Official History of 5th Army
#15

No my information is correct and I am talking about Quentin II and WWII. Quentin II died in a plane crash, not during the war. His uncle Quentin was shot down behind enemy lines in WWI.

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Quentin Roosevelt

November 19, 1897 - July 14, 1918

 

Quentin, the youngest Roosevelt, quickly became known for his humorous, and sometimes philosophical remarks. To a reporter trying to trap the boy into giving information about his father, Quentin admitted, "I see him occasionally, but I know nothing of his family life." The family soon learned to keep him quiet during dinner where important guests were present.

 

In Washington, Quentin developed many friends of all ages and from all walks of life, but his best friends became known as the "White House Gang." Laughter rang through the White House halls, surprising the more "stuffy" visitors - though at times the boys did get carried away in their antics.

 

While Archie was terribly ill, it was Quentin (with the help of Charles Lee, a White House coachman) who brought the pony Algonquin to his room by elevator, sure that this would make his brother well.

 

As a young adult, Quentin displayed an incredible mechanical aptitude to the extent that he could fix almost anything, and even rebuilt a motorcycle to present to a friend as a gift.

 

Quentin was a sophomore at Harvard and showing promise as a writer. With American entry into World War I, he thought his mechanical skills would be useful as he joined the U.S.Army Air Corps. Just engaged to Flora Payne Whitney, he set out, winning admiration from fellow flyers.

 

On July 14, 1918, his plane was shot down by German aviators and he crashed behind enemy lines. Determining his identity by love letters from Flora Whitney, Quentin was buried with full battlefield honors by the Germans. After his grave came under Allied control, thousands of American soldiers visited it to pay their respects. Quentin's resting place became a shrine and an inspiration to his comrades in arms. Even though he was the son of a president, he died as a soldier nobly in the service of his country.

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Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. and his wife, built "Old Orchard" in 1938. "It had always been the family plan for Ted to inherit Sagamore Hill" recalled President Theodore Roosevelt's daughter-in-law Eleanor Alexander Roosevelt. "By 1937 we had been married twenty-seven years and were tired of living here and there in rented houses."

 

In her memoir, Day Before Yesterday, Eleanor recalled that at some point during their marriage, they would move into Sagamore Hill, since it was her husband's, Theodore Roosevelt Jr.'s, inheritance. As the years went on, she came to see that Sagamore Hill was too big to maintain or to heat. Sagamore Hill was also the home of her mother-in-law and Theodore Roosevelt's widow, Edith Roosevelt who would continue to live there until she died in 1948.

 

Therefore, Ted and Eleanor decided to build their own home. The loved the design of the Georgian-style home of their son-in-law, a Baltimore architect, so they asked him to design a similar house for them.

 

The Sagamore Hill estate apple orchard was the setting for the Roosevelt's new home. As it was finished, the home was richly decorated with mementos of Ted Jr.'s public career as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, governor of the Philippines and Puerto Rico and with items from their many travels and adventures.

 

Eleanor's attention to detail during the construction process left her very nearly exhausted in early 1938. So Ted Jr. suggested she travel to China as he supervised the final details of the construction job. Traveling with her son, Eleanor never found the relaxation she sought. Instead, she was in a war zone. As storm clouds of World War II rolled over Asia, China was in open conflict before Japanese occupation.

 

With the all the excitement and cloak-and-dagger adventure of a Casablanca-style movie, Eleanor and her son traveled in a low key and quiet manner. When they left China, they purchased antique Chinese furnishings because they suspected Japanese authorities would confiscate their cash. In returning to Old Orchard, Eleanor furnished the newly completed rooms with many of these artifacts.

 

Ted Jr. lived at Old Orchard for only three years. In 1941, he reentered active military service several months before the attack on Pearl Harbor. He became a deputy commander of the 1st and 4th Infantry Divisions during World War II. A few weeks after directing the D-Day landing on Utah Beach on the Normandy coast of France, Ted Jr. died of a heart attack on July 11, 1944.

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Quentin II was named after his uncle who died in France in World War I. Quentin II served in the Army in World War II, rising to the rank of Major. He participated in the North Africa campaign and the Normandy invasion on June 6, 1944. He was wounded and was three times decorated for gallantry and valor. Quentin and his father both won the Silver Star. April 12,1944 Quentin II married Frances Webb of Kansas City at the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Blandford, England. His father served as his best man. After the war Quentin II and his wife Frances lived in Shanghai, China, while Quentin worked for two years for the China National Aviation Corporation, an affiliate of Pan American World Airways. In late December 1948 on a business flight to Hong Kong, the pilot was blinded by a sudden fog. Quentin II and 34 passengers and crew were killed in the crash and resulting fire on Basalt Island in Hong Kong Harbor. Frances Roosevelt returned to Old Orchard at Oyster Bay with her three daughters.

Marion J Chard
Proud Daughter of Walter (Monday) Poniedzialek
540th Engineer Combat Regiment, 2833rd Bn, H&S Co, 4th Platoon
There's "No Bridge Too Far"
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Messages In This Thread
Official History of 5th Army - by smcrane - 12-21-2005, 06:58 PM
Official History of 5th Army - by Walt's Daughter - 12-21-2005, 07:37 PM
Official History of 5th Army - by Walt's Daughter - 12-21-2005, 07:43 PM
Official History of 5th Army - by smcrane - 12-21-2005, 08:38 PM
Official History of 5th Army - by smcrane - 12-21-2005, 08:39 PM
Official History of 5th Army - by Walt's Daughter - 12-21-2005, 08:42 PM
Official History of 5th Army - by Custermen - 12-22-2005, 12:08 PM
Official History of 5th Army - by Walt's Daughter - 12-22-2005, 12:11 PM
Official History of 5th Army - by Walt's Daughter - 12-23-2005, 12:34 PM
Official History of 5th Army - by Custermen - 12-23-2005, 01:05 PM
Official History of 5th Army - by alkincer - 01-10-2006, 01:25 PM
Official History of 5th Army - by Walt's Daughter - 01-10-2006, 01:48 PM
Official History of 5th Army - by Walt's Daughter - 01-10-2006, 02:23 PM
Official History of 5th Army - by Custermen - 01-16-2006, 10:10 PM
Official History of 5th Army - by Walt's Daughter - 01-16-2006, 11:10 PM
Official History of 5th Army - by Walt's Daughter - 01-16-2006, 11:18 PM
Official History of 5th Army - by Walt's Daughter - 01-27-2006, 04:09 PM

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