Fifth Avenue Forum

Had a breakthrough with family ancestry this week and found my 6x great grandpa was in the 2nd NH regiment and fought under Lafayette in Yorktown amongst all the other fights. That regiment was badass and I can't believe I have a relative that fought in all of these battles. I drank a lot of chocolate stouts and listened to Hamilton in honor of him last night. His family cemetery is still standing in new hampshire with 4 other ancestors and we have made plans to visit this summer.

The last surviving Marine of the USS Indianapolis, the U.S. Navy ship that sank in July 1945, died this weekend.

Edgar Harrell was 96 and lived at the Tennessee State Veterans Home in Clarksville, Tennessee, the official Facebook page of the ship posted Saturday.

Harrell was one of 316 crew members who survived the attack by Japanese forces, waiting for help in shark-infested waters for four days.

"During his time aboard ship, he helped guard components of the atomic bomb. After the torpedoing, he was a hero amongst his shipmates," the post said.

Today is the anniversary of the 1942 Battle of Midway. Many historians consider this the turning point in the war against Japan. There is a great local connection to the victory. Due to code breaking, the American Navy knew the Japanese were coming but that’s it. They still needed to be located in the Pacific Ocean, not an easy task with no satellites and primitive radar. The Navy sent out PBY search planes to look for the Japanese Navy. The pilot who spotted the Japanese fleet was Lt. William Chase of Altoona (pictured below). If you’ve seen the 1976 movie Midway, his plane is the one they referred to as Strawberry Five. Having spotted the main strike force first, he gave the Americans the advantage needed for our outnumbered fleet to strike first and sink four Japanese aircraft carriers. Four of the six that had attacked Pearl Harbor just six months before. His plane also sent the warning, “Many planes headed Midway” giving island defenders some advanced warning.