Jul 14

Interview with Former YPG Volunteer Mike Fonda

July 12, 2017 – Mike Fonda describes his experience fighting with the YPG in Syria and the current efforts to raise awareness in the United States to gain support for the fight against ISIS.  

  

KDP arrests two YPG fighters from the US and puts them in the same prison cell with ISIS gangs

hqdefaultRobert Alleva and Michael Fonda, 2 internationalists from the US who came to Rojava to join the fight against ISIS, were arrested by KDP officials and put in the same prison cell with ISIS gangs.

Sunday, August 2, 2015 – News Desk – ANF

Robert Alleva and Michael Fonda, 2 internationalists from the US who came to Rojava to join the fight against ISIS, were arrested and put in the same prison cell with ISIS gangs by KDP officials. KDP officials arrested Robert Alleva, Michael Fonda, Alexandre de Ponte and Russian YPG fighter Semyonov as they were returning to their home countries.

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Photo: Militia fighters Ashley Dyball (front right) and American Mike Fonda (front centre). Gold Coast man Reece Harding (back, second from left) was killed in June. (Supplied: Mike Fonda)

Michael Fonda stated that he is from Centreville, Virginia, and his name in Rojava was Demhat Şirvan. Fonda fought in the US army in Iraq and wanted to join YPG in order to fight against ISIS and liberate Kurdish and Arab towns from ISIS occupation. After being released as a result of the diplomatic efforts of the American Embassy in Erbil, Fonda reported that KDP officials held them in the same prison cell with ISIS gangs for 23 days despite the fact that they had told the officials about their membership in YPG. Fonda ended his statements by criticizing the Turkish government’s collaboration with ISIS, and called upon KDP officials to treat better those who were fighting against ISIS.

Robert Alleva is another YPG fighter from the US, and stayed in Rojava for three months to fight against ISIS. Alleva stated that after their arrests, KDP officials told them that they would soon be sent home but the 4 foreign YPG fighters were kept in the same cell with ISIS gangs in a prison in Erbil for 23 days. Alleva said that KDP wanted to set up an example with their imprisonment, and called upon KDP to not treat foreign YPG fighters the way they had been treated. Alleva noted that YPG was composed of Kurds, Arabs, and Christians, and thanked the people of Rojava for their hospitality and struggle for humanity in the face of ISIS barbarism.

Other links: ABC Australia, National Post, YouTube, Crowdrise

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Jan 27

Story of Masonic Apron – Found at the Battle of Gettysburg on Culp’s Hill – Harrisburg Lodge Thirty-Six Years Later Discovers Owner and Returns Apron

Gettysburg Compiler, Wednesday, May 5, 1909

Battle of Little Round Top – the site of an unsuccessful assault by Confederate troops against the Union left flank on July 2, 1863, the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg.

Lost by one Federal soldier in the sudden shifting of an army corps at Chancellorsville, Va.: found two months later by another at Gettysburg, Pa.: presented to Perseverance Lodge of Masons, Harrisburg, and finally after a lapse of almost forty-six years returned to the original owner. That is the history of a Masonic apron belonging to E. L. Fonda, of Averill Park, New York, which has recently come to light.  

The history of the apron unfolds a leaf from the past and brings back again stirring memories of the Civil War. The story of the apron, as far as Perseverance Lodge is concerned, opened at Gettysburg, on July 3, 1863.  It was found lying among the rocks on Culp’s Hill, at the conclusion of the second day’s struggle oy John Kunkle of Harrisburg. Mr. Kunkle presented it to Perseverance Lodge on October 12, 1863.

For some years the apron was hung on the lodge room walls, but finally it was taken down and stored with many other relics in a drawer in a cabinet. In March, 1908, Dr. John M.  J. Raunick, at that time worshipful master of Perseverance Lodge, in rummaging through the cabinet, came across the old apron. He examined it closely and discovered on the back the stenciled name, E. L. Fonda, and also the name of the Massachusetts manufacturer of such emblems.

Hoping to find the original owner, if he yet lived, Dr. Raunick wrote to Boston, asking if a man of that name lived there or whether any record of the sale of the apron had ever been kept. He received a negative answer.  This occurred in March of last year.  His next move was to write to the adjutant general of the war department. There also nothing could be learned.

Two letters were next written to the secretary of the war department.  In answer to the second he received word that a man answering to that name of E. L. Fonda had enlisted on August 11, 1862, in the 14th New York Infantry, which was a part of the Army of the Potomac.

Then Dr. Raunick wrote to the adjutant general of New York and the Grand Lodge of Masons in that State.  They could impart no further information. A third letter to the war department brought an answer referring him to the pension department.

It was at this point that the doctor received the most encouragement.  From the pension department he learned that E. L. Fonda lived in Waterbleit, New York. Four letters Dr. Raunick dispatched to Waterbleit. Not one was returned and no answer was received.  The fifth letter the doctor made very strong and insisted upon a reply.

A short time afterwards, namely, March 17, 1909, a letter was received from Averill Park, N. Y. It was written by Edward L. Fonda himself.  He said that he had received a package of several letters, written by Dr.  Raunick and was now answering the first. He also stated that he intended looking at once into the cause of delay.

The Craftsman believes that a Masonic Apron is the most essential physical representation of a man’s commitment to the Craft.

“I moved from Waterbleit to Aver hill Park a short time ago,” wrote Mr.  Fonda. “I was born in West Troy, now Waterbleit, Albany county, New York, on March 11, 1831. I bought the apron in 1853, after I had joined the Pawtucket Lodge, Lowell, Massachusetts, and remember distinctly wearing it for the first time at Bunker Hill, when the statue was unveiled there to General Joseph Warren.

“I enlisted in the 14th New York Infantry in 1862 and we were assigned to the Army of the Potomac. The apron I had with me, stored in my knapsack. On May 1 our regiment was transferred across the Rappahannock river to join the rest of the army.  This was the opening day of battle of Chancellorsville, and in the hurry of forming I lost my knapsack. I did not miss it until in the midst of the fighting, hours later, and I never expected to recover it.

“I took part in the battle of Gettysburg, where you say it was found. Our regiment was stationed at Little Round Top. My full name is Edward Learned Fonda, and I now reside on a farm a few miles from Averill Park.”

Through this letter and several sub sequent ones Dr. Raunick had no trouble in identifying the owner and finally the matter was placed before Perseverance Lodge. It voted unanimously to present the apron to the original owner. The apron was sent to Mr.  Fonda on April 15, 1909, and two days later a letter of fervent thanks was received from the happy veteran.

“The apron,” he wrote, “is nearly as good as new and I must thank Perseverance Lodge for taking such excel lent care of it.  My wife had pressed it and fixed the frayed ends and we have it hanging in the parlor.

In his letter Mr. Fonda enclosed a photograph of himself and this was hung with a photograph of the apron in Perseverance Lodge room, nicely framed.

It is the hope of Dr. Raunick that even after the lapse of years he can find somebody who can bridge the gap between May 1, 1863 and July 3, 1863.  Was it a Confederate or a Federal soldier who dropped the apron at Gettysburg? Will the answer ever be given?

The apron is of white satin with an area of about 24 inches by 18 inches.  It is embroidered with blue and upon it is painted a square and compass, the symbol of Masonry.

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Sep 11

Pebble Beach war pilot recalls surviving missions

By DENNIS TAYLOR, Herald Staff Writer, Posted: 09/05/2011

After flying his 50th bombing mission over Europe, Bill Fonda of the United States Army Air Force was rotated back to the U.S. to a base in Greenville, S.C. On the day he got those orders, he briefly considered asking for a transfer to a fighter plane squadron.

“I had always wanted to fly fighters, and if I had asked, they might have given me the transfer,” says Fonda, now 91 and living in Pebble Beach. “But I didn’t ask, and they didn’t offer, so I came home.

“I’ve always wondered how my life might have turned out if I had pursued that option,” Fonda muses. “I might not have married the woman I married, might not have had the children and grandchildren I have. My whole life might have been very different — assuming I had survived.”

His survival, he believes, is the reason he was awarded the Silver Star, for “gallantry in action against the enemy,” along with nine other military medals, for his service in the European Theater during World War II.

“It’s not always true — there are exceptions — but my feeling about medals is that you get them for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and managing to survive,” he says.

Read the complete story in The Herald’s print or e-edition of Sept. 4
(If anyone has the text of the full article, or a photo, please forward to webmaster@fonda.org)

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Nov 12

Internet café opens at Utica veterans center

By Emerson Clarridge, Observer-Dispatch

Posted Nov 07, 2009 @ 08:31 PM

William Fonda of Utica mingles during the grand opening of the Central new York Veterans Outreach Center's "The Bunker" internet cafe in Utica, Saturday, November 7, 2009.  Dave Londres / Observer-Dispatch

William Fonda of Utica mingles during the grand opening of the Central new York Veterans Outreach Center’s “The Bunker” internet cafe in Utica, Saturday, November 7, 2009. Dave Londres / Observer-Dispatch

UTICA — When he returned from Iraq in early 2005, Army veteran Gary Matt was quickly caught in labyrinthine bureaucracy.  Medical appointments often sent the 30-year-old Utica man to Syracuse.  “Even just going out to Rome is a pain,” he said.

Matt’s experience is typical of the disarray that meets former military men and women once they’ve left the battlefield and returned home, said Army veteran Vincent Scalise, who served with Matt.  “The government does what they can,” he said.  Yet often, he said, the assistance falls short.

To ease the transition to civilian life, Scalise began year ago to head an effort to convert the former 87,000-square-foot YMCA building on Washington Street in Utica into a single-stop veterans’ service clearinghouse that offers advice on legal matters, employment assistance and counseling.  Many of the services already are available at the Central New York Veterans Outreach Center, and construction began last week on 15 transitional housing units – apartments for veterans struggling to find a place to live – that Scalise said he hopes will be ready in mid-2010.

The center’s most recent addition is a first-floor coffee shop and Internet café called The Bunker, which celebrated its grand opening Saturday night to a steady flow of patrons.  Computers will be available from early morning to late at night so veterans can fill out online forms for Veterans Administration assistance and access the Internet for other purposes.  The space will be open to veterans and nonveterans.

“I want people from all different walks of life,” Scalise said.  Jessica Perusse, the center’s head social worker, said “it’s a very relaxing, calm space.”  A formal flag-raising, ribbon-cutting and open house is scheduled for Wednesday, Veteran’s Day.

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Dec 20

Local veteran presented Bronze Star

The Leader-Herald, December 20, 2008

Johnstown, NY – After waiting more than 40 years to receive official recognition for heroic military service, Joseph Fonda had a tough time waiting one more night. “He couldn’t sleep at all,” said his wife, Charlene, with a laugh.

U.S. Rep. Michael McNulty presents the Bronze Star Medal to Joseph F. Fonda in Johnstown on Friday. The Montgomery County man served heroically in the Vietnam War in 1967 and ’68. (The Leader-Herald/Bill Trojan)

On Friday morning, Fonda was finally honored. At the Fulton County Office Building, U.S. Rep. Michael McNulty presented a Bronze Star Medal to Fonda as his family watched with tears in their eyes. “It is my honor to make this presentation,” McNulty said. “The Bronze Star Medal is presented to very few individuals.” The act of Congress that established the medal says it recognizes “heroic or meritorious achievement or service … in connection with military operations against an armed enemy.”

Fonda, who grew up in the village that shares his name, went to Vietnam on July 20, 1967, as part of an infantry unit. He was 17 years old. “I volunteered to draft, and I volunteered to go to Vietnam. After that, I learned not to volunteer anymore,” he said, laughing.

On Nov. 7, 1967, 4th Spc. Fonda’s unit was stationed between a cemetery and a bridge in a Vietnamese village. “When the engineers left it that night, it kept getting blown up, so we were platoons on it every night to guard it so it got built all the way,” Fonda said. Fonda’s platoon was attacked. His men moved to go past the bridge, but Fonda stayed behind to try and protect them.

“They were doing good, but I just figured that, to get it so those guys could get out of there, I had to stay there and give them cover fire until they got past the bridge,” Fonda said. Fonda remained at the site and used up all of his ammunition in order to defend his position, throwing grenades behind him to try and defend his men. He also ordered his men to evacuate a wounded soldier that night.

He left Vietnam in July 1968. Years later, Fonda had settled in Glen. His old lieutenants encouraged him to try and pursue the award. Fonda thought paperwork detailing his accomplishment that could have made him eligible for the award was lost in the Tet Offensive. “All I know is I didn’t get it,” he said. McNulty aide Terri Jasewicz said she helped Fonda put in a request for the award through the National Personnel Records Center, but she said the process was “very time consuming.” “They needed more information. They went through that four or five times,” she said.

Finally, earlier this week, Jasewicz received a call that the request was finally successful. She called Fonda immediately. Preparations were made quickly, and McNulty, D-Green Island, was able to come and present the award before he leaves office Jan. 3. “Usually, it isn’t in a circumstance like this, when the individual being honored should have been presented with the award years ago,” McNulty said.

Thankfully, Fonda said, he has family to share in his joy. “It’s kind of more scary now, when you think about it, than when I done it, because you’re younger, and you just go for it,” he said. “Later on in life, when you have kids, grandkids, you start to think about it, thinking about the guys that died that don’t have what I got. That’s the sad part.”

Fonda said he has recently noticed others taking stock of sacrifices soldiers make. On Thursday, as he was getting a haircut in Scotia before his big day, his barber noticed his jacket emblazoned with a Purple Heart logo. The two got to talking about the war, and when Fonda went to pay for his trim, his young barber told him that the service was free, thanks to the service he had provided for his country.

“It’s like everyone’s starting to realize something, getting more patriotic,” Fonda said. “And that makes me feel good. People are starting to recognize what people do in the military.” He said he would be able to move on emotionally from receiving such an honor. “It means a lot to me, but it’s not going to change my life, I know that,” Fonda said. Still, Charlene Fonda said her husband might finally get some peace. “He’s very deserving of it,” she said, dabbing away tears. “He’s waited a long, long time. I hope this puts some of it to rest.”

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