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Dexter Zippay

zippay weddingSharon, PA

When he was a kid, Dexter Zippay loved airplanes and wanted to learn to fly. While still in high school, he tried to enlist in the U.S. Navy to become a naval aviator. Unfortunately, he couldn’t pass the eye test. His next choice was to become a U.S. Marine. He enlisted shortly after his 17th birthday and went on active duty on October 21, 1946.

He was trained as a forward observer for naval gunfire. His mission would have been to swim from ship to shore, set up an observation post, then call back coordinates to the ship’s gunfire control center. The job was the forerunner of the Navy SEALs. Dex didn’t get to perform that mission because the war had ended before he enlisted.

Nevertheless, after completing training, Dex found himself heading west over the Pacific while most U.S. troops were sailing east toward their homes in the United States. There were other forces going west across the Pacific to occupy Japan, but Dex was not among them. He was headed for China.

At the time of Japan’s surrender, the Marine Corps’ III Amphibious Corps (IIIAC) had been on Guam training for the invasion of Japan. That invasion wasn’t necessary because of the Japanese surrender, but the Marines of the IIIAC were not sent home. Instead, they were sent to north China to accept the surrender of the Japanese troops there and to assist with the process of getting Japanese civilians and military personnel back to Japan.

This was no simple assignment. It involved dealing with the repatriation of more than 650,000 Japanese in the midst of the battles between the Chinese Nationalists of Chaing Kai-shek and the Communists of Mao Tse-tung. The Marines were also called upon to protect trains transporting food and coal to the cities in the area.

The Marines were supposed to avoid engaging either the Nationalists nor the Chinese in combat, but that wasn’t always possible. Dex told his wife, Florine, about one incident he experienced personally. He had built a radio station up in the mountains, and was operating it with one other Marine. One of them would be inside the hut either resting or operating the station while the other kept guard outside with one machine gun. While Dex was inside, he heard the machine gun start firing. Dex went out to see waves of Chinese soldiers attacking the place. Florine doesn’t know how Dex and his friend survived the attack.

Another time some of his friends decided to go hunting, but Dex didn’t go with them. One of the hunting party was killed by the Chinese. Dex was assigned to the detail that went to recover the body. He told Florine that it was a scary experience because they were surrounded by many armed Chinese wearing bandoliers full of ammunition.

“He said he felt like he was in Terry and the Pirates,” Florine said.

Because they were up in the mountains with limited transportation, Dex learned how to ski.

Dex’s commanding officer had the opportunity to recommend one soldier for Officer Candidate School. He selected Dex.

“Dex would have had to sign up for four more years,” Florine said, “but we wanted to get married. He wrote me a letter saying that the Marine Corps would pay my way to join him in China. I said ‘Sure,’ but my father said, ‘Oh no!’ I was too young. He would have had to sign papers for me to go, but he wouldn’t. So Dexter told his commanding officer that he couldn’t accept the offer. His CO got very angry about it.”

Dex’s mother developed some serious health problems, so he was brought back from China. Shortly after he came back, he married his childhood sweetheart, Florine Kornreich. They lived in Quantico, Virginia, until he completed his service on October 20, 1949.

 

Dex passed away on May 14, 2015. He and Florine had been married for 66 years. On Veterans Day, November 11, 2015, his cremated remains were interred in the Avenue of 444 Flags at America’s Cemetery, Hermitage, PA.

Filed Under: by Joe Zentis, Sharon, Uncategorized, World War II

Earl Abbott

Earl Abbott

abbott earlHermitage, PA
US Navy – World War II

“Don’t write about me. Write about the ship.”

That’s what World War II veteran Earl Abbott said when he was asked about his military service.

The ship was the USS Henrico, named after the oldest county in Virginia, was 492-ft long Attack Transport that carried 5,500 tons of cargo, including as many as 28 landing craft, 1500 troops, and assault equipment. There certainly is a lot to write about the service of this truly remarkable ship, from her commissioning in 1943 to her retirement in 1968. However, it’s not possible to write about the ship without telling the stories of men such as Earl Abbott who served as her breath and her heartbeat. Abbott was aboard her only a few of those years, but they were among the most critical.

Abbott was drafted out of high school in March, 1943, to serve in the Navy. After his initial training, he served his whole time aboard the Henrico. He was with her when she participated in the D-Day Normandy invasion and in combat landings in the Pacific.

Barely six months after she was commissioned, she launched twenty-four of the first landing craft to hit Omaha Beach on D-Day during the greatest naval invasion in history.

Earl was Coxswain (driver) of one of those landing craft, loaded with a platoon of soldiers. Many of the craft couldn’t make it all the way to the beach, but Abbott was more fortunate.

“We hit the beach right up on top,” he said. “It was low tide.”

His troops stepped out onto sand, but their fate wasn’t much different from those who had to wade or swim ashore.

“We didn’t know we were going on a suicide mission,” Earl said. “I think the First Division infantry soldiers, who went to hell and back [during the invasions of North Africa and Italy] already knew it.”

So did those who planned the invasion.

“The Coxswains were given a .45 automatic pistol during the invasions. It wasn’t to protect us from the enemy. It was to make sure all the soldiers left the boats at the beach. We never had to use them. That’s the kind of soldiers they were, ready to die if they had to.”

With her troops ashore, the Henrico received casualties from the beach, returning them to southern England later that day. For the next two weeks, she shuttled troops back and forth between England and France.

The USS Henrico

The USS Henrico

Then she set sail for the Mediterranean. After arriving in Italy, she participated in amphibious rehearsals before landing troops during the invasion of southern France. She supported operations in the Mediterranean for the next three months, then she sailed back to the United States to prepare for combat in the Pacific.

By the end of March, 1945, she was engaged in the landings on Kerama Retto, islands needed as a base of operations to support the invasion of nearby Okinawa. Then, on April 2, the USS Henrico was hit by a Japanese suicide plane carrying two 500-lb. bombs. Forty-nine officers and men died as the entire bridge was blown off the ship.

“I got relieved just before it happened. The guy that relieved me didn’t even know what happened,” Abbott said.

With the ship in flames, and without power to drive the fire fighting equipment, the entire crew put forth a heroic effort to save it.

“We had no water; we couldn’t put the fire out. So we did the best we could. We tried to pump water with hand bilges from the ocean to put the fire out. We got all of the fire extinguishers out of the boats that we could get, and then a destroyer came and helped us with their water. If they hadn’t come, we would have gotten blown up. We were loaded with ammunition, too. And then when the destroyer couldn’t help us anymore, we couldn’t abandon ship because we had no power. We couldn’t lower the boats. So we were drifting all night, and our only chance was for everybody to pitch in, and we put the fire out.”

The Henrico managed to return to Kerama Retto, then sailed to San Francisco under her own power. She arrived there on May 13 and was restored to full service by September. She sailed again with replacement troops to the Philippine Islands. Finally, after having carried troops into the teeth of the enemy, she performed the infinitely more pleasant task of bringing thousands of troops home from the Pacific when the war was over.

Earl Abbott’s military service ended when he was honorably discharged on February 10, 1946. The Henrico’s career, however, continued for another 22 years. She took part in the atomic bomb testing at Bikini Island in 1946 and supported American troops in Tsingtao, China, during 1948-49. During the Korean War, she landed troops at Inchon and provided continuous support of combat operations. She evacuated Nationalist Chinese troops in the Straits of Taiwan in 1954, and supported operations in the Caribbean during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. She sailed her final combat missions during the Vietnam War, landing troops at Da Nang and Chu Lai.

Between all these outstanding accomplishments, the USS Henrico kept U.S. and allied armed forces combat ready by participating in countless training exercises. After her distinguished career, she was decommissioned and placed in reserve on February 14, 1968. She was disposed of in October, 1979.

The USS Henrico was awarded three battle stars for service in World War II, nine for the Korean War, and four for Vietnam – a total of sixteen. Every crew member who manned her during war and peace should be as proud of her as Earl Abbott is – and even prouder of themselves.


 

Written by Joe Zentis

Filed Under: by Joe Zentis, Hermitage, Home Town, PA, Tribute, War, World War II

Sykes Clarence Earl

Sykes, Clarence Earl

Grove City, Ohio
U.S. Army – Post-Korean War

The army has help many people overcome early-life setbacks. Clarence Sykes left school after the seventh grade. On 21 March 1955, at the age of 17, he enlisted in the army. A little over a year later, he completed a GED (General Educational Development) course, thus earning the equivalent of a high school diploma. That was at age 18, about the time he probably would have graduated had he stayed in school.

The GED program was instituted during World War II not as a recruiting tool, but as a program to help to those who were leaving military service. Many soldiers had enlisted while in high school. When their service was coming to an end, they were faced with the problem of re-entering civilian life without the diploma required for enrolling in college. The military developed the GED to overcome this obstacle. There was, at that time, no equivalent program outside the military. That only came after the military program proved to be successful.

Since World War II, a high school diploma has become a requirement for enlistment. At times, when there weren’t enough high school graduates willing to serve, the military made exceptions to allow young people to enlist without a high school diploma if they were willing to complete the GED program while they served their country. It was revived in 2008 when it became to fill shortages caused by the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. However, the program was suspended in 2010 when that problem dissipated.

Clarence served pretty close to home. He was assigned as a General Warehouseman at the U.S. Army Garrison, Lordstown Military Reservation, Warren, Ohio. That was Nike Missile Site CL-69 for the defense of Cleveland and nearby cities.

Nikes were ground-to-air missiles that were widely deployed throughout the United States and in other countries.

Clarence was discharged from active duty on 26 March 1958. His home of record at that time was Grove City, Ohio.

If you know more about Clarence Sykes and/or the Lordstown Military Reservation, please contact the webmaster.

Filed Under: by Joe Zentis, Grove City, Home Town, Korean War, OH, Tribute, Veterans Interred in the Avenue, War

©1981Time Inc. Used under license.

Time Magazine, Jan. 26,  1981 © 1981 Time Inc. Used under license

In January 26, 1981, the cover of Time Magazine featured a photo taken at the Avenue of 444 Flags (cover image used with permission). That was the first issue of Time after the release of the hostages who had been held hostage in the U.S. Embassy in Tehran for 444 days. That cover was a tacit acknowledgement of the Avenue of 444 Flags as a symbol of the endurance and persistence that led to the release of the hostages. Since then, 444 flags have continued to fly along the Avenue as a tribute to all veterans and as a reminder that freedom isn’t free.

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Phone: (724) 346 3818
Email: tom@avenueofflags.com

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Phone: (724) 346 3818
Email: tom@avenueofflags.com

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