Model Airplanes

Marc Munroe Dion Herald News Staff Reporter

FALL RIVER — Carl Pasternak, in full uniform, and carrying a rifle, stood guard at the corner of Durfee and Cherry streets.

The uniform was from World War I. Pasternak is a re-enactor.

“Soldat,” he said, when asked his rank in French, or “soldier,” indicating that he was impersonating a private in a French regiment of the line, in this case the regiment designated No. 151.

“This is my third uniform,” he said.

Pasternak is also a Civil War and Revolutionary War re-enactor. Sunday, he was at the Lafayette-Durfee House, along with a couple of comrades, some World War I artwork, a collection of model World War I airplanes and militaria from various eras.

The event was to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of America’s entry into World War I. The mementos from other wars were there to celebrate all veterans.

Europe was bled white by 1917, three years into the war. The British had been butchered at the Somme. The French had saved the Marne by inches, rallying a fleet of Paris taxicabs to bring reinforcements to the front. Sullenly, Germans stared at the French and English over a landscape of dead men and horses, mud, shell craters and blasted trees. Whole French villages were shelled out of existence, never to be re-occupied.

The Americans broke the stalemate, and one American officer said as his troops arrived, “Lafayette, nous sommes ici,” or “Lafayette, we are here,” in English, a hearkening back to the Marquis de

Article source: http://www.heraldnews.com/news/20171112/fall-river-event-marks-100-year-anniversary-of-americas-entry-into-wwi

Bill Winters began flying early. As a high school student growing up in Point Pleasant, in Mason County, he learned how to fly small Piper Cubs, landing them on land and water.

He moved up to far bigger planes after joining the Air Force in the years leading up to World War II.

On a table in the living room of his Cross Lanes home rests a model of the twin-engine B-25 combat bomber in which he often flew as a crewman, amassing more than 80 missions during World War II.

But, on the auspicious day of Dec. 7, 1941, he never got a chance to get into the air where he was stationed at Hickam Air Force base, at Pearl Harbor, before waves of Japanese planes attacked.

“We came to the mess hall through the kitchen and got our food and went out in the mess hall and had our meal,” recalled Winters, who is 98. “We heard the siren go off, and we didn’t think too much of it.”

That would quickly change. The Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service struck just before 8 a.m., inflicting one of the deadliest surprise attacks in American history.

“They just caught us with our pants down. No warning whatsoever,” Winters said.

The assault lasted less than two hours. But it killed more than 2,400 soldiers and civilians, wounded 1,000 more, and destroyed or damaged more than 300 American airplanes and 20 ships.

At Hickam, 189 personnel were killed, and more than 300 wounded, according to official accounts.

“They just snuck in

Article source: https://www.wvgazettemail.com/life/pearl-harbor-survivor-looks-back-on-hard-to-believe-day/article_34a77bce-078b-54a4-918b-75f4f5aeafdb.html

You and your friend have a lot in common.

You both laugh at the same idiotic things, enjoy the same food and drink (often together), and you share similar experiences. You’ve taught your friend a lot and you’ve been a willing pupil, too. If you’re both lucky, as in the new book “Hank Jim” by Scott Eyman, it’ll be that way for decades.

Born into a large family in Nebraska in May of 1905, Henry Fonda once recalled an aimless, directionless childhood. That’s surprising, since young Hank was a focused boy who always insisted on perfection in everything he tackled, including hobbies, studies, and acting, which he embraced when a local woman invited him to join the community theatre. When he realized that he loved acting — and he was good at it — Hank received the blessings of his parents to move to New York City, to see where his dramatic talents might take him.

James Stewart was born almost exactly three years after Hank, in a similar small town in Pennsylvania. His father was a businessman who owned a hardware store and who made sure that his children weren’t insulated from others unlike them. Young Jim was an easy-going, affable boy who loved animals and model airplanes; in fact, he’d once considered entering a Naval Academy but, while in prep school, he realized that he loved acting — and he was good at it. Even at college, he wanted to see where his dramatic talents might take him.

While at Princeton,

Article source: http://www.fayettetribune.com/community/similar-backgrounds-interests-lead-to-decades-long-friendship/article_de5bb032-c705-11e7-8a30-635573fa533c.html

Model aircraft enthusiasts have gone to an 85-acre plot of land off state Route 76 in Fallbrook nearly every weekday and every weekend for about 20 years to fly, but that tradition may soon change as development blossoms in that part of the village.

“You stand out there on the flight line, and you just know we’re going to be standing in the middle of a car wash, a McDonalds and a department store at some point,” Steve Gebler, next year’s president for the Palomar Radio Control Flyers Club, said. “It’s just inevitable that that’s going to happen.”

The club, which has roughly 200 members from Riverside, San Diego and Orange counties, has been using the plot of land near the intersection of Pankey Road and SR-76, just east of Interstate 15, to fly model fixed wing airplanes, model helicopters and drones.

Article source: http://myvalleynews.com/regional-news/with-development-impending-fallbrook-based-model-aircraft-club-seeks-new-space-to-fly/

DIAMONDHEAD, MISS. – Samuel Paul Sapio, 91, passed away Sunday, Oct. 8, 2017, in Diamondhead.

He was born in Youngstown on Sept. 2, 1926, the son of Rafael and Antoinette Sapio.

He was a 1945 graduate of Struthers High School and served in the U.S. Army-Air Corps during World War II as an aerial engineer on a C47 Gooney Bird. He received an Army Occupation Medal (Germany), Good Conduct Medal and a WWII Victory Ribbon.

He retired from Borg-Warner Chemicals in Parkersburg, W.Va., after 29 years as an instrument designer.

He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Carolyn Y. Hiatt Sapio of Diamondhead; children Samuel Sapio Jr. (Jackie), Steven Sapio (Janet) and Emily Sapio; siblings Mary Zaluski of Poland, Ohio, Chris and Denny McNamara of Niles and Gloria Groner New Middletown; eight grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.

Mr. Sapio was preceded in death by his parents; and a brother and sister-in-law, Nicholas Sapio and wife Nancy.

He enjoyed carving model airplanes from blocks of wood, painting and creative art projects using various mediums. He was a “Mr. Fix-It,” enjoying projects around the house and yard.

Mr. Sapio was a long-standing member of the Diamondhead Community Church and will be remembered as a dedicated father and devoted husband.

Interment with military honors were held in Gulf Pines Memorial Gardens in Long Beach, Miss.

Visit holetonyuhasz.com to view this tribute and send condolences.

Article source: http://www.vindy.com/news/tributes/2017/nov/12/samuel-paul-sapi/