AUTHORS

Author: Kevin M. Hymel
183 found

On the Front Lines of History: Soldier Served at Checkpoint Charlie During Height of the Cold War

By Kevin M. Hymel on 6/15/2026

As the military police (MP) officer in charge of Checkpoint Charlie in West Berlin during the early 1960s, U.S. Army Capt. Roy Isaacson served at one of the most sensitive and strategic locations of the Cold War.  

Kevin M. Hymel

After Decades as an Unknown, World War II POW Comes Home to Arlington

By Kevin M. Hymel on 6/15/2026

In 2005, Sean Webb was watching “The Great Raid,” a movie about the liberation of the Cabanatuan POW camp in the Philippines during World War II. Many Cabanatuan inmates had survived the infamous Bataan Death March, a 65-mile trek under harsh conditions to POW camps further north. Webb’s 92-year-old grandmother, Lucy Irene O’Brien, was watching the film with him when she suddenly said, “My brother Malcolm was in it” — referring to the Cabanatuan POW camp. Her brief statement stunned Sean, who did not know he had a great-uncle, much less one who had been a POW.  

 

Kevin M. Hymel

Air Force Colonel Flew 700 Combat Missions Over Vietnam

By Kevin M. Hymel on 6/8/2026

During the Vietnam War, U.S. Air Force Capt. Harry Pawlak flew dangerous low-level reconnaissance missions over Vietnamese jungles in his Cessna O-1E, often within close range of enemy guns. He named his aircraft “Darlene,” after his wife. “He loved flying low and slow,” Darlene recalled. Pawlak served in the Air Force for more than 20 years, retiring as a colonel. On May 7, 2026, the decorated pilot was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. 

Kevin M. Hymel

World War II Bomber Crewman Who Lost his Life in the “Forgotten Theater” Laid to Rest

By Kevin M. Hymel on 6/5/2026

During an air raid on the city of Meiktila, Burma (today’s Myanmar), on Aug. 3, 1943, a B-25 bomber fell out of the sky and crashed. Only two members of the six-man crew managed to bail out, but they were captured by Japanese soldiers. The rest of the crew, including Lt. Henry “Harry” J. Carlin, the bomber’s 27-year-old navigator from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, went down with the aircraft. Local villagers discovered the crew’s remains and buried them in a common grave, all unidentified.  

 

Kevin M. Hymel

World War II Sailor Killed at Pearl Harbor “Died Too Young”

By Kevin M. Hymel on 5/15/2026

“He was Uncle Paul,” Rebecca Schmale said about U.S. Navy Seaman 1st Class Paul E. Newton, the uncle she never knew but whom her mother would speak about, “and when we talked about him, it was that he died too young and did not have an opportunity to experience so many things in life.” 

Kevin M. Hymel

Unknown World War II “Bataan Death March” Survivor Identified and Laid to Rest

By Kevin M. Hymel on 5/4/2026

“Do not worry, I am all right,” U.S. Army Air Forces Sgt. James “Jimmy” Murray wrote to his fiancée, Donna Young, after the Japanese bombed Clark Field, a U.S. base in the Philippines, on Dec. 8, 1941—one day after the attack on Pearl Harbor prompted the United States to enter World War II. Young never heard from him again.  

Kevin M. Hymel

Service, Sacrifice and Sisterhood: Veterans Honor Their Own

By Kevin M. Hymel on 5/4/2026

More than 50 women veterans from multiple military service branches visited Arlington National Cemetery on April 14, 2026, to honor fallen friends and the Unknown Soldiers.  

Kevin M. Hymel

Cosmic Roots: The Story of Arlington National Cemetery’s Moon Tree

By Kevin M. Hymel on 4/23/2026

Arlington National Cemetery is home to many unique trees to explore on Arbor Day (April 24), but only one has roots in outer space. The “Moon Tree,” an American Sycamore, is a second-generation tree descendant of seeds that orbited the moon. 

Kevin M. Hymel

A Love Forged in War

By Kevin M. Hymel on 4/14/2026

They met on a train during World War II. Navy Lt. Griffith “Griff” Way and Lt. junior grade Patricia “Pat” O’Sullivan were both heading from Seattle, Washington, to a Japanese language school in Boulder, Colorado. His mother had given him a newspaper clipping about Pat, with a picture, and told him to look for her since they both hailed from Seattle. Their meeting on that train led them to fall in love and eventually spend the rest of their lives together. On March 31, 2026, the couple was laid to rest in a dual funeral service at Arlington National Cemetery

Kevin M. Hymel

Navy Nurse Saved Lives at Sea During the Vietnam War

By Kevin M. Hymel on 4/6/2026

Navy Lt. Anne Jay saved countless lives during the deadliest years of the Vietnam War. As an intensive care unit (ICU) nurse from 1968 to 1969, she served on the USS Repose, a hospital ship that cruised along the South Vietnamese coast, receiving helicopters filled with soldiers, Marines and civilians wounded by war.  

Kevin M. Hymel