SPIRIT of '45

Keep the Spirit of ‘45 Alive!

National Spirit of ’45 Day honors the can-do attitude of an entire generation affected by the trials and hardships of World War II. Observed every year on the second Sunday in August, communities around the country hold events and memorials. Each one honors those who have inspired us, sacrificed, and preserved our nation for future generations.

Dr. Barbara Gannon - Spirit of '45

Barbara A. Gannon is currently an associate professor of history at the University of Central Florida (UCF). She received her B.A. from Emory University in Atlanta, an M.A. from George Washington University in Washington D.C., and a PhD from The Pennsylvania State University. She is the author of The Won Cause: Black and White Comradeship in the Grand Army of the Republic (UNC Press, 2011), an examination of the black and white members of the Union Army’s largest veterans’ organization. This book received the Wiley-Silver Prize (University of Mississippi) for the best first book on the Civil War, was recognized with an honorable mention by the Lincoln Prize Committee 2012 (Gilder Lehrman Institute), and was a finalist for the Jefferson Davis Prize (Museum of the Confederacy). She recently completed a second book, Americans Remember their Civil War (Praeger, 2017). Previously, she worked for the Government Accountability Office analyzing modern defense issues. Currently, she is the coordinator for UCF’s Community Veterans History project, an oral history program, and a co-principal investigator on the Veterans Legacy Program, an initiative of the National Cemetery Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs. She is a a veteran of the United States Army.

Louis Boria Jr. - Spirit of '45

Louis Boria Jr. was born on March 22nd, 1927, and served in the Marines from 1943-57. You may have done the quick math and made two observations - Boria was underage when he signed up, and 1943-57 spans two US wars - WWII and the Korean War. Boria played a pertinent role in both conflicts. Louis mad his first landing of WWII during the Battle of Leyte. In the end, the aims of the Battle of Leyte Gulf were achieved, but there were heavy U.S. casualties: 16,043 soldiers and 7,270 sailors were killed. The Japanese also suffered tremendous losses, with 419,912 deaths and injured. Boria, a Shotgun for the Forward Observer, was among the wounded, suffering a concussion that ruptured his eardrums from incoming mortars. He ultimately recovered, but there were other battles to fight and wars to wage on his horizon. Six years later, in a new war and 1,600 miles away from the Philippines, Boria found himself at another turning point in Seoul, South Korea. The Battle of Incheon was an amphibious invasion and a battle of the Korean War that resulted in a decisive victory and strategic reversal in favor of the United Nations Command (UN). The operation involved some 75,000 troops and 261 naval vessels, leading to the recapture of the South Korean capital of Seoul two weeks later. The code name for the operation was Operation Chromite. Boria's unit took Seoul and was heading toward the Chosin Reservoir. His platoon was riding in a truck when mortars exploded nearby. Boria and his unit dove into ditches to avoid the attack, but when an American tank came by, Boria ran out to grab the phone to call in coordinates for the mortars. He was successful, but as he moved away from the tank, more mortars landed near him, throwing Boria into the air over 10 feet from where he stood.

Mel Jenner - Spirit of '45

Mel Jenner is a World War II veteran who served as a gunner in the Army Air Corps 452nd Operations Group. On June 6, 1944, he was serving as a gunner in the B-17 bomber. Mel learned that he had been carrying post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for over 70 years and just this past year was finally able to get treatment to relieve his suffering.

Pat Rudd - Spirit of '45

Dorothy “Pat” Rudd was born in Peoria IL. Aug. 29 1921 and joined the U.S. Navy in 1942, enlisting into the newly forming U.S.Navy WAVEs program. Dorothy went through military training at Hunter College, N.Y., was assigned to Washington D.C. and worked in the U.S. Navy education dept. Dorothy was selected as one of the first 200 WAVE’s out of thousands of applicants to be re-assigned overseas and was deployed and stationed to Honolulu, Hawaii. She continued working in the education department helping to train and advancing other U.S. Navy serviceman. Dorothy was in Honolulu on VJ Day and was released from the Navy in Dec. of 1945 with the final rank of Specialist (S) 3rd Class. She met her husband Gerald J. Rudd - Boatswain Mate 2/3 USN, while stationed in Honolulu and they married after the war and settled in Kissimmee Fl. They were married 71 years. Dorothy still enjoys staying active and attending as many Veterans functions as she can, always promoting the honor and history of our WWII USN WAVEs.

To learn more about Spirit of ‘45 events near you got to www.spiritof45.org

For more information on The Museum of Military History in Orlando FL go to museumofmilitaryhistory.com