On December 19, 1870 a small boat arrived off the Hawaiian island of Kauai. Caught in the breakers, the vessel capsized, and its crew of five men were thrown into the ocean. Three drowned, one died of his injuries, and just one man, described as a starved, emaciated skeleton, crippled by a splinter in his leg, was found alive by an island local. That man, Coxswain William Halford, USN, told an incredible story of survival, and of an urgent mission.
By September of 1944, the Western Allies had broken out of the Normandy beachehead, and suddenly and quickly moved across northern France . By September 7th, the 90th division was stretched across the northern sector on Patton’s Third Army’s left, advancing slowly northeast. As they did so the German defenders made a risky attack in an effort to spoil the allied advance, cutting through Allied lines in a surprise action at the small town of Mairy-Mannville.