<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div dir="ltr"><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div dir="ltr"><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div dir="ltr"><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div dir="ltr"><div>Courtesy of <i>Stars and Stripes</i> (military newspaper) at:</div><div><br></div><div><a href="https://www.stripes.com/honor-flight-syracuse-honors-trailblazing-world-war-ii-marine-on-her-100th-birthday-1.668211?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Stars+and+Stripes+Emails&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines">https://www.stripes.com/honor-flight-syracuse-honors-trailblazing-world-war-ii-marine-on-her-100th-birthday-1.668211?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Stars+and+Stripes+Emails&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines</a></div><div><br></div><div>—————————————————</div><div><h2 style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; margin: 0.2rem 0px 1.1875rem; padding: 0px; font-weight: 400; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(2, 50, 89); text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; line-height: 1.2; font-size: 2.3125rem;">Honor Flight Syracuse honors trailblazing World War II Marine on her 100th birthday</h2></div><div><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">SYRACUSE, N.Y. (Tribune News Service) —<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://honorflightsyracuse.org/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114); box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; line-height: inherit;"><span style="color: rgb(2, 50, 89);">Honor Flight Syracuse</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>threw Central New York trailblazer Margaret “Peg” Bandy quite the 100th birthday celebration in Tully on Saturday.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; font-size: 1.125rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">“What a party!” she said. “It was a wonderful day.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; font-size: 1.125rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">Because of the cold, Bandy, who was one of the first local women to join the U.S. Marine Corps after the American entry into World War II, watched a 77-car parade in her honor, including fire engines with their lights flashing, pass by from her son’s car.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; font-size: 1.125rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">“People yelled out, ‘Hey, Peg!’ to me,” she remembered. “It was magnificent.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">Joined by family, friends, elected officials and members of the community, Bandy was presented with a tri-cornered from the office of Congressman John Katko by, appropriately enough, a fellow female Marine.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; font-size: 1.125rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">Honor Flight, a private, not-for-profit, organization which honors America’s veterans for their service and sacrifice, hosted her Centurion Salute.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; font-size: 1.125rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">She calls the group a “beautiful thing.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; font-size: 1.125rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">Her salute on Saturday recognized an incredible life story.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; font-size: 1.125rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">Bandy was born in Syracuse and raised in Liverpool. From the beginning she was interested in writing.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; font-size: 1.125rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">“I always liked to write, and it really got underway in high school,” she said in 1964.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; font-size: 1.125rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">When the United States entered World War II, though, her attention turned to the Marines.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; font-size: 1.125rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">An uncle in the Marine Corps not so gently dissuaded her.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; font-size: 1.125rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">“‘Margaret,’” she remembered him telling her, “there will never be women in the military.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; font-size: 1.125rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">Undeterred, Bandy went to New York City to enlist immediately after women were allowed to to do so.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">“Everything about the Marines was what I wanted,” Bandy said in a 2018 interview.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; font-size: 1.125rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">She would later visit that uncle again while in her uniform.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; font-size: 1.125rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">“He was proud of me,” she recalled and added that when a buddy of his asked if his niece was in the Army, he replied, “No, she’s a Marine!”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; font-size: 1.125rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">Bandy was sent to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina to train and was the only woman attached to the 10th Tank Battalion.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; font-size: 1.125rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">She recalls once being on a plane with a group of male soldiers. “Are you the nurse?” she was asked.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; font-size: 1.125rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">“No, I’m up here on the plane just like you boys,” she replied.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; font-size: 1.125rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">She was deployed stateside to assist operations overseas. She rose to the rank of sergeant.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; font-size: 1.125rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">She marched at President Franklin Roosevelt’s funeral and was awarded the Good Conduct, National Defense, World War II Victory, and American Defense medals.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; font-size: 1.125rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">After the war, a funeral in Chicago led to a reporter’s job at the Chicago Herald-American. She worked in the “Soldier’s Friend” department, devoted to veteran affairs.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; font-size: 1.125rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">“I ghosted a column, answered innumerable letter and sent out all kinds of information. At times there might be 1,600 veterans looking for help from us - stringing out in the corridors of the huge newspaper building even to the street,” Bandy said in 1964.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; font-size: 1.125rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">After a year, she missed home and returned to Syracuse.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; font-size: 1.125rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">Bandy joined the Syracuse Herald-Journal’s Women’s Department, writing about weddings and engagements.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; font-size: 1.125rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">She said one of her strengths was that she “floated around,” willing to volunteer for jobs wherever she was needed.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; font-size: 1.125rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">Once, Sports Editor Lawrence Skiddy asked if she could profile a local baseball player. Of course, she could she said, despite being unfamiliar with the game.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; font-size: 1.125rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">When she got back to the office, she asked Skiddy, “Is batting a thousand any good?”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; font-size: 1.125rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">While working at the newspaper, she met her husband, Richard, a news photographer, and a fellow Marine. They had two children together.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; font-size: 1.125rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">At the Post-Standard, she produced a teenager page and later worked on the city desk.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; font-size: 1.125rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">From 1975-76, she was chairwoman of the Bicentennial celebrations in Syracuse.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; font-size: 1.125rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">She remained active in veteran groups.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; font-size: 1.125rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">At 100 years old, Bandy remains just as sharp as ever. She laughs, jokes, and interjects information into the conversation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; font-size: 1.125rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">“If I don’t jump in at my age,” she apologizes, “I’ll lose what I’m thinking.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; font-size: 1.125rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">She still crochets and is proud of her five grandchildren.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; font-size: 1.125rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">“They are all wonderful career people,” she said.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; font-size: 1.125rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">Bandy looks back at her full life, serving her country as a Marine and working as a journalist, and is satisfied with what she has accomplished.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; font-size: 1.125rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">“I have had the privilege of doing everything I have wanted to do since I was eight years old,” she said. “I don’t need a bucket list.”</span></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><font color="#444444" face="Arial, sans-serif" size="4"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">Margaret Bandy</span></font></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><img src="cid:58551D97-1EA6-4DD4-9190-18B238112429"></p><p style="margin: 1.25rem; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><a href="http://www.tomandrodna.com/Photos/Margaret_Bandy.jpg">http://www.tomandrodna.com/Photos/Margaret_Bandy.jpg</a></p></div>—————————————————<br><br><div dir="ltr"><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/">http://www.moscowcares.com/</a></div><div><br></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div><br></div><div>“A stranger is just a friend you haven’t met.”</div><div>- Roy E. Stolworthy</div><div></div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>