 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.takethebackroads.com , you can also read her book reviews at  www.riteoffancy.com  and US military biographies at  www.everydaypatriot.com Her online photography gallery can be found at  shop.takethebackroa...

Lieutenant Commander Barry Thomas Cooke was born on June 27, 1955, in Waxahachie, Texas. He graduated from McCallum High School in Austin, Texas, in 1973. He went on to the Aviation Technological University in Kileen, Texas, earning a Bachelor of Science in Aviation. Lieutenant Commander Cooke then attended the Naval Aviation School in Pensacola, Florida.  He served in naval stations in Texas and Washington state, as well as two carriers, the USS America and the USS Enterprise, before being assigned to Naval Station Oceana with the VA-36. Lieutenant Commander Cooke served as a flight instructor and deployed aboard the USS Kennedy for the first time to the Middle East.   Lieutenant Commander Cooke deployed to the Middle East again, aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt in December 1990. On February 2, 1991, the A-6E he was piloting was shot down by a surface-to-air missle.   Lieutenant Commander Cooke is still missing.   His memorial is at Arlington. * Read...

Private First Class Edward James Tipper Jr. was born on August 3, 1921, in Detroit, Michigan. His family returned to Ireland, and he spent his childhood there before returning to the Detroit area, where he worked at the J.K. Hudson department store before World War II. PFC Tipper attempted to enlist in the US Marines following the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, but was rejected due to dental problems. Instead, he enlisted in the US Army on August 24, 1942, and volunteered for the 101st Airborne.   He was assigned to E Company, 2nd Battalion. PFC Tipper trained at Toccoa, Georgia, and then Aldbourne, UK, before completing his first combat jump on D-Day, June 6, 1944. After landing, PFC Tipper was part of the Battle of Carentan and the attack on Marmion Farm, where he was severely injured in a mortar explosion, losing his right eye and breaking both legs. He spent his remaining service in the hospital. He was honorably discharged from the US Army in August 1945. After...

  First Lieutenant Donaldson Preston Tillar III was born on May 13, 1965, at Fort Still, Oklahoma and grew up in Highland Falls New York.  He attended Miller School and James O'Neil High School, where he played lacrosse before entering the US Military Academy at West Point.   First Lieutenant Tillar graduated from West Point in 1988, trained as a helicopter pilot, and was assigned to the 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kansas.  He continued both to play and to coach lacrosse throughout his career. He deployed with the 1st Infantry to Saudi Arabia in the Fall of 1990 to support Operation Desert Storm/Desert Shield and the Gulf War. On February 27, 1991, First Lieutenant Tillar would die during his service when his helicopter was shot down. He rests at Emporia Cemetery, Emporia, Virginia. * Read about a.d. elliott's Everyday Patriot Project here* ****** ********************************* a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller living in Salem...

  General Dwight David Eisenhower was born in Abilene, Kansas, on October 4, 1890. He graduated from Abilene High School in 1909. After high school, he worked at a creamery to contribute to his brother's college tuition for more than a year before receiving an appointment to West Point in 1911. He graduated from West Point in 1915. During World War I, he commanded a tank training center at Camp Colt and, in 1922, was in the Panama Canal Zone with General Fox Conner. He graduated from the Command and General Staff School, Fort Leavenworth, in 1926 and then reported and toured for the War Department until 1929. In 1933, he became General Douglas MacArthur's aide. At the beginning of World War II, General Dwight D. Eisenhower became the Chief of Staff of the Third Army and, later, in 1942, the Commander in Chief of the Allied Forces, commanding Operation Torch and D-Day. He was also the governor of the US Occupied Zone. After he retired from active service, General Dwight D. Eisen...

  Corporal Tibor Rubin was born on June 18, 1929, in Paszto, Hungary. In March 1944, when Nazi forces began their occupation of Hungary, his parents unsuccessfully tried to send him to Switzerland to avoid imprisonment. However, he was captured and sent to the Mauthausen Concentration camp. Corporal Tibor Rubin was liberated by American forces on May 5, 1945. Unfortunately, his father, stepmother, and youngest sister all died in Nazi camps. He emigrated to the Los Angeles area in May 1948 and worked as a butcher until February 1950, when he entered the US Army. Corporal Tibor Rubin trained as a rifleman and deployed to Korea with the 1st Cavalry Division. On October 30, 1950, with his unit overwhelmed, Corporal Rubin singlehandedly defended the Raegu-Pusan road for 24 hours so that his unit could withdraw. Eventually, on November 2, 1950, Corporal Rubin was severely injured and captured by the Chinese. He would spend the next 30 months as a prisoner of war.  During his impris...

  First Lieutenant James Robert Kalsu was born on April 13, 1945, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He graduated in 1963 from Del City High School and the University of Oklahoma in 1967. He was a noted football player throughout high school and college. He was named All-American in 1967 and was drafted in 1967 by the Buffalo Bills. First Lieutenant James Robert Kalsu earned the title "Rookie of the Year" in 1968. He was also a member of the ROTC in college and, after the 1968 season, began active duty with the US Army. First Lieutenant Kalsu deployed to South Vietnam in November 1969. He would die during his service on July 21, 1970, from heavy artillery fire during the Battle of Fire Support Base Ripcord. First Lieutenant James Robert Kalsu rests at the Resthaven Garden Cemetery in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. * Read about a.d. elliott's Everyday Patriot Project here* ****** ********************************* a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller living in Salem...