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NOTES FROM THE WEBMASTER
In November 2007 the Public Broadcasting System showed the Ken Burns documentary titled
“The War.” I watched it with great interest especially since having spent time with my late father Raul
and his comrades of the 87th AFA. While watching the documentary I focused on the Invasion of
North Africa because my uncle, John E. Noriega (member of the 45th Infantry), was killed by a sniper in July 1943 while invading
Sicily. I was hoping to catch a glimpse of him during some of the footage, but that was not to be.
As a young boy my family had seen many times a documentary titled, "The True Glory," which
has an introduction by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower. Many correspondents and photographers and
videographers contributed to this film. Lo and behold, about 43 minutes into the film is a shot of my
father. Then we also saw another documentary titled, "The Crusade Over Europe." In this one
during the Battle of the Bulge is once again a scene of my father yelling, “Fire!” for his tank team. You
can imagine how thrilling this was for me. I remember recording The True Glory and showing it to my
children, My oldest daughter even had the privilege of seeing it during her 5th grade history class in
grammar school. She asked the teacher to stop the film and pointed out her grandfather. Her teacher
then used that as a lesson to the class – this was a real story, not a Hollywood epic.
While watching "The War" – the battle of Liege was shown and I watched that very carefully.
Who pops up on the screen? My father! It was the same scene as in "The True Glory." Again,
it was a thrill to see that. It made me more proud of the men who served during WWII to preserve the
freedoms that we have today. It was shortly after watching this documentary that I decided to write to
George Aubrey and Robert Keeler for some background on their roles during WW II.
George Aubrey had recently written his autobiography at the behest of his grandson, and I thought
that it would be something to post on the website – www.jeopard.us.
George graciously sent me a CD which contains his autobiography and I have posted at his request
from his birth through his WWII experience with the 87th AFA, and some of his family information and
the epilogue by Dave Olson. George also gave me some corrections to make on the site which I have also done.
The major one is changing the Distinguished Service Medal to the Distinguished Service Cross
which Robert Keeler received. This leads me to Robert Keeler. He responded by sending me an
article which was written about him in the Rocky Mountain News on February 14, 2007. Rather
than scan the article into the site, I was able to find it online and I copied it so that I could it post it
properly. I also found an accompanying article written in October 2007 about Robert and some fellow
veterans which I think you will enjoy.
Ken Burns said that our WWII heroes are dying at the rate of over 1,000 per day. I felt that
stories of the brave men of the 87th AFA need to be told and preserved for future generations. So I
am grateful to both George and Robert for sending me their stories. I ask any other of you men who
have a story to share either about yourself or someone in your battalion to please send it to me, and
I will be sure to publish it.
I consider it a great honor and privilege to keep the history of the 87th AFA alive, and I plan to pass
the task on to one of my children when my time comes. So, please be sure to pass on your legacy
by telling people about www.jeopard.us
as often as you can, as well as your children and grandchildren.
Wishing you all happiness in the days to come,
John E. Noriega
webmaster@jeopard.us
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