Edward Albert Heimberger
Eddie Albert, 99, passed away at his home on Thursday, apparently peacefully. I sincerely hope so. He'd put up with enough pain and suffering in his life - and most of it wasn't directly his.
You see, during WWII, Eddie alber joined the Navy. When the Marines landed on Iwo Jima in February of 1945, he was a petty officer operating a landing craft taking the Marines to the island - and bringing the wounded and dead back to the ships. I have seen him reminiscing about that period and what really stuck in his mind was the Marines who refused evacuation so that others could go first. When he returned to get those Marines, they were gone.
Petty officer Albert was awarded a Bronze Star with V for his heroism under fire for those "taxi runs".
Most baby boomers will remember his for "Green Acres", but my kids will always know him for "Escape to Witch Mountain."
2 Comments:
More accurately, E.A. Heimberger was a Navy Officer (not Petty Officer). His rank was Lt.j.g.
The landing in which he participated was Tarawa, not Iwo Jima. He was serving on the attack transport ship USS Sheridan APA-51. There is a photo in Life magazine Dec.13,1943 showing one of the APA-51 boat crews retrieving bodies of Marines.
I believe you are right about Eddie Albert's rating in WWII. I recall watching him during an interview on TV where he said that he was a young 3rd petty officer ferrying troops ashore and returning with the wounded. But, I believe the battle was the battle for Tarawa and not Iwo Jima.
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