VH-4 Shipmates
ARMSTRONG, AMM2 Harold C. (Deceased) c/o His Son Tim Armstrong tima@nc.rr.com "...My name is Tim Armstrong and my father may have served with you during World War II. He served in VP-55, VP-74, VP-212, VPB-111, VH-4, Hedron 14-2, and FAW-14 from 1940 till 1946. He served in the Africa and the Pacific theaters. His name is AMM2 Harold C. Armstrong. He passed away when I was seven so I really don't know much about his military service. I am just starting to do some research and could use your help. I was a surface sailor (STG1) from 1977 till 1987. Any info or contacts you can provide would be great!! Thanks for your help..." [19MAR2001]
BUSKIRK, Carl "Buzz" Von Jr. [Deceased] c/o His Daughter Nancy Berg naner@silverlink.net or his Son Richard Von Buskirk RNelsonn@cs.com "...My father, Carl Nelson Von Buskirk, Jr., served in the USN during WWII with VP-83 and VH-4. My brother has his log book and we decided to do a little research. Dad never really spoke about his time in the Navy...My father, like most men of his generation, spoke little of his personal involvement in that tumultuous time. My three brothers, my sister and I have all, at one time or another, asked my father about those years that so shaped his the lives of his generation. Other than talking about some of the sights he had seen or places he had been, like Brazil and Hawaii, he had very little to say. He made it clear that it was a time of duty and once done, it was time to move on. I know, having my father live me for the last few years of his life, that he served with pride, with honor, and was moved by the various memories that the conflict branded on his heart and soul. He would never speak of battles fought or talk about the fear and horrors common to those men of that era. I don't know of personal loss or tragedy or other elements of the self sacrifice necessary in those days. It was personal to him; those were memories that belonged to him and his generation. My father passed away in 1994. Several years later I found some personal things of his, including a brown, cloth covered "Aviators Flight Log Book" with several notations inside and, scrawled in his hand on the front, the letters, in descending order, "VP-83, VPB-83, VB-107, VPB-107, VPB-2(?), VPB-98, VPB-100, and VH-4." I gather these are various squadrons that he belonged to. Over the years some of these letters have faded, as this book is approaching 60 years old. There are several entries in the book, beginning in March of 1942 and ending February 1946. Brevity best describes the remarks column, but the entries give the flavor of locations, duties, and even lengths of patrols, ranging from .2 hours on Jan 18, 1945 ( "Crashed in ocean off Okinawa, Picked up by Flag Plane) to rump numbing flights lasting 16.5 hours ( May 15-16, 1946, PBM-5 lt. Cmdr Sterling, Kaneohe to San Francisco). It is facinating reading. My father saw quite a bit of the world at war and it's aftermath, including flying over Hiroshima, (Nov 4, 1945 PBM-5) and Nagasaki (Nov 23, 1945 same plane)..." [BIO Updated 23JAN2001 | 21JAN2001]
HEMBREE, T. C. "Curtis" Jr. cnjhembree@jam.rr.com "...I served with VH-4 at the end of WW2. We were on NAS Tanapag Harbor, Saipan, Marianas Islands and shortley there after we were sent to Ebeye Atoll across the lagoon from the island of Kwajalein and attached to Operation Crossroads and the Bikini Atomic Bomb tests in 1946. We had 5 PBMs in the squadron. I was a crew member of King 6 whose Patrol Plane commander was LT J. C. Stevenson of Oklahoma. Would sure like to locate LT Stevenson..." [02NOV2002]
"...KREITZER, CDR William Rutherford...William Rutherford Kreitzer, 88, of Town Creek, died March 25, 2007, at his home. Born Oct. 25, 1918, in Savannah, Ga., he was the son of the late William Clausen Kreitzer and Elizabeth Rutherford Kreitzer. He was the husband of Madeleine Moon Kreitzer, whom he married on Oct. 23, 1943. He graduated from Savannah High School in 1936 and enlisted in the U.S. Navy as an apprentice seaman and served aboard the USS Tennessee. After two years of duty he entered the Naval Academy Prep School in Norfolk, Va. After a year at the U.S. Naval Academy he spent two years at Georgia Tech. He then re-enlisted in the Navy, went through flight training and was commissioned as an ensign on May 15, 1942. After qualifying as a naval aviator the next month, he joined VP-202, and conducted antisubmarine flights in the Gulf of Mexico and the mid-Pacific during World War II. He flew 1,500-mile flights toward Japan aboard PBM seaplanes to prevent surprise attacks against U.S. forces. This part of the war effort started at New Guinea and proceeded up the Pacific from atoll to atoll. As Marines landed on each atoll, seaplane squadrons arrived and established a system of buoys to tie up and begin flights. He was awarded three Air Medals for his activities in the Pacific. He then participated in the atomic bomb test at Bikini Atoll in 1946, flying safety and rescue missions. His next assignment was with Operation Highjump in 1947, an exploratory and mapping project of Antarctica. Kreitzer Glacier was named for him, as were Kreitzer Bay and Kreitzerizen, which was named by the government of Norway. He spent one year as a student at the Naval War College in Newport, R.I., and later taught there for two years. From 1949 to 1951 he served in VH-4 at NAS Guantanamo Bay, Cuba as well as VP-44. He served one year as navigator aboard the aircraft carrier USS Tripoli in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. He spent three years in the office of the chief of naval operations in the Pentagon and two years at the Naval Hydrographic Office making charts and graphs. He retired as commander in 1968. Following his retirement, he earned a bachelor's degree from George Washington University, a master's degree from American University and completed work for a doctorate from George Washington University. He also completed an internship in clinical psychology at Springfield State Hospital. He began a second career as a school psychologist for the St. Mary's County public schools. He also provided psychological therapy services for a youth organization and taught psychology at St. Mary's College of Maryland. In addition he conducted a private psychology practice in St. Mary's County. Later he was a psychological consultant in the emergency room at St. Mary's Hospital. Following a second retirement, he and his wife joined the Peace Corps and spent two years in Belize, between 1986 and 1988, where he worked as a psychologist and his wife worked in a free medical clinic. His hobbies included travel, beekeeping and stereographic photography. For a time, he owned and operated a beekeeping supply business. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his brother, James Frederick Kreitzer. He is survived by his wife, Madeleine; and their seven children; Susan Norlund of Sky Forest, Calif., Thomas Richard Kreitzer of Lovettsville, Va., Nancy Kreitzer of Huntingtown, Joan Ellis of Kingston, N.Y., Katy Boyd of Leonardtown, Robert E. Kreitzer of Bangor, Maine, and Janet Kreitzer of Santa Cruz, Calif. He is also survived by 10 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Visitation will be held today, March 28, from 4 to 6:30 p.m. at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Lexington Park. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Thursday, March 29, at 10:30 a.m. at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, followed by refreshments in the parish hall. A military service with full honors and interment will take place May 30 at 3 p.m. at Arlington National Cemetery. Arrangements are being provided by Brinsfield Funeral Home in Leonardtown..." WebSite: The Enterprise http://www.somdnews.com/stories/032807/enteobi174624_32111.shtml [30MAR2007]
KREITZER, William wkreitze@us.hsanet.net "...I was in VH-4 for about a year when we participated in the A-Bomb tests in the mid pacific..." [11DEC98]
McNEAL, YN1 Stanley G. Retired sgmcneal@presys.com "...As member of VH-4, VP-2 (VPB-130) in the mid 1940's this is a great site. As a former Aviation Ordnanceman, I have many stories to tell of San Diego, NAS Miramar and VP Aviation in the "Old Days..." [17JAN2001]
RYAN, Edward Allen txaggar@aol.com "...I was one of the original with VP-206 when it was organized in 1942. Shipped out with squadron to NAS Coco Solo, Panama, Canal Zone. Served with squadron until comming back to the states in 1943. Served with VP-206 in NAS Quonset Point, Rhode Island until 1944, when I changed from VPB squadron to VH-4 (Air Sea Rescue). Served with VH-4 in Okinawa; then with Navy occupational forces in Tokyo Bay and Sasebo, Japan from 17 October 1945 until January 13, 1946. Looking for Shipmates from that time..." [14OCT2000]
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