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Published on: Wednesday, June 10, 2026 read more ...

AUTHORS

Author: Kevin M. Hymel
181 found

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

“A Place of Honor to Rededicate Ourselves”: Medal of Honor Day at Arlington National Cemetery

Twenty Medal of Honor recipients visited Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) on March 25, 2026, for the annual Medal of Honor Day ceremony, each with the blue-ribboned Medal of Honor draped around his neck. The Medal of Honor is the United States’ highest military award for valor for an individual serving in the armed services in action against an enemy.

Missing for 82 Years, American POW Who Defended the Philippines in World War II Laid to Rest

By Kevin M. Hymel on 3/24/2026

U.S. Army Pvt. Leonard “Buddy” Jackson, from Great Falls, Montana, survived fighting in the Philippines during the first year of American involvement in World War II, but died in a POW camp on Oct. 31, 1942, just one day shy of his 20th birthday. His fate would remain a mystery for more than 80 years until he was identified and later laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery on March 9, 2026. 

Kevin M. Hymel