Ervin J. Klopfenstein, Jr. – Lieutenant, United States Navy

From a contemporary press report:

Ervin Jay “Joe” Klopfenstein, 77, a retired Navy lieutenant who did communications work, died of a lung ailment August 15, 1999 at the Hospice of Northern Virginia. A resident of the Washington area since 1965, he lived  in McLean, Virginia.

He served in the Navy for 27 years, including a shipboard assignment as a radio operator in the Pacific during World War II. After he retired as a telecommunications officer, he did administrative work for the Naval Telecommunications Command as head of the record and special purpose
branch until 1983.

He was a native of Willard, Ohio, who attended Denison University. He was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion.

Survivors include his wife, Agnes Klopfenstein of McLean; three children, Terry Klopfenstein of Palm Coast, Fla., David Klopfenstein of Centreville and Deborah Curley of Herndon; two brothers; three sisters; and six grandchildren.

KLOPFENSTEIN, ERVIN JAY, JR. (JOE)

On Sunday, August 15, 1999, JOE KLOPFENSTEIN of McLean, VA. Beloved husband of Agnes; father of Terry Klopfenstein, David Klopfenstein and Debbie Curley; much loved grandpa of T.J. Klopfenstein and Nicole Murter, Joe and Lauren Klopfenstein, Jake and Shannon Curley; brothers, Wilbur and Chuck Klopfenstein; sisters, Jessie Coder, Lola Miles and Ann Kuhn.  Services will be held on Thursday, August 26 at 1 p.m. at the Ft. Myer Post Chapel, Ft. Myer, VA. Interment Arlington National Cemetery. Contributions may be made to Hospice of Northern Virginia, 4715 N. 15th St., Arlington, VA 22205.

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard