In 1944, the land that is now DeKalb Peachtree Airport in Chamblee was home to Naval Air Station Atlanta. Men came from all over the U.S. to train at Naval
Updated: 6:57 PM EDT Jul 22, 2021 A 100-year-old Navy veteran from Winter Park got a lifetime wish to ride in a Navy helicopter. Ima Black began her service with the Navy with the Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service, or WAVES, when it was established in 1942. The women in WAVES were given a status comparable to men of the reserve. Ima was a member of WAVES until the close of the war.During her time in the WAVES, Ima met her future husband, Delbert D. Black at a basketball game. Black was a Master Chief Gunner for the Navy and went on to serve for 30 years, rising to the rank of Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy. He served as a Senior Advisor to the Chief of Naval Operations where he got to be an advocate for sailors and their families.In 2015, Irma got to begin the fabrication process of the USS Delbert D. Black, a guided-missile destroyer named after her husband. In 2020, the ship was officially commissioned in Port Canaveral. On her 100th birthday, an ex
Robert (“Bob”) Arthur Schoonover died December 13 of cardiac arrest at Newport Hospital having been diagnosed with bladder cancer November 18. Bob was born January 2, 1949 at Aiea Medical Center, Territory of Hawaii. His father Donald Leroy Schoonover, originally from Los Angeles, California, was flying the Berlin Airlift at the time of his birth. Bob’s mother Hazel Marie Farris of Eastport, Maine, served as a WAVE (Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service) until her marriage to then Lieutenant Commander Donald Schoonover.
After Bob’s dad retired from the Navy, the family moved to Chico, California where Bob attended high school and ran cross-country and track, setting several records. He then attended Occidental College on an athletic scholarship where he continued to excel in those sports. Some of his competitive running highlights were placing 5th as an All-American cross-country runner in the 1968 national championships, setting the Occidental record in the 3-mile
WWII Navy vet marks 100 years
Likely county s oldest female veteran
ROSA SALTER RODRIGUEZ | The Journal Gazette
Today is a big day for Lucille Capobianco Clarke, and not just because it s Christmas.
It s also the day the Navy veteran celebrates her 100th birthday – as likely the oldest Allen County woman to have served in World War II.
Fort Wayne area author Kaylene Reusser, who struck up a friendship with Clarke a few years ago and has told the woman s wartime story in a book – which includes interviews with several other area World War II veterans as well – said she can t be sure Clarke is the oldest.