WORLD WAR II

A World War II veteran who was the last surviving officer of “Easy Company,” which inspired the HBO miniseries and book “Band of Brothers,” has died.

An obituary posted by the Holomon-Brown Funeral Home & Crematory said Shames, of Norfolk, Virginia, died peacefully at his home on Friday. Shames was involved in some of the most important battles of World War II. During the war, he was a member of the renowned Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division.

Bomb disposal experts were called to a hospital in Gloucester, England, after a man with a WW II anti-tank shell lodged inside of him needed treatment.

A World War II veteran from Alabama who survived COVID-19 will be honored on his 105th birthday with the French Legion of Honor in recognition of his service.

Speaking at the National Institutes of Health on Thursday, President Biden described the administration’s strategy to combat COVID-19 this winter.

The White House is preparing to impose more restrictions on travelers coming to the U.S. as the Omicron variant has been identified in California. Plus, conservatives are considering shutting down the government over the Biden administration's vaccine mandate. CBS News congressional correspondent Kris Van Cleave and Politico national political correspondent Meridith McGraw join CBSN "Red and Blue" anchor Tanya Rivero with the latest.

ABC News contributor Kate Shaw analyzes the Supreme Court justices’ revealing statements in the Mississippi abortion case that could overturn Roe v. Wade.

ABC News’ Devin Dwyer reports on oral arguments before the Supreme Court on the Mississippi abortion rights case that could overturn Roe v. Wade.

The 2018 Mississippi law was blocked as unconstitutional by lower courts before ending up in the Supreme Court

The bomb exploded at a construction site next to a busy railway line.

A World War II bomb exploded at a construction site next to a busy railway line in Munich on Wednesday, injuring four people, one of them seriously, German authorities said. The construction site for a new commuter train line is located on the approach to Munich's central station, which is a bit over a kilometer (about a half-mile) to the east. Unexploded bombs are still found frequently in Germany, even 76 years after the end of the war, and often during work on construction sites.

Japanese Crown Prince Akishino, the emperor’s younger brother, has complained about harsh criticism of his daughter’s recent marriage and suggested that the imperial family should be allowed to refute false and extreme attacks

Volunteers can sign up to adopt a soldier, then receive their name, birth date, and hometown. You can write to your service member using custom stationery and have opportunities to send care packages overseas.

An airman from Massachusetts who was shot down over Romania during World War II has been accounted for, the military said Wednesday. U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Charles G. McMackin, 26, was accounted for in August 2020, according to a statement from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, but the announcement was not made until Wednesday because his family was only recently briefed on the situation. The agency said McMackin was from Boston, but according to news clippings from the time of his death, he was from Revere, just north of Boston.

From Bosnia to Belfast and Belarus, hard national borders are coming back in the worst possible way.

In honor of Veterans Day, a group of Democratic lawmakers is reviving an effort to pay the families of Black veterans who fought on behalf of the nation during World War II for benefits they were denied or prevented from taking full advantage of when they returned home from war.

A timeline of attempts in this country to pass paid leave — dating back a century.

Close friends of Bernard Marie tell us that he had been in failing health for some time.

A 6-year-old girl was playing at her grandma's home in Dearborn when a driver hit and killed her.

Costs to clean up a massive nuclear weapons complex in Washington state are usually expressed in the hundreds of billions of dollars and involve decades of work.

Costs to clean up a massive nuclear weapons complex in Washington state are usually expressed in the hundreds of billions of dollars and involve decades of work. The federal government is moving forward with the “cocooning” of eight plutonium production reactors at Hanford that will place them in a state of long-term storage to allow radiation inside to dissipate over a period of decades, until they can be dismantled and buried.

Fighter jets have flown over the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki in an aerial display as troops marched in the city’s center to mark Greece’s national holiday commemorating the country’s entry into World War II.

Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021 | “The Last O.G.” returns on TBS.

The supply chain issues, coupled with difficult harvests, have resulted in low supply, high demand and higher prices.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has hosted Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett for their first meeting, hailing friendly ties between the two countries

A vendor at a major motorcycle rally in Florida briefly sold hats emblazoned with Nazi symbols, saying she considered them a tribute to World War II veterans who helped defeat the Germans. The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports that the vendor was selling the hats embroidered with swastikas and a skull-and-bones logo used by the Nazi SS at a stand during Biketoberfest, an ongoing festival that draws thousands of bikers to the Daytona Beach area this month. The vendor said she had sold the hats at other biker rallies around the country without complaint.

Schuetz is accused of assisting in the murders of 3,518 prisoners

Taiwan’s defense minister said Wednesday that military tensions with Beijing are at their worst point in more than four decades.

The trial of a 100-year-old former concentration camp guard, the oldest accused of Nazi crimes ever tried in the country, opens in Germany. Josef Schuetz, a former master corporal in the Waffen-SS's "Totenkopf" (Death's Head) division, is on trial for "knowingly and willingly" assisting in the murder of 3,518 prisoners when he operated in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, not far from Berlin, between 1942 and 1945.

The defendant, identified as Josef S., is charged with 3,518 counts of accessory to murder.

A 100-year-old man has gone on trial in Germany, accused of being an accessory to murder for serving as a Nazi SS guard at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp near Berlin during World War II.

Federal agents raided the offices Tuesday of a New York City police union, the Sergeants Benevolent Association, and the Long Island home of its leader, who has clashed with city officials over his tweets and hard-line tactics. (Oct. 6)

USA TODAY Sports' Paul Myerberg breaks down the top quarterback performances this season.

The debt is real. If Americans are taxed to pay for the trillions already spent, they'd be less likely to say spend more.

Researchers estimate that 17,100 deaths from police violence went unreported during a nearly 40-year period.

A 96-year-old woman who was a secretary for the SS commander of the Stutthof concentration camp during World War II was arrested by police after she fled before the start of her trial, according to Reuters.Why it matters: The woman, who was a stenographer and typist in the camp commandant’s office between June 1943 and April 1945, faces 11,412 counts of accessory to murder. Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.She is one of many former staff members of Nazi

"We need 8 billion people to make this a personal cause," said Robert Moritz, chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Evan Osnos explores how America changed over the past two decades.

Warsaw’s Jewish community has buried an unidentified Holocaust victim whose remains were discovered in a building that was within the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II.

Warsaw's Jewish community buried an unidentified Holocaust victim on Tuesday whose remains were discovered this summer in a building that was within the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II. “We are here as the family for a person we don't know,” Poland's chief rabbi, Michael Schudrich, said as the bones, wrapped in white cloth, lay on a wooden cart and community members gathered together. Four men pulled the cart to the grave, where the bones were buried with soil from Israel, and Jewish leaders recited Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead.

Homosexuality was decriminalized in 1969 but the legislation wasn't taken off the books entirely until 1994.

Europe has witnessed many more jihadist attacks on its soil than the United States since 9/11, and analysts say a variety of reasons account for that

Current and former Green Berets told Insider which movies they thought really reflected the Army Special Forces experience.

The U.S. Department of Defense says the remains of a World War II pilot whose body was lost in Europe's Adriatic Sea have been recovered and will be buried in his home state of Maine.

The remains of a World War II pilot whose body was lost in Europe's Adriatic Sea have been recovered and will be buried in his home state of Maine, the U.S. Department of Defense said Thursday. The remains of U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Ernest N. Vienneau were accounted for in April and will be buried in his hometown of Millinocket on Oct. 9, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said. Vienneau was 25 at the time of his death.

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice ordered United States and West Virginia flags at state-owned properties flown at half-staff on Saturday in honor of a World War II sailor whose remains were recently returned to West Virginia.

An elite Taliban unit recreated a photograph in seized U.S. military gear appearing to mock the famous World War II image of the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima.

A flag-draped casket sat near the altar of Saint John’s Episcopal Church Monday, as loved ones gathered to bid farewell to Bill Sisk, who died last week at the age of 96.

Japan has marked the 76th anniversary of its surrender in World War II.

Israel is condemning Poland’s approval of a law that restricts the rights of former Polish property owners, including Holocaust survivors and their descendants, to reclaim property seized by the country’s former communist regime.

World War II veteran Bill Sisk died this week at the age of 96. The Lynchburg native used to participate in the weekly troop rallies.

The government began to medically support certified survivors in 1968 after more than 20 years of effort by the survivors.

The government began to medically support certified survivors in 1968 after more than 20 years of effort by the survivors.

The defendant is said to live in the state of Brandenburg outside of Berlin.

A German court has set a trial date for a 100-year-old man who is charged with 3,518 counts of accessory to murder on allegations he served as a Nazi SS guard at a concentration camp on the outskirts of Berlin during World War II. A spokeswoman for the Neuruppin state court said Monday that the trial is set to begin in early October. The suspect is alleged to have worked at the Sachsenhausen camp between 1942 and 1945 as an enlisted member of the Nazi Party’s paramilitary wing.

During World War II, Americans were told to sacrifice some basic freedoms for the common good. Today, people invoke patriotism to avoid masking and vaccinating.

Phyllis Gould spent her life making sure Americans would never forget the trailblazing women.

Shari Lapena and Karin Slaughter are among the authors delivering satisfying suspense.

Jewish artifacts once taken by Nazis during World War II have been found and seized, according to the Department of Justice.

A new study said at least 113,000 American children have lost a parent or caregiver to COVID-19.

A new study said at least 113,000 American children have lost a parent or caregiver to COVID-19.

The CDC says the pandemic was responsible for almost 74% of the decline. Black Americans and Hispanic Americans fared the worst.

U.S. life expectancy fell by a year and a half in 2020, the largest one-year decline since World War II, according to new report from the CDC.

The CDC says COVID-19 was the largest factor, along with drug overdoses, homicides, diabetes and chronic liver disease. The decline was even greater for Hispanic men than other groups.

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry called on China to join America in urgently cutting greenhouse gas emissions and described the international alliances that rebuilt Europe after World War II as a model for fighting e against climate change. Kerry challenged global leaders to accelerate the actions needed to curb rising temperatures and pull the world back from the edge of the abyss. “The climate crisis is the test of our own times, and while it may be unfolding in slow motion, to some, this test is as acute and as existential as any previous one,” Kerry said.

An Army battalion that made history as the only all-female, Black unit to serve in Europe during World War II is set to be honored by Congress.

Belarus has retaliated to the European Union sanctions by halting cooperation on stemming illegal migration and denying entry to EU officials.

Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko has warned that his country will not try to stem a flow of migrants to the European Union in response to new EU sanctions.

The double-cheeked embrace that was a customary greeting in France before the coronavirus pandemic saw it largely abandoned as a potential kiss of death is back with a presidential seal of approval.

The remains of an Army Staff Sergent, who was killed during World War II, have been identified.

Several events have commemorated the 77th anniversary of D-Day that led to the liberation of France and Europe from the German occupation.

The images of World War II and D-Day are still etched into the minds of people around the world.

In World War II John Billings flew more than 50 combat missions, including missions for the U.S. Office of Strategic Services, the forerunner to the CIA.

Officials say an underground nuclear waste storage tank in Washington state that dates to World War II appears to be leaking contaminated liquid into the ground.

Britain has seen its budget deficit rise during the coronavirus pandemic to its highest level since the year after the end of World War II.

The National Transportation Safety Board says pilot error probably caused the 2019 crash of a World War II-era bomber in Connecticut that killed seven people and wounded six others.

Lee Yong-soo, a South Korean woman who was sexually enslaved by Japan's World War II military, weeps during a press conference at the Press Center in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021. Lee called for the leaders of both countries to settle an impasse over the issue by seeking judgment from the International Court of Justice. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)SEOUL – A South Korean woman who was sexually enslaved by Japan’s World War II military called for the leaders of both countries to settle an impasse over the issue by seeking judgment from the International Court of Justice. Bilateral tensions over sexual slavery flared again last month when a South Korean court ruled that the Japanese government must give 100 million won ($90,000) to each of 12 victims who filed lawsuits in 2013 over their wartime sufferings. While a lawsuit at the U.N. court could only happen if both countries agree to take their dispute there, it would be illogical for Japan to object when it has already accused South Korean court rulings of violating international law, he said.

Bulgarian far-right nationalists hold torches as they gather in the country's capital, to honour a World War II general known for his anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi activities, in Sofia, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)SOFIA – Far-right nationalists gathered in Bulgaria's capital Saturday to honor a late World War II general known for his anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi activities. AdThe general served as war minister from 1935 to 1938, and led the pro-Nazi Germany Union of Bulgarian Legions from 1932 until 1943. Contemporary nationalists deny that Lukov was an anti-Semitic fascist or that they are promoting neo-fascism. On Saturday, Bulgarian National Union supporters placed a wreath and flowers in front of Lukov’s former home and held torch lights in tribute.

The Russian Foreign Ministry accused Swedish and Polish diplomats in St. Petersburg and a German diplomat in Moscow of taking part in what it called “unlawful” rallies on Jan. 23. Tens of thousands of people across Russia took to the streets that day to protest Navalny's arrest. The diplomats were declared “persona non grata” and were required to leave Russia “shortly,” a ministry statement said. Navalny accused Artemenko’s family of exploiting the frail man for their own gain, alleging the case was fabricated and the evidence falsified. “The judge should burn in hell, and you’re selling your grandfather out,” Navalny said, as Artemenko’s grandson testified.

Tom Moore, the 100-year-old World War II veteran who captivated the British public in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic with his fundraising efforts, has died, Tuesday Feb. 2, 2021. AdFor three weeks in April, fans were greeted with daily videos of Captain Tom, stooped with age, doggedly pushing his walker in the garden. When Captain Tom finished his 100th lap on April 16, a military honor guard lined the path. The celebration continued on his birthday a few days later, when two World War II-era fighter planes flew overhead in tribute. But it was the public that embraced Captain Tom, flooding the village post office with some 6,000 gifts and 140,000 birthday cards.

It is the first closely watched Holocaust speech case since Poland sought to pass a law in 2018 that would have criminalized the act of falsely blaming Poland for Germany’s Holocaust crimes. The current case is instead a civil libel case tried under a pre-existing law, yet many scholars believe it will set an important precedent for freedom of Holocaust research. “This is a case of the Polish state against freedom of research,” Grabowski told The Associated Press on Monday. Grabowski, a Polish-Canadian whose father was a Polish Holocaust survivor, has faced considerable anti-Semitic harassment by nationalists, both online and at lectures in Canada, France and elsewhere. Maciej Swirski, the head of the organization, said no public money was used to fund the legal case.

The United Kingdom has suffered its worst civilian loss of life since World War II by a significant number. But the United Kingdom has now suffered its worst civilian loss of life since World War II by a significant number. Here's a look at some of Britain's struggles with civilian deaths during World War II and since. In World War II, the threat to Britain was existential. WORLD WAR II CIVILIAN DEATHSFrom September 1940-May 1941, the U.K. suffered an intensive bombing campaign by Germany's Luftwaffe that struck the biggest cities in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Portraits of late former South Korean comfort women are displayed near the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 8, 2021. A South Korean court on Friday ordered Japan to financially compensate 12 South Korean women forced to work as sex slaves for Japanese troops during World War II, the first such ruling expected to rekindle animosities between the Asian neighbors. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)SEOUL – A South Korean court on Friday ordered Japan to financially compensate 12 South Korean women forced to work as sex slaves for Japanese troops during World War II, a landmark ruling that’s set to rekindle animosities between the Asian neighbors. Observers say it’s unlikely for Japan to abide by the South Korean court ruling. In 2015, South Korea’s previous government reached a deal with Japan to resolve the sexual slavery dispute.

LYNCHBURG, Va. – A group of pilots flew over a Lynchburg neighborhood Saturday to honor a Tuskegee Airman who died the week before. Feldvary believes it’s important to pay respect to the surviving Tuskegee Airmen while they are still here. “There are very few World War II veterans alive now,” Feldvary said. “It’s an incredible honor to pay tribute to a hero and a patriot this way,” Crider said. “Alfred Farrar, he’s a hero to our country.”This is the second memorial event for Farrar in Lynchburg, following an event in his honor at Monument Terrace which featured his son, Roy.

That law made it illegal for Chinese laborers to immigrate to America and limited the Chinese population in the U.S. for more than 60 years. Chinese Americans served in all major branches of the military, including the so-called Flying Tigers, the 14th Air Service that flew missions in the China-Burma-India Theater. For their service to the nation during the war, Chinese-American veterans were honored at a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony Wednesday. "With this honor, we are telling a more complete story of the people who fought for the United States during World War II and the personal and systemic challenges they faced.,'' Takano said. She and other Chinese Americans “answered the call to duty when our country faced threats to our freedom,″ Chin said in a videotaped presentation at Wednesday’s ceremony.

“And that morning, everything was perfect,” Melton told NTSB investigators. I mean, there was no reason not to fly, you know.”The plane crashed into a maintenance building at the airport while trying to land after the No. Melton told officials that the No. “I don’t know why we weren’t, you know, gaining altitude,” Melton said. I don’t know what happened.”McCauley and Foster, 71, of Jacksonville, Florida, tried to return to the airport.

ROME – Lidia Brisca Menapace, a Resistance member during World War II who later was an advocate of pacifism and women’s rights and was elected to the Italian Senate on a Communist party ticket, has died. Italian state radio said she had been hospitalized for several days with COVID-19 in Bolzano, the Alpine city where she had lived in latter decades. As young woman, Lidia Brisca pedaled a bicycle to deliver medicine and messages to Resistance fighters, known as Partisans, based in the countryside of the northern Piedmont region of her birth. She was the first woman to be elected to the provincial legislature of Bolzano, another Alpine province. She remained proud of the Resistance spirit, remarking that she was still a Partisan, because “being so is a choice of life."

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – An Alabama man who spent World War II repairing bomb-damaged trains in France recovered from a fight with COVID-19 in time to mark his 104th birthday on Thursday. Major Wooten was physically drained and a little fuzzy mentally after battling the new coronavirus but appears to be on the mend, said granddaughter Holley Wooten McDonald. She said her mother recovered from COVID-19, and so did a sister who developed the illness and had to spend a week on a ventilator. In the spring, he was hospitalized with serious heart problems and recovered, McDonald said. For Wooten’s birthday, a company erected a yard display that included the Alabama athletics logo, a cake, candles and a patriotic hat.

BEDFORD, Va. – Every November, for more than a century, Americans have recognized Veterans Day as a time to honor and thank veterans. “Veterans Day is a day to honor those who have served in uniform," said John Long, director of education for the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford. Long said Veterans Day goes back to the end of World War II, specifically November 11, 1918. One that day, Long said, "The guns fell silent in Europe. In 1954, President Eisenhower officially renamed the day “Veterans Day” to be inclusive to all veterans.

For one New River Valley family, that became a reality when six brothers fought during World War II or the Korean War. Named after their small neighborhood in Giles County, today the brothers are still known as the Maybrook Men. The war took these then small town Giles County boys all over the world. The only two brothers still living are John Atkins, 96, of Christiansburg, and June Atkins, 100, of Maybrook. Full Screen 1 / 7 Meet the six Giles County brothers -- Harry, June, John, Curtis, David and Billy -- known as the Maybrook Men.

René de Reuver, speaking on behalf of the General Synod of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands, said the church’s role began long before Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany. “Also in the war years, the ecclesiastical authorities often lacked the courage to choose a position for the Jewish citizens of our country,” he added. More than 100,000 Dutch Jews — 70% of the Jewish community — didn’t survive World War II. He and his parents, sister and two brothers were sent to a Dutch concentration camp at Westerbork, then transferred to another camp. De Reuver promised that the Protestant Church would work to fight anti-Semitism going forward.

It’s an issue that dates back to World War II: Making sure American servicemen and servicewomen have the ability to cast a vote in a presidential election, no matter where they’re stationed. With the passage of the Soldier Voting Act of 1942, it was settled: Military members would be given easy access to vote. Moran, who’s currently deployed in Poland, cast her first-ever absentee ballot for this year’s election. Although voting is a common task for many Americans, for most soldiers, it is a very unorthodox method -- voting overseas, that is, but the process is quite simple. In the 2000 presidential election, Republican nominee George W. Bush relied on 537 ballots to tilt Florida in his direction.

LONDON – Royal Dutch Shell increased its dividend payout to shareholders following a better-than-expected third quarter of the year, months after cutting it for the first time since World War II. The dividend hike came as the company reported earnings on a current cost of supply basis — the industry standard — of $177 million in the July to September period. Though down 97% on last year because of the sharp slide in oil prices, the company's earnings still beat the consensus in financial markets of $146 million. Like others in the sector, Shell has faced a double challenge this year, dealing with plunging oil prices, some of which turned negative for a short while in April, and increased pressure to set new environmental goals. Shell and its U.K. rival BP have pledged to lower emissions to net zero by the middle of the century.

The New York Times has named the Robert E. Lee monument in Richmond, in its current state, as the most influential form of American protest art since World War II. The list was made up of artists and other professionals who nominated pieces they felt were the most powerful American protest art. The Lee monument is the last Confederate monument still standing along Monument Avenue after Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney ordered the others to be removed. The statue sits on land owned by the state and a court case involving its potential removal is awaiting trial.

LYNCHBURG, Va. – Lynchburg honored a hometown hero with a ceremony Monday. World War II veteran Desmond Doss received the Medal of Honor, the country’s most-prestigious military award, from President Harry Truman 75 years ago. I can’t even express the appreciation that I have,” said Desmond Doss Jr. during the tribute outside his father’s childhood home. Organized by the Lynchburg Area Veterans Council, the ceremony included the proclamation reading recognizing the city’s second-annual Desmond Doss Day. Desmond Doss, an American patriot continuing to impact others 75 years later -- and counting.

The two American economists, both professors at Stanford, won the Nobel Prize in Economics for improving how auctions work. For helping make auctions run more efficiently, two Americans on Monday won the Nobel prize for economics. You’ve won the Nobel Prize.’’ Awakened, Milgrom stammered for a moment and then said: “Wow.’’The two men tackled the tricky problem of making auctions work efficiently. Last week, the Nobel Committee awarded the prize for physiology and medicine for discovering the liver-ravaging hepatitis C virus. The prize for physics honored breakthroughs in understanding black holes, and the chemistry prize went to scientists behind a powerful gene-editing tool.

ROANOKE, Va. – Many are mourning the loss of a local legend and TV pioneer this week. Holcomb, also known as Lee Garrett, passed away on Thursday. The 95-year-old World War II veteran was well known in the community for his many talents. Garrett started his career in radio, but retired in 1987 as a broadcaster with WSLS and was one of our pioneers since 1953.

LYNCHBURG, Va. – A local war hero will be recognized by an organization in the Lynchburg area. The life and legacy of World War II hero Desmond Doss will be honored by the Lynchburg Area Veterans Council (LAVC) on Oct. 12. Doss, a Lynchburg native, was awarded the medal of honor on Oct. 12, 1945, for his service during World War II. It’s veterans helping veterans. There will also be a special movie showing of The Conscientious Objector about Doss' life on Sunday, Oct. 11, at 7 p.m. at the American Legion post in Lynchburg.

THE HAGUE – A friend of World War II Jewish diarist Anne Frank laid the first stone Wednesday at a new memorial under construction in Amsterdam to honor all Dutch victims of the Holocaust. “I almost can't believe it, but it is now really happening,” Jacques Grishaver, chairman of the Netherlands Auschwitz Committee, said in a statement. “The first of the more than 102,000 stones has been laid.”The last of the stones, each of which is engraved with a name, is expected to be placed in the memorial in March. A Dutch court cleared the way last year for the memorial to be constructed. Amsterdam Municipality had granted permission for construction to start in 2017, but residents argued that it was too big for the location and could cause traffic problems.

GILES COUNTY, Va. This week marks the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II its also a special milestone for a local World War II veteran who just turned 100 years old. Hitting that century mark deserves a massive celebration, especially for someone who served our country, and the Giles County community did not disappoint. June Atkins of Giles County was born on Aug. 23, 1920. Im the reason hes 100 years old, Dora said while laughing. In Giles, June is known as one of the Maybrook Men. He is one of five brothers who all served in World War II at the same time.