I've been going through back articles that I found of interest.
Zenon Lukosius (1918-2006)
Unassuming hero in WWII U-boat capture
During WWII, he and shipmates captured the German submarine U-505. In the early 1950s, the Museum of Science was trying to raise money to bring the German boat to Chicago as a permanent WWII memorial. Whenever they would find a potential donor, they would invite Lukosius in for a presentation.
The sub came to the museum in 1954, and since then, over 25 million people have viewed it. He would revisit it and took part in the raising of an additional $35 million protected indoor berth outside the museum.
He always insisted he was not a hero, just a sailor doing what he was trained to do. Lukosius was one of nine sailors who boarded and secured the U-505 on June 4, 1944 in the Atlantic Ocean off West Africa. The sub had been cornered and damaged with depth charges and gunfire.
The 9 man boarding crew passed the fleeing German crew and found that a valve had been opened in the control room in an attempt to sink it. They also had to worry about booby traps.
He groped around the valve and found no wires which would have indicated a trap. A struggle with the valve finally shut it, and the ship was safe.
This was an important prize, not only for its design, but for the top secret German communications code book.
He was born Aug. 24, 1918 in Chicago and enlisted in the Navy when the war began. He was married during shore leave five weeks before capturing the sub.
In the late 1980s, it became apparent that the U-505 was slowly deteriorating in Chicago's elements and an effort began to raise money to save it. Mr. Lukosius, another sailor who boarded the U-505, Wayne Pickels of San Antonio, and a German crewmember Pete Peterson came and aided a lot in fundraising.
Peterson took people for tours and said 'we wouldn't be here inside of the submarine talking about it if it hadn't been for two men who saved it when it was captured. Right then, the two men, Lukosius and Pickels would climb down the cunning tower just they had back in 1944.
I'be been on board the U-505 several times while it was still outside the museum, but not since it was moved to its new berth.
One brave man.
August 15, 2006 Chicago Tribune Unassuming hero in WWII U-boat capture" by William Mullen
William McNutt, Jr (1925-2006)
Built mail-order empire one fruitcake at a time
William "Bill" McNutt, Jr., turned his family's small bakery in Corsicana, Texas into a huge specialized mail-order business shipping thousands of fruitcakes around the US and world died at age 81.
He was president of the Collin Street Bakery from 1967 to 1998. The bakery opened in 1896 but got a jolt when McNutt arrived in 1958 and shifted its focus to mail-ordering. He was an early proponent of direct narketing and computerization.
The company sells about 3 million pounds of fruitcake a year which relates to 1.5 million of the cakes
Collin Street Bakery was begun by German immigrants Gus Wiederman in 1898. McNutt's father, Lee William McNutt and an uncle bought the bakery in 1946.
They send out about 12 million mailings a year. They will ship to most anybody, but in 1979, refused to ship one to the Ayatollah Khomeini because of the hostage crisis.
My parents used to send us one and one to Liz's parents every year back in the 1970s. I personally don't know why so many people don't like fruitcakes. Probably the connotation of being crazy. Put some whip cream on it and it is mighty fine eating in my book.
Chicago Tribune, 2006 (I didn't get the date) "Built mail-order empire one fruitcake at a time" by LA Times.
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