United States Army personnel of World War II

Leland_McPhie

Leland McPhie (March 10, 1914 – September 3, 2015) was an American centenarian track and field athlete. He has found success in Masters athletics competitions. He also holds the currently ratified M95 American records in the long jump and triple jump. Just four days after his 100th birthday, competing in the USATF Masters Indoor Championships, McPhie was the first centenarian athlete to attempt the high jump, though he failed to clear the bar.McPhie's first experience in the sport of track and field dates to his days at Colton Union High School in Colton, California where he taught himself to pole vault with a bamboo pole. In 1935 he set the school record at San Bernardino Valley College that lasted until the inception of fiberglass vaulting poles that radically changed the event in the 1960s. He continued to San Diego State College where he set the school record in the 220 yard dash and long jump in 1936. To this day, the jump is still ranked #9 in school history, a history that includes two Olympic gold medalists in the long jump, Willie Steele and Arnie Robinson.McPhie joined the Army to fight in World War II, returning to San Diego State to complete his degree. From 1940 to 1969 he worked for the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, by 1954 becoming the youngest to attain the rank of captain. During the Vietnam War, he worked for the State Department and picked up the game of tennis. Still decades later he joined a tennis competition at the local Senior Olympics and noticed a track meet going on associated with the event. Since joining in that day, he has won over 200 gold medals and has set numerous American and world records.Widowed in 2000, he survived open heart surgery in 2004 and a couple of forms of cancer. From his recollection, he has three living children, five or six grandchildren and "about 30″ great-grandchildren. He died from a rare form of E. coli bacterial infection.

Virgil_R._Miller

Colonel Virgil Rasmuss Miller (November 11, 1900 – August 5, 1968) was a United States Army officer who served as Regimental Commander of the 442d Regimental Combat Team (RCT), a unit which was composed of "Nisei" (second generation Americans of Japanese descent), during World War II. He led the 442nd in its rescue of the Lost Texas Battalion of the 36th Infantry Division, in the forests of the Vosges Mountains in northeastern France.

Salvador_T._Roig

Brigadier General Salvador Teodoro Roig Marietti, (November 9, 1907 – July 6, 1984), was the Superintendent of the Puerto Rico Police Department under the Government of Luis Muñoz Marín, and Adjutant General of the National Guard under the Government of Roberto Sánchez Vilella.
Roig was appointed Chief of police of Puerto Rico for a second time in 1963, and he was subsequently appointed to the position of Adjutant General of the Puerto Rico National Guard. Among his accomplishments as a public servant stands have occupied the positions of Chief of Police of Puerto Rico, Military Assistant and Chief of Protocol of La Fortaleza (The Fortress) under the Government of Jesús T. Piñero. He was also exalted in the Puerto Rican Sports Hall of Fame for his exploits in the sport of archery target.

Henry_Arana

Henry Arana Rodríguez (May 1, 1921 – February 23, 2008) was a composer of popular songs who was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico and lived all but the last years of his life in Puerto Rico. At the time of his death, from complications related to a neurological disease, he was residing in Alabama and was married to Carmen Mártir Santiago. He served in the United States Army in World War II.Arana composed hundreds of songs made popular by a wide variety of Puerto Rican artists, including Cano Estremera, Bobby Valentín, Willie Rosario, El Gran Combo, Cortijo y su Combo, Tito Rojas, Andy Montañez, Gilberto Santa Rosa, La Sonora Ponceña, Mario Ortiz and Mario Hernández, as well as Mexican artists, such as Adrián Alejandro.
Among his best-known compositions are "Mi Puerto Rico", which was played as his remains were laid to rest at the Puerto Rico National Cemetery in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, "La novia automática", "Awilda", "Sanjuanero", "Por culpa de tu amor", "Como sube la gasolina" and "La gringa". His "Samba con Salsa", composed in the 1980s was a precursor of the fusion music that was popularized twenty years later.

Lafayette_G._Pool

Lafayette Green Pool (July 23, 1919 – May 30, 1991) was an American tank-crew and tank-platoon commander in World War II and is widely recognized as the US tank ace of aces, credited with 12 confirmed tank kills and 258 total armored vehicle and self-propelled gun kills, over 1,000 German soldiers killed and 250 more taken as prisoners of war, accomplished in only 81 days of action from June 27 to September 19, 1944, using three different Shermans. He received many medals and decorations, including the Distinguished Service Cross, the Legion of Merit, the Silver Star, the Purple Heart, the Belgian fourragère, and the French Legion of Honour.

William_Steger

William Merritt Steger (August 22, 1920 – June 4, 2006) was an American politician and United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

Leonard_L._Northrup_Jr.

Leonard "Lynn" L. Northrup Jr. (March 18, 1918 – March 24, 2016) was an American engineer who was a pioneer of the commercialization of solar thermal energy. Influenced by the work of John Yellott,
Maria Telkes, and Harry Tabor, Northrup's company designed, patented, developed and manufactured some of the first commercial solar water heaters, solar concentrators, solar-powered air conditioning systems, solar power towers and photovoltaic thermal hybrid systems in the United States. The company he founded became part of ARCO Solar, which in turn became BP Solar, which became the largest solar energy company in the world. Northrup was a prolific inventor with 14 US patents.

Martin_Knowlton

Martin Perry Knowlton (July 30, 1920 – March 12, 2009) was the American co-founder of Elderhostel, a non-profit organization established in 1975 that allows senior citizens to travel and take educational programs in the United States and around the world.

Antulio_Segarra

Colonel Antulio Segarra Guiot (January 20, 1906 – September 14, 1999) was a United States Army officer who in 1943 became the first Puerto Rican in history to command a Regular Army Regiment. Segarra served as Military Aide to the Military Governor of Puerto Rico Theodore Roosevelt Jr. and during World War II commanded the 65th Infantry Regiment.