Patriot Stories
Chapter 1919’s Patriots are combat wounded veterans from every battlefield (or at least every theatre of operations) where American troops have fought, from the first shots fired in WWII up to the present time. The personal experiences of these veterans are individually interesting and collectively awesome. Their stories, strung together, would be a wonderful part of American History. Biographical Sketches of some of our nearly 600 chapter members start on this page.
The Purple Heart is awarded for sacrifice, not for heroism; however, many who receive it were doing heroic service when wounded.
Famous or not, proud of them all, Chapter 1919 is looking for more combat wounded veterans to sign up!
Patriot Stories By Service
Most Recent Patriot Stories
From Our Newsletter
WILLIAM C. (BILL) LANE
Bill Lane was a WWII Glider Pilot who flew two combat missions into German held territory. His tow planes were shot down both times when he was still short of his landing zones and he was wounded when his glider was hit during the second mission. His experience...
THOMAS W. MATTHEWS
Thomas W. Matthews was born in 1922 in Luling, Texas. He grew up on a farm and as a student he was active in the Future Farmers of America. He graduated from Luling High School in 1939 and then got a job at the Luling Demonstration Foundation Farm where he worked...
JOE LEVINSON
Joseph Levinson was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1924. His family moved numerous times, but always within the city, so Joe attended a lot of different public schools there, including Volta, and Hivvard before graduating from Resin Orr Grammar School, and then from Von...
HAROLD WEEDEN
Harold Weeden was born in Van Zandt County, Texas in 1933. When he was a small child, his family moved from the farm into the town of Terrell in Kaufman County. His family was musically talented and as he grew up he naturally took to picking guitar and learning songs...
DONALD C. MORRISON
Donald Morrison was born in Stoughton, Wisconsin in 1926 and in his early childhood years he attended the Brick Church Grade School in Walworth County. In March 1935, his family moved to Sharon Township and they were living on a farm there in 1944 when Donald...
FELIX B. SILVA, JR.
Felix was an Army veteran working as a Fire Fighter with Travis County when he was called to active duty with his unit in the Texas Army National Guard for deployment to Iraq. When he was wounded by sniper fire on February 10, 2005, he became the first T-Patcher of...
ROBERT S. DALTON
Wounded in Three Wars WWII 94th INFANTRY DIVISION PATCH KOREA 3rd INFANTRY DIVISION THE “MARNE DIVISION” PATCH VIETNAM 1st INFANTRY DIVISION THE “BIG RED ONE” Robert S. Dalton was born in Alpine, Texas in 1926. His father was a cowboy and Bob grew up on the Dalton...
BRICE H. BARNES
Brice H. Barnes was born at Fort Ringgold, near Rio Grande City, Texas in 1941. His family lived in San Antonio during his growing-up years and Brice graduated from Highlands High School there in 1959. He enlisted in the Texas Army National Guard in 1963, subsequently...
ABRAM A. MILLAR
Abram A. Millar was born in Eden, Texas (Concho County) in 1923. He passed away in September 2006, at age 83, in San Angelo and was buried on the Millar Ranch in Eden in the ranch cemetery. He served in the Army Air Forces during WWII, received the Purple Heart for...
JIM DEETER
James B. Deeter was born in Logansport, Indiana in 1938. He moved around frequently and attended ten different public schools during his growing-up years. When he enlisted in the Army in 1955 he entered active duty on July 22nd from Logansport. Patriot James B. Deeter...
RAMIRO MARTINEZ
Ramiro Martinez was born in 1957 in the lower Rio Grande Valley town of San Benito, Texas. During his Elementary School years, his family lived in the little village of La Paloma very near to the river; but, they had moved back to San Benito when Ramiro was going...
HENRY A. PAPKE
Henry A. Papke was born in Kenney, Texas (Austin County) in 1923. He attended Sempronious School and New Wehdem School, but; as the oldest son in the family he left school to help provide a livelihood on their farm. After his father died in 1942, Henry trained as a...