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Oklahomans to Honor Veterans

Staff and Wire Reports

OKLAHOMA CITY - Oklahomans are preparing to celebrate Veterans day next week.

Gov. Brad Henry is proclaiming 2010 as the Year of the Vietnam Veteran. Oklahomans will observe Veterans Day on Wednesday and Henry says it is important to honor the sacrifices made by all veterans.

Ten veterans including Medal of Honor recipients and a man who saved more than 2,700 lives in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City have been selected for induction into the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame Nov. 11.

The evening will begin at 6:30 p.m. with a reception followed by dinner and the induction ceremony at the Gaylord Center at Oklahoma Christian University, 2501 E Memorial Drive in Edmond.

The inductees into the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame are:

Sergeant First Class D.C. Brewer was born in Avery. He enlisted in the U.S.

Army in 1943. Brewer served in four wars-World War II, Korea, Vietnam and the Dominican Republic. He participated in the invasion of Normandy with the 193rd Glider Regiment. His decorations include the Silver Star, Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts. He died in 2007.

Specialist Dennis W. Drullinger was born in Tulsa. He served in Vietnam with the U.S. Army from 1966-1968 in the 2nd  Platoon, Delta Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment of the 196th Light Brigade. He received the Silver Star for his actions on Jan 8, 1968. His citation said he was cut off from the rest of his platoon by enemy fire. He stayed in his position and fought as the enemy attacked, giving his fellow comrades time to regroup and counterattack. During the battle, he was captured but escaped. His other decorations include the Purple Heart and Combat Infantry Badge. He lives in Tulsa.

Brigadier General George M. Donovan was born in Ardmore and served with Oklahoma's 45th Infantry Division in World War II and the Korean War. He was awarded the Silver Star for his actions in Rome, Italy, and awarded a battlefield commission.  He was captured by the German Army in 1944 and remained a captive in Poland until escaping in 1945. He again went into battle when the 45th was mobilized for the Korean War. He later would command the Oklahoma National Guard's 45th Infantry Brigade. Other decorations include the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit and Combat Infantry Badge. He died in 2002.

Lieutenant General William E. Potts was born in Heavener and graduated from the Oklahoma Military Academy in 1941. He enlisted in the U.S. Army and was in the Normandy invasion. He was later wounded in France. After World War II, he commanded the 72d Tank Battalion in combat during the Korean War and the 14th Armored Cavalry Regiment during peace time in Germany. He served nearly five years in Vietnam as head of combined military intelligences. He received 51 decorations during his career including the Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star and Purple Heart. He is a member of the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame. He died in 2005.

Colonel Richard "Rick" Rescorla was born in Hayle, Cornwall, England. He died in 2001 after saving more than 2,700 lives in the World Trade Center.

He served in the Oklahoma National Guard while receiving his Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the University of Oklahoma and his law degree from Oklahoma City University. As a soldier, Rescorla served in the 2nd Battalion of the 7th Cavalry of the 1st Air Cavalry Division in Vietnam in the Ia Drang Valley battle of 1965, which became a book, "We Were Soldiers Once and Young," and later a movie. The book was written by Lt. Gen. Hal Moore and Joseph L. Galloway.  A photograph of Rescorla during the Ia Drang Valley Battle was on the cover of the book. His decorations include the Silver Star, Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, Purple Heart and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. On Sept. 11, 2001, he was the security director of Dean Witter which had offices in the World Trade Center. He had trained employees on evacuating the buildings in the event of an emergency. That resulted in his saving more than 2,700 employees that day. He was killed going back into the building to look for more employees. He was not an Oklahoman by birth but he touched many lives of Oklahoma Guard members whom he trained in Officer Candidate School.

Major General Teddy Hollis Sanford was born in Pawnee and enlisted in the Army National Guard's 45th Division in 1923. In 1942 he was transferred to the 82nd Infantry Division and assigned to the 325th Glider Infantry Regiment. He participated in the invasion of Sicily, Italy, Normandy, the Ardennes and the crossing of the Elbe River into Germany. After World War II his assignments included Battalion Commander of the 504th Airborne Infantry, commander of the 504th Airborne Infantry Regiment, assistant Division Commander of the 1st Cavalry Division, Commander of the 7th Infantry Division in Korea and Commanding General, XIX Corps. He died in 1992.

Medal of Honor Honorees

Commander Ernest Evans was born in Pawnee. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1931. During World War II, he commanded the Alden and later the U.S.S. Johnston in a battle against the Japanese off Samar in the Leyte Gulf on Oct. 25, 1944. Evans was the first to lay a smokescreen and open fire on a Japanese Task Force superior in number to the American forces.  He was killed in that battle and was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for his actions that contributed to a decisive victory over the Japanese in the Leyte Gulf. His Medal of Honor citation said he consistently interposed his ship between the Japanese Fleet and American carriers.

Private First Class Albert Earnest Schwab was born in Washington, D.C., but his family moved to Tulsa where he was raised. He entered the Marine Corps May 12, 1944. He earned his Medal of Honor on May 7, 1945, while fighting Japanese forces on Okinawa. While his unit was pinned down by enemy machinegun fire coming from a ridge, Schwab, a flame thrower operator, advanced on the Japanese and demolished the gun position, enabling his company to occupy the ridge. A second Japanese machine gun began firing on Marines and Schwab continued his one-man assault on the enemy, despite a diminished supply of fuel for his flame thrower. Before he was fatally wounded, he destroyed that second Japanese position.

Lieutenant Colonel Leon R. "Bob" Vance attended the University of Oklahoma and then was accepted into the United States Military Academy where he graduated in 1939.

He went into the Army Air Corps, which became the Army Air Forces during World War II. Vance, for whom Vance Air Force Base is named, was on his second mission on June 5, 1944, the day before the Normandy invasion, when he earned the Medal of Honor. Vance led his bomber group of B-24 Liberators in an attack of German positions on the coast of France.. The airplane was hit by flak and lost four engines. Several crew members including Vance were wounded. His right foot was almost severed. His foot was caught behind a co-pilot's seat. He and the co-pilot flew the aircraft toward England. He ordered the crew to bail out while continuing to fly the plane because a wounded man in the rear was unable to jump. He flew the B-24 from the floor of the cockpit. He ditched the plane in the ocean but was pinned by the upper turret and by his foot, which still was caught behind the co-pilot's seat. When the plane hit the ocean, an explosion blew him out of the aircraft. He could not find the other wounded man. He then swam toward the coasts and was picked up by an air-sea rescue plane. Following surgery in England he was put on a plane for evacuation to the United States. The plane disappeared between Iceland and Newfoundland and never was found.