Monday, April 8, 2013
Highland Park resident helped build two Deerfield synagogues, Northbrook school.
Editor's Note--The information and eulogy below come from Jonathan Plotkin, one of Gen. Levine’s sons in law. Some of the reporting also comes from Deerfield Patch Editor, Steve Sadin, who attended the funeral and whose parents were long time neighbors of the general. Maj. Gen William P. Levine of Highland Park, who was a liberator of the Dachau Concentration Camp in World War II and helped build Moriah Congregation and Congregation B’nai Tikvah in Deerfield, died March 19. He was 97. As a member of the United States army in World War II, Levine served in the 34 AAA Group and was among those who liberated the Dachau Concentration Camp in Germany toward the end of the conflict. He was part of army intelligence at the time and one of the …
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Local veteran of World War II and Korean War gets a one day honor flight to Washington.
- LOCAL CONNECTIONS
- Ed Collins
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Thursday, November 22, 2012
Deerfield’s Joe Pugliese, a Navy veteran of World War II and the Korean War, recently participated in an Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. to visit memorials to him and his comrades on the Capitol Mall. The one-day trip sponsored by a non-profit veterans group left Midway Airport for an early morning flight to Washington where they were greeted with a special fire hose salute at Dulles International Airport and transported to downtown Washington. Get local news in a daily email from Patch. It's like getting a free newspaper. Learn more. Pugliese said each of the 90 World War II veterans on the flight were provided with a wheelchair for the day, and an aide was assigned to assist the veterans. Pugliese’s aide was his son, Jim. The average…
Monday, November 12, 2012
A Veterans Day tribute to a 90-year-old Air Force pilot and former Deerfield High School teacher who endured seven months as a POW before being liberated by Allied forces including Gen. George S. Patton.
"I grew up wanting to play baseball for the Braves," said Elijah "Joe" Ostrander, 90, of his hometown team. "That plan was changed by the war." Instead of playing professional baseball, Ostrander instead enlisted in the Air Force at age 19. He served in Italy during World War II with the 741st Bomb Squadron, 455th Bomb Group, 15th Air Force. "I loved to fly," said Ostrander, who taught for years at Deerfield High School and now lives in Lindenhurst, Ill. "That was all I wanted to do." He left the comforts of home in January 1943. He flew a B-24 from Kansas to Italy, where he was stationed. Long Journey Into the War Zone "That long flight across the Atlantic for a navigator was challenging and exciting," Ostrander said. Once in battle, …
Barbara
8:31 am on Thursday, November 22, 2012
Joe is a wonderful citizen of Deerfield who has contributed much to this town and to the country. more ›