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Col. Steve dePyssler (1919 – 2020), only known American to serve in four wars
Legacy ^ | 7/27/2020 | Linnea Crowther

Posted on 07/29/2020 11:14:41 AM PDT by Borges

Col. Steve dePyssler was a U.S. Air Force veteran who was the only known American to have served in four wars.

38 years of active duty Col. dePyssler began his military career serving in the U.S. Army during World War II. He later transferred to the U.S. Air Force and went on to serve in the Korean War, the French Indochina War, and the Vietnam War, as well as at the Bay of Pigs Invasion. He rose from private to colonel over 38 years of active duty. After his retirement, dePyssler worked in the Retirees Office at Louisiana’s Barksdale Air Force Base for 40 years and was the office’s director for more than 30 of those years. Saying his goal was to help at least one person each day, dePyssler helped veterans get their VA benefits, as well as assisting widows of veterans. He continued working all his life, coming to the base to help veterans even after his 100th birthday in 2019.

dePyssler on his long military service “When I tell people I’ve held 20 different ranks, they always say that there isn’t 20 different ranks. But in World War II they had six grades that are no longer there and I held three of them.” —as quoted by Barksdale Air Force Base


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: airforce; depyssler

1 posted on 07/29/2020 11:14:41 AM PDT by Borges
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To: Borges

2 posted on 07/29/2020 11:16:53 AM PDT by Fiddlstix (Warning! This Is A Subliminal Tagline! Read it at your own risk!(Presented by TagLines R US))
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To: Borges

God Bless and RIP!


3 posted on 07/29/2020 11:17:06 AM PDT by Bruce Kurtz
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To: Borges

A great man and Patriot. RIP


4 posted on 07/29/2020 11:17:21 AM PDT by maddog55 (Only thing systemic in America is the left's hatred of it.)
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To: Borges

Commodore was a wartime rank in the navy.


5 posted on 07/29/2020 11:20:59 AM PDT by Lurkina.n.Learnin (The Revolution Will Not Be Televised but It Will Be Livestreamed)
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To: Borges

A great achievement, well done for him. But, off the top of my head:

Douglas A. MacArthur

Philippine Insurrection
Vera Cruz Expedition
World War I
World War II
Korea


6 posted on 07/29/2020 11:21:40 AM PDT by centurion316
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To: Borges

Wow.


7 posted on 07/29/2020 11:22:54 AM PDT by KC Burke (If all the world is a stage, I would like to request my lighting be adjusted.)
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To: centurion316

good point

it might be the first two are not technically considered ‘wars’


8 posted on 07/29/2020 11:25:48 AM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not Averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: centurion316

Lawton, and others sacrificed their years as well, for the country.


9 posted on 07/29/2020 11:26:17 AM PDT by Theoria (I should never have surrendered. I should have fought until I was the last man alive)
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To: Borges

He died of COVID at 101? Yeah right!


10 posted on 07/29/2020 11:29:55 AM PDT by Bommer (I'm a MAGA-Deplorian! It is the way! It is the only way!)
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To: Borges

Several lifetimes ago I was stationed at Barksdale AFB in the early 70s. IIRC, DePyssler was either the base commander or the 2nd Bomb Wing Commander.


11 posted on 07/29/2020 11:32:52 AM PDT by abb
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To: Borges

Trivia! The last Civil War veteran died in 1956. I believe he didn’t see combat, just drum sticks.


12 posted on 07/29/2020 12:09:29 PM PDT by Buttons12
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To: Borges

RIP.


13 posted on 07/29/2020 12:16:40 PM PDT by fieldmarshaldj (Dear Mr. Kotter, #Epsteindidntkillhimself - Signed, Epstein's Mother)
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To: Borges

A military ‘Forest Gump’ !!!!


14 posted on 07/29/2020 1:48:05 PM PDT by 11th_VA (May you live in interesting times - Ancient Chinese Proverb)
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To: centurion316
A great achievement, well done for him. But, off the top of my head:

Douglas A. MacArthur

China Invasion ... Oh never mind

15 posted on 07/29/2020 1:51:26 PM PDT by 11th_VA (May you live in interesting times - Ancient Chinese Proverb)
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To: Borges

Nice post. Not many share the distinction.

My father was an Infantryman in WWII, Korea, and Viet Nam. He had a CIB (Combat Infantrymans Badge) with 2 Stars before retiring as a Col.

This article reminds me that “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away!”


16 posted on 07/29/2020 1:55:52 PM PDT by ImpBill
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To: Secret Agent Man

The United States issued campaign medals for both, though I agree, the Vera Cruz expedition saw probably less combat than the last two months in Portland.

The U.S. never issued medals for Indo China or Cuba, but I think that years after the event, those in the invasion force in Cuba who became Americans were awarded the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, all on the Q.T. if memory serves.


17 posted on 07/29/2020 2:26:05 PM PDT by centurion316
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To: Borges

I’ve never seen the “Bay of Pigs Invasion” on the list of American Wars before. I know the US Army doesn’t list it as a war or campaign.


18 posted on 07/29/2020 3:29:03 PM PDT by GreyFriar (Spearhead - 3rd Armored Division 75-78 & 83-87)
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To: Borges
My father was in WWII, Korea, Vietnam (working for the Navy and a bunch of smaller incursions. He would have been in GWI, but my mom wouldn’t let him go.

Ed

19 posted on 07/29/2020 4:27:13 PM PDT by husky ed (FOX NEWS ALERT "Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead" THIS HAS BEEN A FOX NEWS ALERTa)
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