I want to thank Hellertown Borough for the program that has allowed citizens to display photos of family veterans on poles throughout town.
My dad, Guy H. Weidner, served during World War 2 in the South Pacific with the “Amphibious Eighth Army.” I still have his paperback book, which was “dedicated to the brave officers and men who fought and died under the banner of the Eighth Army.”
In March of 1942 President Franklin Roosevelt directed Gen. Douglas MacArthur to leave Corregidor and establish an outpost in Australia in order to prepare for the liberation of the Philippines.
This eventually was successful, and my dad occupied the Philippines and then island-hopped with the 8th Army all the way to Japan, where the Amphibious Eighth prepared to invade the mainland with millions of others.
Thank God President Harry Truman used the atomic bomb twice to force the surrender of the Japanese. This act saved millions of lives that would have been lost if the mainland had been invaded.
Dad was part of the occupation forces in Yokohama for a lengthy stay, but he made it home safely.
Thanks again, Hellertown Borough.
Lee Weidner
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Sgt. Alan Kozak, who served in the U.S. Army during the Cold War, is one of dozens of local veterans now being honored by Hellertown’s Hometown Hero banner initiative. His banner hangs along Easton Road in the borough. (FILE PHOTO)
