FIRST FAMILY: THE O’HAYRES

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE

Photographs and text cannot be used without permission from Judith Girard and Gloria O’Hayre.

BENE BARNES

WORLD WAR I

CARL CRIBARI

SERGEANT

MESSAGE CENTER CHIEF FOR

DOUGLAS MACARTHUR

U.S. ARMY

WORLD WAR II

In January 1942, Carl Cribari enlisted in the Army reserves and attended the U.S. Army radio school in Greeley and Steamboat Springs, Colorado to learn how to build transmitters. After he graduated from radio school, he went to Craig, Colorado, to attend code school to complete training in communications. Carl was inducted into the U.S. Army during July 1943 at Fort Logan Army Depot, Colorado. Three months later, he completed basic training at Camp Kohler, California, where his wife Jenette joined him for the final 30 days. It was there that Carl applied for Officer’s Training School, and Air Transport Command. However an overseas assignment took preference. Carl was selected for the first unescorted overseas ship during World War II. He joined 12,000 army replacements and 2,000 navy personnel, and sailed destination unknown. After seventeen days they pulled into Sydney, Australia where in hot weather and in wool uniforms, they sat in the harbor for three days before going to Milne Bay, New Guinea. The Japanese were bombing in Port Moresby just over the hill from where Carl joined the 52nd Signal Battalion. Just over the hill Carl joined Company B 52nd Signal Battalion which traveled wherever General Douglas MacArthur was located. “We made progress. Always interesting!“ Carl reminisced.

Carl joined the Signal Center where they needed a Signal Center Chief. The mission was to provide messages for MacArthur’s Headquarters. Company B landed in Manila to set up HQ for MacArthur on two floors, no roof, 500 guys, on three different shifts. The Japanese surrendered and the peace treaty was signed. Carl Cribari, Master Sergeant, 52nd Battalion was awarded the bronze star for his meritorious service. Carl was successfully discharged from the army and arrived home for Christmas, December 23, 1945 where Jenette was waiting.

After WWII he served as Senior Aviator and Senior Watch Officer aboard the USS Columbia, the USS Wisconsin and the USS Dayton. Then he served as Flight Instructor in multiengine aircraft. He attended general line school, a post-graduate school in Monterrey, California. As Plane Commander in VP21 he had deployments to Malta. He graduated from the Armed Forces Staff College. He was deployed to Iceland for service in the Iceland Defense Force.

A boyhood dream of flying was made possible with the outbreak of WWII and the Naval Aviation Cadet Act of 1942 which allowed Ralph to join the Navy as an Aviation Cadet. After a series of training bases he was commissioned an Ensign and designated a Naval Aviator at Pensacola, Florida. He served aboard the battle cruiser USS Guam, performing both shipboard duties and flying the SC-1 Seaplane.

RALPH HERMS

LIEUTENANT COMMANDER

U.S. NAVY

WORLD WAR II

The last duties included a tour at the Naval Air Facility at Annapolis and as Assistant Operation’s Officer in Bermuda during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Ralph retired from the NAF Andrews Air Force Base.

Hired by United Airlines as a Flight Operations Instructor, Ralph taught in the B737 and 767 aircraft. He also sold United Airlines Flight Training for three years to many countries and airlines.

Ralph retired from United Airlines in 1989.

Ellis graduated from Capron High School and Elgin Business College in Elgin, Illinois. He volunteered for the US Navy in1942 and was assigned to Naval Intelligence. His training and service took him to Chicago, New York, Washington, D.C., and a base in Morocco of North Africa. He was sometimes asked to record courts-martial because he could take shorthand as fast as the individuals could speak. He was a Chief Petty Officer -- two inches too short to become a commissioned officer. He received an honorable discharge in l946 after serving four years in the US Navy.

He married Irene James from Montana in 1948 and had four children. His father and Irene’s father had been classmates in Wales and immigrated to the U.S. together in 1904.

In 1953 Ellis and Irene moved to Circle, Montana where In 1956 and in 1967, Ellis purchased controlling stock in two rural banks in Eastern Montana where he was president of one and vice president of the other. Ellis was manager of the Mid Rivers Telephone Cooperative. He was manager during its initial stages of development and under his supervision, right of way easements were obtained and several hundred miles of telephone line were constructed. During this time a modern office building was constructed by the telephone company in Circle, Montana. Mid Rivers serves 30,000 square mile in eastern Montana and western North Dakota and is now the largest land mass telephone cooperative in the continental United States.

He and Irene served as bank directors for over 50 years and sold their last bank stock in 2009 and their ranching interests in 2000.

Ellis and Irene feel privileged to have lived in beautiful friendly Applewood since 1982.

Ellis was born in McHenry County, Illinois, June 2, 1918 on his parents’ dairy farm where he learned to rise very early in the morning and help with the milking and caring for the dairy herd before school.

ELLIS JONES

CHIEF PETTY OFFICER

U.S. NAVY

WORLD WAR II

World War II Edwin (Eddie) Paul O’Hayre, US Navy, Radioman Third Class, Petty Officer was assigned to one of the six catapult airplanes as a machine gunner who sat behind the pilot. When the USS Houston was sunk in the Java Strait on March 1, 1942, Eddie was listed as “Missing in Action.” Eleven hundred sixty-eight sailors were on board the ship when it was sunk. Many sailors died, and some survived. The 368 survivors swam to shore where they were immediately taken to a Japanese prison camp as Prisoners of War. In the prison camp, the sailors were forced into slave labor to build a railroad from Burma to Thailand called the death railway. His mother, Cleva, always felt Edwin survived and would return home. However, in 1945, President Truman officially changed Eddie’s status from Missing in Action to presumed dead.

EDWIN PAUL O’HAYRE

RADIOMAN 3RD CLASS

PETTY OFFICER

U.S. NAVY

WORLD WAR II

William O’Hayre Merchant Marine

John J. O’Hayre Sergeant Army Air Corps

John J. Coyne Sergeant, Medic

William O’Hayre, Merchant Marine: The sailors took supplies to the battleships. The Merchant Marines had no artillery on board to protect themselves. John J. O’Hayre, Sergeant, served stateside in the Army Air Corps. Brother-in-law John J. Coyne, Sergeant, served as a Medic in Germany. All three survived.

ED TIPPER

PARATROOPER

U.S. ARMY

WORLD WAR II

Paratrooper Ed Tipper told his story about serving in World War II by being one of the men featured in the best selling book Untold Stories from the Band of Brothers written by Marcus Brotherton. Ed was critically injured in Normandy and lost an eye in combat. Since then, Ed has lived a normal life. In the post war years he has continued to build long lasting friendships with his fellow band of brothers.

After the war, Ed became a high school teacher who won a national award, a John Hay Fellowship, for his excellence in teaching. Ed became an honorary member of the faculty at the University of California at Berkeley. We are pleased and proud of Ed Tipper.

Ed and his wife raised their daughter Kerry, a very successful law student at Northwestern University School of Law in Boston and graduated in May 2010. We are pleased and proud to have Ed Tipper and his family live in Applewood Knolls.

Written and presented by the Daniels Fund, Denver, Colorado

Peter Droege, Vice President of Communications, Consulate General of France Daniels; David Martinon, Kerry Tipper daughter; Ed Tipper and his wife Rosalina Tipper.

WORLD WAR I

KOREAN WAR

BOB DARROW

CORPORAL

U.S. MARINES

DONALD A. MCGANN

MAJOR GENERAL (ret)

U. S AIR FORCE

KOREAN WAR

VIETNAM WAR

Don was commissioned in the United States Air Force (USAF), completed pilot training, and flew C-46s in the Korean Conflict. Returning to the States he was assigned to maintenance Flight Test at Andrews Air Force Base (AFB). In 1957 he was released from active duty as a Captain and was commissioned in the USAF Reserve.

Don was employed by Pratt and Whitney Aircraft in Hartford, Connecticut. Afterwards he married Elaine Haley of Denver, CO in 1957. They were quickly blessed with three great children. Don traveled extensively for Flight Operations Engineering of P & WA as jets entered airline service, earned an MBA at the University of Hartford and flew with the USAF Reserve. A busy time! In 1964 Don joined United Airlines (UAL) as a flight instructor and the family moved to Colorado. His assignments with UAL were varied -- continually flying, instructing, and checking on numerous aircraft, while serving in a number of pilot and flight management jobs. He retired in 1989 as the Fleet Captain of what was then UAL’s largest fleet, the B-727.

Since 1958 Don was continually active with the Air Reserve Forces. His last three assignments were as Mobilization Assistant (MA) to Commander in Chief of (1) the AF Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, (2) the Aeronautical Systems Division at Wright-Patterson AFB where he was proud to work for Tom McMullen, and to (3) Command in Chief (Military Airlift Command (CICMAC) at Scott AFB, where he retired in 1986 as a Major General.

He is gratified to have served in the USAF Reserve and grateful to his family whose sacrifices made this possible. Concurrent with a very active schedule in church, school, community and numerous organizations, Elaine has been most supportive while being a wonderful wife, mother, and now Gram. Elaine and I are grateful and justifiably proud of our children Kam, Dan, and Tricia, of their spouses and our seven grandchildren.

Hosting Colorado Mini Reunions (COMINIs) for USMA ’51 since 1985 has been a pleasure. They were fun and afforded an opportunity to renew friendships and strengthen esprit. Thanks to all who joined us and added so much to the festivities. We experienced great camaraderie with various entities, BUT none approaches that of the Class of ’51. Thanks to all classmates and to them and their families, our genuine best wishes for good health, happiness and success. God Bless!

50 Years in Review 1951-2001, USMA 1957, p. 195

WORLD WAR II

KOREAN WAR

and VIETNAM WAR

Donald A. (Don) McGann

KOREAN WAR

PAUL J. O’HAYRE

PETTY OFFICER 3RD CLASS

U.S. NAVY

KOREAN WAR

I enlisted in the Navy in 1948 for three years but because of the Korean War President Truman determined all military were required to serve an extra year of duty, I was assigned to the USS Rowan, a destroyer, as Petty Officer 3rd class. I earned three battle stars while in Korea. The USS Rowan was in three battles in Inchon, Pusan and Wonson during the time I was a member of the crew of the ship during the Korean War. The battle of Wonson Harbor in North Korea, on the eastern side was in February 1952. My ship went into the harbor to pick up a forward observer (a Marine Observer who was hidden on a little island in the Wonson Harbor). We had been on harbor patrol many times in that harbor, but had never been fired upon.

At the time we were fired upon, I was working on the upper deck building a fender when shells fired from the shore hit all around the ship and then they hit the ship. General Quarters was sounded I went to my battle station, which consisted of a five-inch gun in mount three where I was Left Gun Captain. The crew on the Rowan fired all of the five-inch projectiles at shore batteries surrounding Wonson Harbor in North Korea. During the battle the entire machine gun mount was blown to bits. Amazingly the ammunition stored in the vault directly beneath the gun mount did not ignite. The USS Rowan DD782 went to Sasebo, Japan, for repairs and returned to the war zone in Korea. The ship had been in the original battle of Inchon in September 1950 and in the Battle of Pusan, but it was fortunate not to have been hit, even though several other ships in our Division had been hit several times.

Paul Sherbo was commissioned in the US Navy in 1976, graduating from ROTC at the University of Kansas. He then served four years on active duty, qualifying as a Surface Warfare Officer.

Paul commanded six Reserve units. He was recalled to active duty twice. The last time was to serve as the Fifth Fleet’s representative to Coalition Forces in Iraq. He retired from the Reserves after 30 years of service in 2006.

Paul’s commentaries on a variety of topics have been published in the old Rocky Mountain News, the Denver Post and the Navy Times. His book, Unsinkable Sailors: The Fall and Rise of the Last Crew of USS Frank E. Evans, was published in 2009.

Paul's is married to Diana Carlson (also known as COMNAVSHERBO) who works for the Department of Homeland Security -- so behave yourself. Their son, Andy, is in the US Army; oldest daughter Katherine works for a publisher in New York; and youngest daughter Lenna is an Army ROTC student at the University of San Diego. Paul has been a student of martial arts, even though he is old enough to know better.

IRAQ WAR

PAUL SHERBO

US NAVY

LIAISON TO US NAVY 5TH FLEET TO THE COALITIONS FORCES

WORLD WAR II

Don Welshon joined the Navy following graduation from high school in May 1942. After learning to fly on the Stearman PT 17, Don moved on to be a navigator for the Naval Air Transport Service VR-7 stationed in Miami, Florida, where he flew mail, personnel, and equipment throughout the Caribbean in 1944-46. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering at Northwestern University and joined Armstrong World Industries in 1948. Don continued to serve as a Lieutenant in the US Naval Reserve. USNR until 1949 when he was OIC of a machinist mate training unit in Lancaster, PA. Engineer Don met his wife Eleanor while they both worked at Armstrong. She was a commercial artist, trained at the Philadelphia Museum School of Art. They had three children: Rex, Douglas and Lawrence. With Don’s engineering and leadership in New Product Development the Welshons lived in England for five and a half years. Don worked for Illinois Tool Works (ITW) as Managing Director of European Businesses. The Welshons moved to Colorado in 1969 where Don was co-owner of Denver Plastics, a custom injection molding company. They decided a home in Applewood Knolls was the best place to live to raise their family with the boys being fourteen, twelve and three years of age. Today Rex is a professor and assistant dean at Colorado University in Colorado Springs (CUCS). Douglas is an electrician and works for City Light in Seattle. Lawrence is a principal of the private Alpine Valley School, 1-12 in Wheat Ridge.

Eleanor, an accomplished artist and Master Gardner passed away in 2009. Today Don continues to work part time as Vice President of Avedon Engineering, Inc. His hobbies include walking, bridge, Kiwanis, church, doing things with his grandchildren, reading, and woodworking by making toys and gifting them to disadvantaged children. In addition he keeps Eleanor’s garden growing, which is still terrific!

Born: March 29, 1934 in Teaneck, New Jersey (In the shadow of the George Washington Bridge)

Home: 638 Hillcrest Rd, Ridgewood, New Jersey

Parents: Jim and Lillian Emory – both deceased

Siblings” Brothers – Richard and John, Sister – Blanche – Dick and Blanche deceased

Schooling- Willard School(K - 6), George Washington Jr. High(7 - 9), Ridgewood High School(10-12)

Middlebury College (Cornell and Rutgers summer school) – bachelors degree,Math and Chemistry (graduated June 1956)

University of Phoenix – MBA (20 years after Middlebury)

After college I started working for Johns Manville Corporation in New York City in the quality control department (September 1, 1956). I was drafted on January, 3,1957 into the army during the end of the Korean War. Basic training at Ft. Dix, N.J. And then stationed at Ft. Myer, Arlington, VA. I was assigned into Army Intelligence and after getting a top secret clearance I was assigned to a small group in the CIA , identification section. We had an office in downtown Washington, DC, ( a converted house of prostitution - lots of rooms!) . I also spent some time working in the pentagon. My math degree kept me from having bullets fired in anger at me and I am very thankful for that. Many stories about being a soldier in the capital of the US. You had to be a good looking soldier, shined shoes, starched shirts, creased trousers, short hair cuts, etc., because you never knew who you would run into, like the Secretary of State (John Foster Dulles) , military joint chief of staff (Maxwell Taylor), to name two. We have inspections every week and a 'gig' would cost you your three day pass for the week. I lost my three day pass many times.

KOREAN WAR

BRUTON ERIC EMORY

Married my high school sweetheart on October 4, 1957 while in the army. We took up residence in a one bedroom apartment in Arlington ,VA. As it turned out, we were on the landing pattern of National Airport. Every time a plane came in for a landing or one took off, it came over our apartment close enough to rattle the windows. The first time Ann saw the apartment, she was greeted by a 4 inch cockroach!!! Scared both of us. Lived with a lot of married military, including the cook of the British Embassy. This turned out to be a huge advantage. The embassy always got word when the PX would get a new supply of USGA meat in. The cook would call Ann and she was at the PX when the doors opened shoulder to shoulder with the generals and embassy cooks. We got USDA steaks for $0.30 a pound!!

Karen, first daughter was born during my service. Cost was $26.50!! Two other girls, both born in Nashua, NH, Lisa and Suzanne. ( the cost was a lot more than $26.50!) We have 6 grand children, 3 boys and 3 girls.

I was discharged on December 17, 1958 and spent the next four years, 2 in the active reserves, and 2 in the inactive reserves. After a 6 year commitment, I was officially discharged from the army.

Rejoined Johns Manville and worked until December 31, 1995. I never changed companies, but we moved 14 times until 1981, when we finally moved back to Denver. Ann then announced that any more promotions which required a move, I would go alone. So you know we have lived in Lakewood from 1981until now. (although I was fortunate to get a few promotions without having to move since 1981).

KOREAN WAR

APPLEWOOD KNOLLS VETERANS

ARMY

WALTER LOUIS O’HAYRE

After graduation from Holy Family High School, Walter briefly studied at St. Thomas Seminary in Denver, before he attended Regis College, now Regis University. Unfortunately, for Walter, his first attempt at college life was brief and unsuccessful, so he took a job at American Express in New York City. He claimed he would have stayed in the Big Apple forever, but Uncle Sam had other plans, as he was drafted into the Army. Although his Army career was cut short due to a medical condition, it was his time spent in the Army that gave Walter a clear direction to pursue medicine. He was soon on his way back to Regis College, graduating in 1954 with a bachelor of science degree.