AUTHORS

Author: Kevin M. Hymel
169 found

ANC Remembers One of Thousands Who Sacrificed All on D-Day

By Kevin M. Hymel on 6/5/2020

In honor of the 76th anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion of Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944, we remember one of the thousands of ordinary Americans and Allies who sacrificed their lives in the long effort to liberate Europe during World War II.

Kevin M. Hymel
Contract Historian
Kevin M. Hymel

“Beetle” Smith and the Surrender of Nazi Germany

By Kevin M. Hymel on 5/8/2020

To commemorate the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day, today we spotlight U.S. Army Lieutenant General Walter Bedell “Beetle” Smith (1895-1961) who is buried in Section 7 of Arlington National Cemetery.

Kevin M. Hymel

The Capture of Berchtesgaden

By Kevin M. Hymel on 5/2/2020

After Adolf Hitler took his own life on April 30, 1945, and Soviet forces captured Berlin on May 2, only one prize remained for the Allies: Berchtesgaden, the town near Adolf Hitler’s mountaintop retreat.

Kevin M. Hymel

Doolittle Raider Richard Cole

By Kevin M. Hymel on 4/18/2020

Seventy-eight years ago today, on April 18, 1942, Lieutenant Richard Cole sat next to Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle as Doolittle flew his twin-engine North American B-25 Mitchell bomber off the deck of the USS Hornet in the Pacific Ocean. 

Kevin M. Hymel

JFK’s World War II Rescuer

By Kevin M. Hymel on 2/18/2020

Without William F. Liebenow, there might not have been a President John F. Kennedy. Today, thousands of people make a pilgrimage to Kennedy’s grave at Arlington National Cemetery, while few people visit the simple headstone that marks Liebenow’s grave in nearby Section 62.

Kevin M. Hymel

Air Force Chief of Chaplains Recalls a Flyover

By Kevin M. Hymel on 2/12/2020

Chaplain (Major General) Steven Schaick, the U.S. Air Force Chief of Chaplains, spent three years as a young captain conducting funerals at Arlington National Cemetery. He has plenty of fond memories of his service there, but ask him about his most poignant recollection and he’ll tell you about the flyover.

Kevin M. Hymel

Laying a Wreath at ANC

By Kevin M. Hymel on 2/11/2020

Valerie Haeder enjoyed the pine scent wafting from the back of the truck filled with wreaths as she waited to receive hers. “It’s Christmas in a truck,” she recalled.

Kevin M. Hymel

Battle of Midway Hero Rests at ANC

By Kevin M. Hymel on 12/20/2019

In the movie “Midway,” Lieutenant Commander Richard “Dick” Best (played by Ed Skrein) dives his SBD Dauntless bomber toward two Japanese aircraft carriers and drops his bombs, scoring hits on both—on the same day! Anyone watching the movie might think this heroic act was the stuff of Hollywood dramatic license, but it was not.

Kevin M. Hymel
Navy
US Navy

Marine Private Edwin Francis Benson’s Repatriation from Tarawa

By Kevin M. Hymel on 11/29/2019

Whenever Edgar and Mary Argensinger asked their grandmother what happened to their Uncle John in World War II, she always told them the same thing: Her son was “blown to bits” on a Pacific Atoll called Tarawa. That’s why his body was never returned to her.

Kevin M. Hymel
DPAA
Marine Corps
Section 60
Tarawa