NAVAL AIR STATION FORT LAUDERDALE MUSEUM
​WWII Veterans History Project

The Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale Museum collects and preserves personal stories and other documents from World War II Veterans, with the purpose of building a lasting legacy of preserving history for generations to come. This History Project collects unpublished written memoirs of personal wartime experiences. We welcome diaries, collections of letters, and photographs that tell the veteran’s story.  Maps, drawings, and other documents are also welcome. We don't have to keep your originals as the artifacts can be scanned, or photographed, and shared this way via e-mails. This project was started in 2010, with the introduction of NASFL Museum founder Allan McElhiney, who was a sailor in World War II.  This Gallery of Veterans is not in chronological order, rather it follows a date of completion by NASFL Museum curators.  If you are interested in sharing a Veteran's story, or your family's military history, please download the MEMOIR KIT below:

Click on the link to download: MEMOIR KIT
File Size:	2652 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

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- Click on an image or link to go to a Veteran's profile page -

Allan McElhiney
USNR WWII & Korea
Founder of NASFL Museum
Historian & Photographer

​Phillip Bower
USNR WWII
Petty Officer ARM 3/C
NAS Fort Lauderdale Illustrator

Frank Frezza
USNR WWII
Recognizance Photographer

Ray Rivera
 USNR WWII & Korea
USS Bunker Hill survivor

William Hopwood
USNR WWII
NASFL Communications Officer 

George L. Lord, Jr.
 USNR WWII
NASFL Gunnery Instructor

David Epstein
USNR WWII
Parachute Rigger 2nd Class

Sgt. Paul Bradley
United States Army WWII
South Florida Architect,
Artist & Illustrator

Lt. David White USNR WWII
NASFL Senior Flight Instructor
and Search for Flight 19

Jack Cawley USNR WWII
AMC 2nd Class
NASFL Wing Shop

Henry Torres Sr. USN WWII
In charge of Machine Shop 
Ft. Laud. Beach Target Range

George F. Weixler USMC WWII
Marine Scout Bomber
Squadron 243 (VMSB-243)

Captain Jeanne Grushinski 
USN WWII
Registered Nurse

Lt. Col. Leo R. Gray
US Army WWII
Tuskegee Airman

David Flynn USN WWII
Radioman 1st Class
USS Houston survivor, POW

Charles J. Schaus USNR WWII
S 1st Class (Fire Controlman)
USS Barton DD-722 

Edward M. Steidler, USN WWII
ARM 3C - NAS Fort Lauderdale

Brigadier General Jack Cram
USMC, WWII & Korea

Loyce Edward Deen USNR WWII
NAS Fort Lauderdale TBM Gunner

Edgar "Buddy" Galvin USNR WWII
Navigator B-24 Liberators
​​Dunkeswell, England

Walter R. Parpart, Jr.
ARM3c USNR
Flight 19 radioman in FT-28

George H.W. Bush and Lou Grab
 Avenger Student Pilots at NASFL 
​Air Group 51 (VT-51)

Captain Thomas Ellison USN WWII
Senior Flight Instructor
NAS Fort Lauderdale

Captain James Westfall USN WWII
NAS Fort Lauderdale Flight Instructor
​& Search for Flight 19

Robert D. "Woody" Woodbury
Captain USMC, WWII and Korea

Cyril A. Dobrovolc USN WWII
RM3/C - U.S Navy Armed Guard
SS E.G. Seubert

1st Lt. Arthur F. Mulock
United States Army WWII & Korea
POW / MIA

George Beyer Fairchild
USN WWII, Korea, and Vietnam
Operation Highjump Antarctica
USS Pine Island

Herbert A. Weigand
US Marine Corps 1934 - 1938
US Army Air Corps 1939 - 1945

Sgt. Robert Gallivan, USMCR
Flight 19 Gunner in FT-117

Warren N. Bennett
AMM2c USNR
NAS Fort Lauderdale
   Torpedo Squadron 31 (VT-31)

Pfc. William Earl Lightfoot, USMCR
Flight 19 Gunner in FT-81

Percy Paget, Army Air Corps POW
WWII Toggleer (Bombardier)

Anthony J. Cusolito
USNR WWII - S 1/C RdM 3/C
USS Ordronaux DD-617

Ralph F. Michaels, Store Keeper
USN, First World War

William Law, USNR WWII
NAS Banana River

Harry Brandenburg
Navy Engineer Officer 1917 - 1918
​​USS Arizona (BB-39) WWI

Sara Lou (Strader) Lightfoot
"a Rosie the Riveter"

Rey Scott Journalist/Photographer
​Second Sino-Japanese War
​Honorary Academy Award

COL. Robert M. Rawls
US Army, WWII, Korea & Vietnam

Phillip Balyeat, USNR WWII
​Naval Aviation Cadet Program
Athletic Training Officer
​NAS Fort Lauderdale

Bob Alden USNR
Surface Warfare/ Intelligence Officer
Cold War
​nasflbio.docx

Lt. Alexander R. "Sandy" Nininger
Hero of Bataan. Philippine Scouts

​George Tanelian - ARM 3/c USNR
Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale

Charles "Chiz" Ivins
ARM 3 - US Navy WWII

CDR Harvey N. Hop, USN
​Naval Aviator WWII

Maurice J. Baird-Smith
R.A.F. Aviator, WWII
Battle of Brittan - POW

Floyd "Flip" O. Johnson
USN WWII - USAF Korea & Vietnam

Louis J. Belzarine Jr.
NASFL - S2/c USNR WWII

Robert M. Keshock
PhoM3c USNR WWII

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