92-Year-Old WWII Frogman Gets Grand Honor During Visit To National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum

TCPalm.com reports that Norval Nelson, a 92-year-old World War II veteran, was recently honored at the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce, Florida.

Nelson appears in the center of the above photo by Eric Hasert

Nelson was being honored as one the graduates of the Underwater Demolition Team School at the U.S. Naval Amphibious Training Station at Fort Pierce during World War II. He arrived under the auspices of Charity Stripe, an Illinois not-for-profit group that tries to fulfill final wishes, similar to the Make a Wish Foundation.

You can read more about Nelson's visit to the UDT-SEAL Museum via the below link:

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2011/apr/05/wwii-frogman-gets-grand-honor-during-visit-to-in/

My late father, Edward M. Davis, was also a graduate of the Underwater Demolition Team School during WWII and he went on to fight in the Pacific as a Chief in UDT 5. He passed away in 1976.

I wrote an article for Counterterrorism magazine about the WWII UDT frogmen and how the combat swimmers were the forerunners of today's Navy SEALs.

You can read the article via the below links:

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/WWIIFrogmenJPG1.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/WWIIFrogmenJPG2.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/WWIIFrogmenJPG3.jpg

You can also visit the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum's web site via the below link:

http://www.navysealmuseum.com/

See the Declassified History of the U.S. Navy Frogmen at the UDT-SEAL Museum

The National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce, Florida offers the declassified history of the World War II Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) frogmen and the modern Navy SEALs.

You can watch a good video about the UDT frogmen, the SEALs and the museum via the below link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLQU2jhk7YM&feature=related

My late father, Edward M. Davis (seen in the center of the above photo), was a World War II UDT frogman and he trained at Fort Pierce prior to seeing combat in the Pacific.

You can read my piece on the UDT frogmen and Navy SEALs that appeared in Counterterrorism magazine via the below links:

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/WWIIFrogmenJPG1.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/WWIIFrogmenJPG2.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/WWIIFrogmenJPG3.jpg

First Memorial to Honor Fallen Navy SEALs and UDT Frogmen

The nation's first memorial dedicated to fallen Navy SEALs and Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) frogmen is being planned at the National Navy SEAL-UDT Museum in Fort Pierce, Florida.

The planners hope that the memorial (seen in the above photo) will be unveiled on Memorial Day.

My late father, as I've noted here before, was a Navy chief and UDT frogman in World War II. He trained at Fort Pierce prior to hitting the Japanese-held beaches in the South Pacific.

Thankfully, he survived. This memorial will honor those UDT frogmen and Navy SEALs who died in combat in America's wars from World War II to the present.

You can read about the plans for the memorial here