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
CLYDE S. CARMAN
Clyde S. Carman was born in Schenectady, New York in 1924. His family lived in Saugerties when he was in grade school and then moved to Poughkeepsie where he was a senior in High School when America was attacked at Pearl Harbor. He enlisted as soon as he turned...
TOM F. PRIDDY
Tom Frank Priddy was born in Iredell, Texas (Bosque County) in 1924, and died in Austin, Texas on June 27, 2006. His parents, Lee and Ruby Priddy were living in Priddy, Texas (Mills County) during WWII when Tom reported in to Induction Station, Dallas, Texas, where he...
PRESTON HALEY
Preston G. Haley was born in Youngstown, Ohio in 1978. He grew up in suburban Austintown, and went through Saint Josephs Grade School. Then when he was in 9th grade the Haley family moved to Stow, Ohio. Preston graduated from Stow High School in 1996 and then...
KENNETH R. KASSNER
**Ken Kassner was wounded during the assault to liberate the Iraqi city of Fallujah in November 2004. He returned to full duty this past January in order to deploy again with his battalion to Iraq.** Fellow Patriots: As a brief introduction, my name is Ken Kassner. A...
HAROLD E. (HAL) LEWIS
Wounded In Two Wars: WW II EUROPE and KOREA Harold Elton Lewis was born in San Antonio, Texas in 1917. He grew up in San Antonio and graduated from High School there at age 17. In about 1936 he went to Houston and got a job with Grand Prize, a brewing company owned...
FRANK W. DENIUS
Franklin W. Denius spent his early childhood in Athens, Texas where his family lived and where he attended public schools. As a young teenager, he went off to Schreiner Institute in Kerrville, a military prep school. He graduated there in 1942 and then enrolled, as a...
CARL H. KLEIN
Carl H. Klein was born in 1919 in Seton Hospital in Austin, Texas. His family lived in Creedmoor until, when Carl was eight, they moved into Austin where his father was employed by the city utility department. Carl graduated from Austin High School in 1937 and then...
CHARLES H. MCCOY
Charles H. McCoy was born in 1924 in San Angelo, Texas. In early childhood, his family moved to Dalhart and after eight years there they lived in Lubbock for another seven years. They then lived for two years in Dallas. At that point, still before Americas entry into...
DAVID A. TOSH
David A. Tosh was born in Cherokee County, Texas in 1972. His father had served in the Air Force during Vietnam, following which he enrolled in the University of Texas at Austin, studying under ROTC scholarship. When his father was commissioned in 1978, six year-old...
SERVANDO C. VARELA
Servando Varela was born in 1923 in New Braunfels, Texas where his family had a farm near the city. When Servando was still a young child they moved to Garfield where they continued farming until 1939 when his family moved into Austin. In December 1942, Servando...
ROLAND K. “KEN” TOWERY
Corregidor POW Survivor Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist Roland Kenneth (Ken) Towery was born in 1923 in Smithville, Mississippi. The following year his family moved to Texas where Ken grew up on a farm in Willacy County near Raymondville. In 1937 they moved near San...
ARTHUR (ART) RICE
"Bataan Death March Survivor Past Senior Vice Commander, Chapter 1919 (USAF, WWII, Pacific) Article March 2005 Arthur Rice was born in 1916 in Janesville, Wisconsin. His family moved from Janesville to Milwaukee and Art grew up there, attending Roosevelt Junior High...