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Biography for

Doris Day (I)

Birth name

Doris Mary Ann Von Kappelhoff

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Nickname

Do-Do

Clara Bixby

Eunice

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Height

5' 7" (1.70 m)

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Mini biography

One of America's most prolific actresses was born Doris Mary Ann Von Kapplehoff on April 3, 1924 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her parents divorced while Doris was still a child and her mother gained custody. Like most little girls, Doris liked to dance. She would, sometimes, dance with friends and, sometimes, just by herself. Soon enough she began the transition to have her dancing take her loftier heights. She had dreamed of being a ballerina, but an automobile accident ended what hopes she had of dancing on stage. It was a terrible setback. However, after taking singing lessons, Doris seemed to find a new vocation. She sang with local bands. It was while on one singing engagement, she met Al Jorden whom she eventually married in 1941. Jorden was very prone to violence and they split after two years, not long after the birth of their son Terry who would later become a record producer. In 1946, Doris met, wed, and divorced George Weidler. This union lasted less than a year. As with most singers, Doris had an agent and it was he who talked her into taking a screen test with the possibility of making motion pictures. The movie moguls of Warner Brother's Studios liked what they saw and signed Doris to a contract. Her first feature film was as Georgia Garrett in 1948's ROMANCE ON THE HIGH SEAS. In 1949, Doris made two films, MY DREAM IS YOURS and IT'S A GREAT FEELING. The contract between Doris and Warner's seemed a perfect match. All during the 1950's Doris turned in fine performances for Warner which in turn helped her to become a wonderful solo artist with hit after musical hit. Her filmmaking pace was picking up with three films in 1950 and five in 1951. It was during the latter that Doris met Marty Melcher and he adopted her young son. In 1953, Doris starred in the title role in CALAMITY JANE. The film was a success and more followed. LUCKY ME (1954), THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1956), and PILLOW TALK (1959) kept movie goers entertained. During the 1960's there was to be more success. The decade dawned bright with 1960's PLEASE DON'T EAT THE DAISIES. It was during the 60's that Doris began to slow down the pace somewhat. Her husband Marty had made deals for her to star in films she didn't really care about which led to a bout with exhaustion. The 60's wasn't to be a repeat of the previous, busy decade. Again, the films in which she appeared in were box-office success stories. Films such as DO NOT DISTURB (1965), THE GLASS BOTTOM BOAT (1966), WHERE WERE YOU WHEN THE LIGHTS WENT OUT? and WITH SIX, YOU GET AN EGGROLL (both in 1968), delighted the legions of Doris Day fans. With the death of Marty in 1968, Doris never appeared on the silver screen, but she had been signed to do THE DORIS DAY SHOW, on television, in which she played Doris Martin. The hit was, what else, a big TV hit. The run lasted from 1968-1973, whereupon Doris did only occasional appearances. Today at 75, she runs the Doris Day Animal League in Carmel, California which advocates homes and proper care of household pets. What else would you expect of America's sweetheart?

WWII Unknown Stories

This is what I remember. If it helps good, if not it's something different.

July 8, 1945 I arrived at Leyte Island, July 25, 1945 arrived at Panay Island.

Japan surrendered August 14, 1945.

Sept. 8 or 15, 1945 we arrived at Inchon, Korea and took a train to Taegu, Korea. We were the first Americans the Koreans ever saw. We marched into the Japanese compound past the Japanese guard and stopped in front of a 2-story building we were to use as our barracks. Being in the first squad we marched to each guard post, the Japanese soldier fell in the rear of our column and one of our men took over the guard post. I took guard of the ammo dump and it was raining very hard. The Japanese soldiers were very cordial and bowed to each of us as we replaced them. When we got back from guard duty the Japanese were gone. The following night we were just getting in bed and the C.O. came in and told our squad to make a full field pack (with rations), get our rifles and ammunition, because of some trouble in town. We packed up (13 in our squad) and were taken to the city hall. We just got there and were standing at the gate when up from three directions came three Japanese soldiers running at us. To us it looked like the whole Japanese army was coming at us. Those rifles of our got loaded really quick and ready. The Japanese just came up to surrender to us Americans. They were afraid of the Korean Police. We were to guard some important criminal and political papers. My guard post was two vaults and it was pitch black. Here comes the kicker!! We were the regular army troops, but the only ones there so we were given M.P. helmets, M.P. arm bands and 45 caliber revolvers and we worked with the Korean Police. We set up our radios in police stations to talk to our jeep. There was a city block of houses, built side by side, no back door, and facing the courtyard. Only one way to get in and we were there to keep G.I.'s out from this whorehouse district. I don't know how they would get in but a Korean madam would come out saying American, American and we would have to go in and check each room and kick them out. Four of us were put at an out-post many miles from town at bottom of some mountains. Every morning a jeep with a hot stove would come and make us hot breakfast, the rest of the day k-rations or one time two of us took our rifles and got a few ducks. We were guarding a large barn. One day we looked in the barn and it was full of rice bowls. Many miles away another 4-man post was guarding parachutes. The Korean toilets were oblong holes in the floor and they had Honey dippers who would take away the human waste and spread it on their food gardens, everything grew twice as large as ours. We were not aloud to eat anything that came from the ground. We did not destroy any arms; I assumed the Japanese took them home with them. There was a room that had a few things we could have, I brought back a sword. We did turn in our rifles and they dunked in some preservation gook. I left Korea Feb. 26, 1946 and was dis-charged March 20, 1946. When I was at Taegu, we (GI's) had no problems with the Korean people and knew nothing about political problems, we just wanted to go back to the states. I was in the 40th Division, 185th Infantry, Company E, 1st Platoon, 1st Squad. I have a few pictures of farmers, Korean Police, and our M.P.'s if you need them.

Alaska Air Guard rescuers pick-up missing pilot

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11/29/2004 - KULIS AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Alaska (AFPN) -- A civilian pilot is now home and safe after surviving six days in the Alaskan wilderness. Michael Holman had been missing since Nov. 22 and was picked up Nov. 28 by an Air National Guard rescue crew. He had been spotted the day before by a passing U.S. Coast Guard C-130 Hercules crew.

Mr. Holman, 46, walked more than 17 hours to get to an empty fishing cabin after his private aircraft was destroyed. He used a fire on a beach to signal the Coast Guardsmen and a hand held marine-band radio to tell them that he was safe. He also told them had plenty of food, water and other provisions inside the cabin, said Maj. Chris Kobi with the Alaska Air National Guard Rescue Coordination Center at Camp Denali, Alaska.

The missing pilot was outside the 4,000 square mile search zone when the Coast Guardsmen spotted him, officials said.

As World War II 60th anniversary events go, next month’s gathering in Bastogne, Belgium, will be the first major remembrance since June, when the D-Day landings in Normandy, France, were honored.

The events celebrating the Battle of the Bulge will include parachutes and parades, ceremonies and concerts, wreaths and fetes. Veterans of the famous battle are expected to turn out in droves, a rare event that will only get rarer as more and more of them pass on.

“The 60th anniversary events will never, ever happen again,†Army Lt. Col. Scott Glass said. “This is our last chance for very large groups of veterans coming to Belgium.â€

Music will usher in the official ceremonies, scheduled for Dec. 16-19. The main events are slated for the final two days, Saturday and Sunday. Belgian King Albert II and other dignitaries are scheduled to attend the ceremonies.

For seven successive days, beginning Dec. 10, the 76th U.S. Army Band from Mannheim, Germany, will perform concerts in several Benelux towns, from Noville and Malmedy in Belgium to Brunssum, Netherlands, and Arlon on the Belgium-Luxembourg border.

The concert in Arlon is scheduled for Dec. 16, the start of the four-day remembrance. Prior to the concert, a ceremony will be held at the U.S. Cemetery in Hamm, Luxembourg.

Col. Dean Nowowiejski, commander of the 80th Area Support Group, which is active in the commemoration, suggested that interested soldiers attend at least one of the ceremonies and visit an American war cemetery. For young soldiers, especially those who have served in Iraq, the trip should hold even greater meaning, he said.

“It helps a troop understand that if you are lost on a battlefield, you won’t be forgotten,†Nowowiejski said.

No matter which event a soldier attends, “in the audience,†he said, “you will have a lot of friends of America.â€

To this day, the people of the Benelux — which includes Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg — have not forgotten the sacrifices the Americans made in liberating them from Nazi Germany.

The Battle of the Bulge actually encompassed a series of battles fought over several hundred miles between Dec. 16, 1944, and Jan. 25, 1945. More than 1 million combatants on both sides took part. U.S. forces suffered 19,000 deaths.

While losses were high, the battle, which at first caught the Allies off guard, represented Germany’s last major offensive of the war.

“It was a hard fight,†said Glass, who is director of plans, mobilization, training and security for the 80th ASG in Chièvres, Belgium.

For Glass and some other soldiers, the remembrance is also personal.

In a telephone interview Wednesday, Glass said his father fought in the Battle of the Bulge as a member of the 87th Infantry Division. The elder Glass had planned to attend the commemoration, but he passed away last month at the age of 81.

Spc. Rebecca Jones, a communications specialist in Chièvres, recently learned her grandfather, Eugene Heugel, took part in the battle as well. Jones said visiting the Bastogne region, where the major battles occurred, left her with a greater respect for her grandfather and all the other men who repulsed the German advance.

By visiting the battle sites, she said, “I can see it. I can feel it. I can stand in the same places as my grandfather did.â€

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Battle of the Bulge 60th anniversary activities

Dec. 18

8:30 a.m. — Historical walk departing from Café L’Europa on McAuliffe Square

10 a.m. — Parade through the city and wreath laying ceremony at (Brig. Gen. Anthony) McAuliffe Square and Gen. George Patton’s monument

4 p.m. — Ceremony at the Mardasson Monument

4:45 p.m. — The annual “Nuts Festival,†which commemorates — among other things — Brig. Gen. Anthony McAuliffe’s famous “Nuts!†reply to the German surrender demand. The event takes place at the Bastogne town hall.

5:20-6:20 p.m. — Sound and Light Show downtown Bastogne. Concert by the 76th Army Band at Bastogne follows.

Dec. 19

10:30 a.m. — Commemorative ceremony at the Church of Noville (village close to Bastogne)

11:30 a.m. and noon — Air Drop near the Mardasson Monument. Participating in the parachute drop will be four Battle of the Bulge veterans.

3-5 p.m. — Parade of 300 vintage military vehicles through Bastogne.

I checked my mail today and there was a wonderful surprise; my dad's Battle of the Bulge Certificate. Hooray! How appropriate too because the 60th Anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge is this month.

It's a beautiful document and I am going to have it framed this week. It will be my Christmas present to myself. .

So please let me pay honors to all those who fought in the Ardennes/Alsace Campaign. May God bless you for your service to our country. We do appreciate you more than we can say.

Here's a look at it. It's rather large so I couldn't scan the entire document. Looks like they will have to re-do it because it should say, 540th Combat Engineer Regiment or Group. Minor detail for now. I can always get that corrected.