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CLAY COUNTY – Brevet Lt. Col. Julius Heileman lay on his cot at Fort Drane near Micanopy. He was sweaty and feverish. The exhaustion he felt was unbearable. He lain sick like this for days, his …
Gordon died on June 4. He signed up for the army aged 18 in 1941, and served overseas in Italy, Egypt, Austria and Romania, including for the 1944 Battle of Monte Cassino. He didn't return to New Zealand until 1947 after taking a post with the New Zealand Graves Concentration Unit. It collected fallen Kiwi soldiers' remains and gave them proper burials, often at Europe’s massive war graves. Gordon didn't travel overseas again until 2014, when he was one of several New Zealand veterans flown to Italy to mark 70 years since the Battle of Monte Cassino. He told Stuff the highlight of his...