A trip to the boss’s museum

By Claudette Olivier on Monday, May 31, 2021
State’s last Pearl Harbor survivor visits Navy admiral’s hometown
  • David Gromus, right, of Fredericksburg, Texas, presents local WW II veteran and Pearl Harbor survivor Joe Richard with a painting and a card to thank him for his service during WW II. Also pictured is Katey Voelkel, center, Gromus’s nanny. (LSN photo by Claudette Olivier)
    David Gromus, right, of Fredericksburg, Texas, presents local WW II veteran and Pearl Harbor survivor Joe Richard with a painting and a card to thank him for his service during WW II. Also pictured is Katey Voelkel, center, Gromus’s nanny. (LSN photo by Claudette Olivier)
  • Richard, right, greets fellow WW II veteran Tommy Whetstone, of Fredericksburg, in the lobby of the what was once the Nimitz Hotel, now part of the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg. Whetstone, 97, served in the U.S. Army. (LSN photo by Claudette Olivier )
    Richard, right, greets fellow WW II veteran Tommy Whetstone, of Fredericksburg, in the lobby of the what was once the Nimitz Hotel, now part of the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg. Whetstone, 97, served in the U.S. Army. (LSN photo by Claudette Olivier )
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  • (Left) Richard views one of the museum’s many artifacts. Karen Stevenson, Director of Visitor Services at the museum, said the two most significant Pearl Harbor artifacts at the museum are a Japanese midget submarine and a door from the USS Arizona. (Right) Richard is escorted through the museum by American Legion Post 225 Commander Dennis Hart, center, and his daughter, Karen Figueron. (LSN photos by Claudette Olivier )
    (Left) Richard views one of the museum’s many artifacts. Karen Stevenson, Director of Visitor Services at the museum, said the two most significant Pearl Harbor artifacts at the museum are a Japanese midget submarine and a door from the USS Arizona. (Right) Richard is escorted through the museum by American Legion Post 225 Commander Dennis Hart, center, and his daughter, Karen Figueron. (LSN photos by Claudette Olivier )
FREDERICKSBURG, TEXAS — No one wants to get caught kicking back in the boss’s chair with their feet on the desk, especially if that boss is a five star admiral in the U.S. Navy, but local U.S. Navy Veteran Joe Richard laughs about the time he got caught doing just that. “He (Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz) had went ashore,” Richard said. “I never heard when he come back, and he had his desk, his…

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