Robert Stephenson was born in Chicago on June 14, 1925, as the third of four children in his family, with two older brothers and a younger sister. When he was a young boy, his family moved to Moline, Illinois. There, his father purchased a house, but they lost it during the Great Depression. The family…

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Wilburn “Bill” Williford was the oldest child among seven siblings. He was born in Whitten, Arkansas, in 1917, but his family later moved to the Bootheel of Missouri to search for better employment opportunities. His father worked various odd jobs to support the family, and when Williford was only 7 or 8 years old, he…

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According to The US Department of Veterans Affairs statistics, there are currently around 167,000 surviving WWII Veterans of the 16 million Americans that served at that time. These Veterans are now in their 90’s. Many organizations and Veteran groups have made it a mission to honor these World War II Veterans from Honor Flights to…

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James E. Bryan holding a photo of himself from his time in the US Navy

James E. Bryan World War II Veteran | U.S. Navy 1944 – 1946. On December 20th, 1943 Chicago resident James E. Bryan enlisted in the U.S. Navy on his 18th birthday. Bryan’s training, which took place at Naval Station Great Lakes in Illinois, the Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, TX, and Catalina Island in California,…

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