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| Click on above picture to see posters from previous years. |
Helen and Bill Mahood
Bill Mahood served in the Air Force for 21 years, attaining the rank of
Senior Master Sergeant. He was trained as a bombardier. He was shot down on August 4, 1943. After his rescue,
he opted to come back to the States. When World War II was over, he left the service but later rejoined as a Master
Sergeant. Over the years he served at many places, including Edwards Air Force Base, San Antonio, Korea, Williams
Air Force Base in Arizona, Greece, and North Highlands, a suburb of Sacramento.
Edith, Bob, and Florence Judson
Bob Judson, Ethel Tucker, Bud Judson
Bob and Bud in Each Other's Uniform
Bob Judson was a Captain in the United States Marine Corps. He served
in World War II, where he was not in combat. After the war, he stayed in the Reserves and was called up to serve
in Korea, after which he resigned.
"Bud" Judson served in the United States Navy. At one point, he was
on leave, and his ship (a destroyer) was torpedoed and sunk.
Don and Ethel Tucker and Bud Judson with Judy, Gary,
and Janice
Don Tucker enlisted in the Navy before he could be drafted.
After training in San Diego for about seven months, he was stationed on the island of Guam. He was a Second Class Petty
Officer, with a specialty of Disbursing Storekeeper. As such, he was never in action.
However, a lot of Japanese prisoners were being held on Guam.
The Navy personnel were instructed not to leave their jungle camp unarmed because some Japanese were still
hiding out there. The Marine patrols went out every day, looking for them.
On his way to China, Bob Judson stopped on Guam and visited
with Don.
When the war ended, Don flew to Pearl Harbor, and stayed there until
he could get passage to California. In the middle of the night, Grandpa Judson called to tell him that Ethel had
just given birth to twin girls.
Don finally got a ride out of Hawaii on an aircraft carrier that
took him to San Diego, where he ran into an old friend in the personnel office. Billy gave Don a 48-hour pass
so he could see Ethel and his new babies, as well as Judy and Gary.
Back in San Diego, Don found that Billy had inserted his
name high up on the discharge list; in record time, he went back to family life and an accounting job with
an oil company.
Don Tucker
Don, Bob, and a friend of Bob's, on Guam
During World War II,
Emil Schoening
served in the
Army Corps of Engineers
in New Guinea.
Fortunately, he was
not in combat.
Emil Schoening
The Younger Generation
Dianna Williams, daughter of Pam and Ron Hill, was a Staff Sergeant
in the Air Force. She was in Qatar when the current war started. She was there for about four months.
Later she went to Kyrgykstan, near the Mongolian-Chinese border, for another four months. Dianna retired from
the military last July, after serving for about eight years.
Pam and Ron's son, Bruce, was in the Air Force for four years, serving in Colorado Springs.
He was a computer networking specialist and worked with NORAD in Cheyenne Mountain. One of his jobs was to track Santa
Claus on Christmas Eve. Children from every military base around the world could call to ask where Santa was, and Bruce
would tell them.
Click on the star to see pictures of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
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