June and Joe Roberts

We salute this Father-Son US veteran duo:  Eustice Roberts, Jr (also known as June), a 102 year old WWII veteran (born in 1919) and Joe Roberts, Vietnam veteran.

Joe was a Petty Officer, 2nd Class for the Navy Seabees. He was a heavy equipment operator in Vietnam from 1967 - 1971. Joe says that for years he wouldn't tell people he was a Vietnam veteran because they were treated so poorly by their fellow Americans when they returned.  It's just heartbreaking the way they suffered for their country and then were treated horribly by their fellow citizens!

June was a Staff Sergeant for the Army from 1941 to 1946 and served in the Philippines. June and his fellow soldiers became Japanese prisoners of war on May 6, 1942 when allied forces surrendered Corregidor.  June along with approximately 1600 American soldiers were loaded onto a ship to be transported to a prison camp. The conditions were so horrific on the ship that only a few hundred made it there alive. June was released in September of 1945 after 3 1/2 years of captivity. When I asked how he was treated during his captivity, he said "it was hell, from beginning to end."  June says he observed from a distance the mushroom cloud from the bomb dropped on Nagasaki. He and his fellow soldiers had no idea what it was; they thought it was a huge invasion.   

Thank you for your service, gentlemen!