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NEWS&VIEWS by Jacqueline Bennett

Posts from the “American history” Category

Combat Gunner Leon E. Larned, Sr. Served On USS Trathen DD 530 ~ Korean War

Posted on June 25, 2018

  By Jacqueline Bennett newsandviewsjb.com   Proudly displayed on his youngest son John Larned Sr.’s fireplace mantle are two framed photos from his father, Leon E. Larned, Sr.’s United States Navy service. One photo shows the destroyer on which Leon Sr. served as a rear gunner during the Korean War ~ the USS Trathen DD 530. The other photo is Leon Sr.’s recruits class in Maryland, the 2nd Regiment, Co 444.   “I’m glad he came home,” John said during a June 24 interview at his North Windham, Connecticut home. (In addition to Leon Sr.’s service as a rear gunner, John said he believes, his father also served as an explosives expert and a “frogman.”)   Fortunately for his family, Leon Sr. nickname “Brud”,…

Categories: American history, NEWS, Those Who Served, U.S. Navy

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“Dear Vietnam Veteran” Manchester CT Town Hall Displays ‘Wall of Healing’ Keepsakes

Posted on January 16, 2016

  Write-Up & Photos by Jacqueline Bennett newsandviewsjb.com   “Dear Vietnam Veteran   Thank you.  We are sorry for the loss of your friends and comrades ..  Thank you for your service and your bravery…”  A note with this message is positioned proudly and prominently in a showcase in the Manchester, Connecticut town hall. The showcase contains a tribute of mementos left beside  “The Wall That Heals”,  a traveling Vietnam Memorial that came to town in October, 2015.   Immediately behind the note, with the American flag as a backdrop and surrounded by white candles, blended together in an oblong bowl are “all petals from flowers left at the wall”. It is an especially touching sight as one pauses to imagine the hands that…

Categories: American history, NEWS, Wall That Heals, war memorials

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26th Norman Rockwell Holiday Recreation on Main Street Stockbridge, MA

Posted on December 9, 2015

Article & Photos by Jacqueline Bennett newsandviewsjb.com   Travel the highway up into the Berkshire Mountains exiting onto secondary routes, and nestled in along the road going west from Lee is the village of Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Home to renowned American illustrator Norman Rockwell for the last 25 years of his life, Stockbridge is where he created one of his most famous works. That famous rendering depicts Main Street in Stockbridge on Christmas Eve and was published by McCall’s magazine in a 1967 special section called “Home for Christmas”.   On Sunday, December 6, the clock was turned back in Stockbridge to the 1960’s era when Rockwell painted the Christmas Eve scene. Vintage cars “strategically” lined-up in the center of town recreating the Rockwell sreetscape…

Categories: American history, American icons, American illustrators, Christmas, New England Inns, Norman Rockwell Holiday Recreation

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Connecticut Governor Orders Flags at Half-Staff for Pearl Harbor Remembrance “No Matter How Long It May Take Us” FDR

Posted on December 7, 2015

By: Jacqueline Bennett newsandviewsjb.com   Seventy-four years have passed since on this day in 1941 at 10:55 a.m., the United States was attacked by the Imperial Japanese Navy at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The attack led President Franklin D. Roosevelt to ask Congress to declare war on Japan and brought the U.S. into World War II. Everyday life in the U.S. was changed putting Americans on constant alert. Individual families were affected. Not only the families of the more than 2,000 who died there but, as well, families of the young men and women who signed on for the fight. That includes my own family, as I have written about previously in a newsandviewsjb piece titled “Quiet Heroes From Connecticut’s Quiet Corner” . There are…

Categories: American history, Courage, NEWS

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A Visit to the USCG Cutter Barque Eagle – “America’s Tallship”

Posted on August 17, 2015

Write-Up & Photos by Jacqueline Bennett newsandviewsjb.com   Visitors to the Barque Eagle, “America’s Tallship”, were hospitably greeted Sunday by members of the United States Coast Guard at New London Harbor. A training ship for cadets, having completed the 2015 summer cadet training, the “Eagle” arrived in its homeport of New London near the USCG Academy on Friday, August 14. The Eagle is scheduled to depart this morning en route to Portsmouth, Virginia.    On this sunny and hot summer day, curious visitors eagerly boarded the massive ship walking up a boarding ramp then immediately down a steep row of steps before touring the vessel – a World War II prize of war. Constructed in 1936, it was originally commissioned as the Horst Wessel by the…

Categories: American history, American values, Barque Eagle, NEWS, Prize of War, Square Rigger, Tallships, United States Coast Guard Academy

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A Facelift for Connecticut’s Old State House

Posted on August 14, 2015

Write-Up & Photos by Jacqueline Bennett newsandviewsjb.com   The Old State House stands in beauty and dignity on the west side of the Connecticut River, the “high land side” in Hartford, Connecticut. Declared a National Landmark in 1960, it remains a constant, greeting visitors to the capital city.   Blue scaffolding currently engulfs this historic building as it undergoes exterior renovation and roof repair. However, the building is open for touring.   Construction of the original meeting house dates back to 1636, one year after the first settlers arrived in what would become a colony which quickly outgrew that earliest structure as noted on the Old State House website. Following a fire in 1792, it was rebuilt. Visit http://www.cga.ct.gov/osh/timeline.asp to view a full timeline.…

Categories: American history, architectural restoration, architecture, Farmer's Markets, Haunted buildings, historic preservation, iconic New England buildings, New England, NEWS, Paranormal activity

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Will Nation’s Oldest Continually Active Mounted Cavalry Unit Be Saved? – First Company Governor’s Horse Guard Avon, CT

Posted on June 19, 2015

  Article & Photos by Jacqueline Bennett newsandviewsjb.com   Only a few years after the Sons of Liberty orchestrated the 1773 Boston Tea Party and Paul Revere made his famous ride on the 18th of April in 1775, amidst the American Revolution, Connecticut’s First Company Governor’s Horse Guard was organized in 1778. It remains the “oldest continuously active mounted cavalry unit in the United States” – for now.   Over the past several years the size of the state’s two horse guard units, the First Company -1GHG- located in Avon, and the Second Company in Newtown has been dwindling. Each is said to be down to ten horses per unit and for awhile it looked like they could be wiped out thanks to Gov.…

Categories: American history, American Revolution, Connecticut history, Mounted Calvary, New England, NEWS, Thirteen Original Colonies

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Col. Harry Generous Organized CT Air National Guard/ Cousin & Brothers Led Generations of Family Service to USAF

Posted on May 18, 2015

By Jacqueline Bennett newsandviewsjb.com   Since near the dawn of American aviation members of the Generous family have taken to the skies to serve their country. Harry, Al and Oliver (“Bunker”) Generous had roles in American aviation history. Commencing in the early half of the 20th Century to the present day, four generations of the Generous family have a proud lineage of USAF service that spans close to a century, in the U.S. Air Corp which became the U.S. Air Force, and in the Air National Guard.   Last Memorial Day I wrote a piece for newsandviewsjb titled “Quiet Heroes from Connecticut’s Quiet Corner” about two of my mother’s brothers who served during World War II, with a focus on her brother Oliver “Bunker”…

Categories: American Aviation, American history, Arlington National Cemetery, Army Air Force, Aviation Pioneers, Connecticut history, Family, Leadership, New England, NEWS

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Scarves on Windham “Frog Bridge” – Sign of the Holiday Season in Northeastern Connecticut

Posted on December 17, 2014

Article & Photos by Jacqueline Bennett newsandviewsjb.com   A distinctive splash of red twirled around four gigantic green frog sculptures, perched atop spools of thread on the “Frog Bridge” has become a whimsical sign of the holiday season in northeastern Connecticut’s Windham county. Upclose, at a distance, front view or rear view, one might say the frogs in scarves visual – jumps out – to greet travelers.   Flurries playfully accented the 11- foot-tall bronze statues following a recent, early December snowfall, likely among the first of many snowflakes that will descend throughout the coming winter. The bright red scarves clearly bring holiday warmth to these creatures from the deep.     Four frogs squat, one perched on each corner of the bridge spanning the Willimantic River and Windham rail line from Pleasant Street (Route…

Categories: American history, architecture, Bridges, Folklore, New England, NEWS, sculptures, Signs of the Holiday Season

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Gillette Castle Marks a 100th Anniversary in Holiday Style

Posted on December 15, 2014

Article & Photos by Jacqueline Bennett newsandviewsjb.com   Decorated in holiday style Gillette Castle in East Haddam, Connecticut is marking the 100th anniversary of its construction. Stone formations border a pathway to the castle where pine sprigs adorn exterior sections of the 24-room “medieval-looking” mansion. Actor, director and playwright William Hooker Gillette had it built, beginning in 1914. It took five years to complete this exquisite structure on his 184-acre estate atop a hill know as the “Seven Sisters”, overlooking the picturesque Connecticut River.     According to guides at the castle during a December 14 visit, Gillette designed the castle and influenced most every aspect its of contents. Its features include “near vertical stairways”, built-in couches, intricately carved wooden latches on some 47 doors – of which no two carvings are…

Categories: American history, architecture, Castles in the United States, Connecticut Parks, NEWS, Theater

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