Douglas.

This is coolbert:

Read this incredible stuff!!

Add the name of this man to the list of those persons, middle-aged, almost a senior citizen, quite willing and able to enlist in the military during a time of war - - and then COMPORT THEMSELVES ON THE BATTLEFIELD WITH HONOR, COURAGE, BRAVERY AND EVEN PANACHE' NOT EVEN SEEN IN MEN MUCH YOUNGER!!

Paul Douglas. College professor, U.S. Marine.

Post-war, an esteemed U.S. Senator from the state of Illinois, highly respected and admired!

And with good reason!!

You can almost not say enough good things about this man.

During the Second World War [WW2] enlisting in the military AT THE AGE OF FIFTY YEARS OLD, IN THE U.S. MARINE CORPS - - AS A PRIVATE! Retiring with full disability pay with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel!

A man, again, middle-aged, close to being a senior citizen, a man in the same mold as a Frederick Selous, a Jim Corbett, a H.H. Munro [Saki], an Edward Steichen!!

"Douglas resigned from the Chicago City Council and . . . enlisted in the United States Marine Corps as a private at the age of 50 . . . Promoted to corporal, then to sergeant, Douglas was kept stateside, writing training manuals, and giving inspirational speeches to troops . . . Douglas was commissioned as an officer, and was subsequently sent to the Pacific theater of operations with the 1st Marine Division."

"On the second day of the Battle of Peleliu, Captain Douglas finally saw action when his unit waded into the fray. He earned a Bronze Star for carrying ammunition to the front lines under enemy fire and earned his first Purple Heart when he was grazed by shrapnel while carrying flamethrower ammunition to the front lines."

"A few months later, during the Battle of Okinawa, Douglas earned his second Purple Heart. A volunteer rifleman in an infantry platoon, he was helping to carry wounded from 3rd Battalion 5th Marines along the Naha-Shuri line when a burst of machine gun fire tore through his left arm, severing the main nerve and leaving it permanently disabled."

"Douglas was given an honorable discharge as a Lieutenant Colonel with full disability pay."

Let it suffice to say that in the history of warfare, you will not find two more intense engagements, combat actions, protracted battle and campaign as you had at Peleliu and Okinawa.

Paul Douglas in the thick of the fray, doing his bit in a manner you would never expect for a man his age.

Paul Douglas makes the rest of use feel very small indeed!!

Paul Douglas had a very powerful patron. Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox. Knox a Republican appointed to his position by President Roosevelt, Knox also from Chicago and a personal [?] friend of Douglas.

coolbert.