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Arthur "Jibby" Jibilian, O.S.S. and Aleksandra Rebic "Forgotten 500" Halyard Mission Reunion / Michigan June 2009. Photo: Rebic collection.This year, 2017, the world will be marking the 72nd anniversary of the end of World War Two, the era of the "Greatest Generation". For me, one of the measures of a man who dies is how deeply the loss is felt in the hearts of those who knew him, and if they didn't know him personally, were affected by his work or by his existence on this earth in a positive way. WWII OSS radioman Arthur "Jibby" Jibilian was short in...

NEW YORK — The U.S. government has recognized the World War II architect of a mission to rescue more than 500 U.S. bomber fliers shot down over Nazi-occupied Serbia — the largest air rescue of Americans behind enemy lines in any war. George Vujnovich, a 95-year-old New Yorker, is credited with leading the so-called Halyard Mission in what was then Yugoslavia. The 95-year-old New York City man was awarded the Bronze Star in a ceremony Sunday at Manhattan's St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Cathedral. He received a standing ovation from a crowd of several hundred.

NOTE: The following story was published in the Herald Palladium of Southwest Michigan on the same day that Arthur Jibilian, who is featured at the end, passed away. My thanks to Don Alsbro of 'Lest we Forget' for making me aware of this story. Aleksandra Rebic ***** Don Alsbro, left, and Frank Buckles March 2010 Frank Buckles last weekend got a big smile on his face as the Lest We Forget veterans left his house and said they were looking forward to his 110th birthday in 2011. Buckles, 109, is America's last living veteran of World War I. The Lest...