Poughkeepsie High School - Phois Yearbook (Poughkeepsie, NY)

Page 33 text:

ROGER TENNANT Lieutenant U. S. A. A. F. 27 years old Class of 1935 Lieutenant Tennant entered the Air Corps in 1941 and went overseas in February, 1944. He was a bombardier on a B-24 Liberator based in Africa and was killed on a raid over Rumania on April 14, 1944, FRANCIS TONER Private First Class U. S. A. 23 years old Class of 1936 Private Toner served with the 106th Infantry Battalion, 27th Division, and received his training at Fort McClellan, Alabama. He was killed at Birmingham, Alabama, on November 11, 1941. STANLEY THEODOROPOU LOS Private First Class U. S. A. 19 years old Class of 1943 Private Theodoropoulos entered the Army on June 29, 1943, and served with the 393rd Regi- ment, 99th Division, of the 1stArmy. He trained at Camp Hood, Texas. He was killed in Belgium on December 17, 1944.

Page 32 text:

FRANKLIN SWENSON Lieutenant li.g.l U. S. N. 29 years old Class of 1937 Lieutenant Swenson piloted a TBF Avenger tor- pedo plane of the famous Torpedo Squadron 8 which was annihilated, with the exception of one man, in the Battle of Midway, and received the Presidential Unit Citation. He entered the Naval Air Service on June 16, 1942, earning his pilot's wings at Corpus Christi, Texas, on February 12, 1943. Lieutenant Swenson was stationed at many bases in the United States, Squantum, Massachu- setts, Miami, Florida, Quonset Point, Massachu- setts, and left for the Pacific from Norfolk, Vir- ginia, in December, 1943, aboard the newly com- missioned aircraft carrier lntrepid. When.the ln- trepid was hit by the Japanese, Lieutenant Swen- son was transferred to the carrier Bunker Hill. He was shot down once over New Hollandia and was picked up later by Navy Patrol Craft. Lieutenant Swenson was killed in action over Truk on June 12, 1944. CHARLES W. STACEY Radio Operator, U. S. Merchant Marine 20 years old Class of 1941 After being unsuccessful in his attempts to en- list in the United States Army, Navy, and Coast Guard, and in the Royal Canadian Air Force, Charles Stacey enlisted in the Merchant Marine in 1942. He trained as a radio operator at New York City and sailed from Philadelphia as Chief Radio Operator on a Liberty ship carrying ammunition. He was killed at his radio while sending out SOS signals after his ship had been torpedoed by two Japanese submarines in the lndian Ocean on June 19, 1943. VINCENT TAFFE First Lieutenant U. S. A. A. F. 26 years old Class of 1936 Lieutenant Taffe entered the armed forces in 1941 before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and served as a bombardier in the Army Air Forces. He was killed in the South Pacific area on March 20, 1944.

Page 34 text:

i i ELIE VECCHIO Private First Class U. S. A. 20 years old Class of 1942 Private Vecchio entered the Army in March, 1943, and trained at Camp Croft, South Carolina He served with the 82nd Division of the 3rd Army, He was killed in Luxembourg on December 24, 1943. BENJAMIN VALK Private First Class U. S. A. A. F. 20 years old Class of 1941 Private Valk entered the Army in 1940 and trained at West Point, He was later stationed with the 320th Air Base Squadron at West Point. He was killed on August 28, 1942. LOUIS WAWRZON EK Pharmacist Mate 1fC U. S. N. 24 years old Class of 1936 Pharmacist Mate Wawrzonek was a veteran of five and one-half years Navy service before he was taken prisoner on Corregidor on May 8, 1942. He was the first member of Dutchess County's armed forces to be decorated for heroism in action in World War ll. He was killed on October 24, 1944, when the Japanese, freighter on which he was a prisoner of war was sunk.