Tim Vakoc - Priest Injured in Iraq

Tim Vakoc, 49, a Roman Catholic Priest from the Minneapolis/St. Paul Archdiocese died on June 22, 2009 from injuries he sustained from a roadside bomb while serving as an Army chaplain in Iraq. He died in a nursing home in the suburb of New Hope, MN.

Rev. Vakoc was injured in a roadside blast on May 29, 2004 while returning from celebrating mass with troops near Mosul. The injury cost him an eye and severely damaged his brain. The Major was hospitalized for four months at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington D.C. before being transferred in a near-coma to the Veteran Affairs Medical Center in Minneapolis in October 2004.

After many surgeries and infections, he was able to communicate with squeezes to the hand or a slight smile. In the fall of 2006, he was able to speak for the first time in 2.5 years.

The native of Robbindale, MN served as a parish priest before becoming an Army chaplain in 1996. He served previously in Germany and Bosnia, shipping out to Iraq shortly before his 44th birthday.

Jerry Rosenberg - Inmate

Jerry Rosenberg, a convicted killer of two police officers and a noted jailhouse lawyer died on June 1, 2009 at the age of 72. He was serving a life sentence for the 1962 killing of two police detectives during a botched robbery in Brooklyn, NY.

He was originally sentenced to death and was hours away from execution in 1964 when his sentence was changed to life in prison. He subsequently earned a law degree in 1967, becoming the first inmate in New York to do so.

In 1971 he was shot and beaten during the takeover of Attica State Prison. He served as an inmate negotiator during the ordeal which lead to the death of 11 prison employees and 32 convicts.

By his own count, he filed over 200 lawsuits on behalf of fellow inmates. Tony Danza played him in the television movie "Doing Life".

John Ross - WWI Veteran

John Ross, the oldest man in Australia and its last remaining World War I veteran, died on June 3, 2009 at the age of 110. He enlisted in the army at the age of 18 in February 1918. The war ended before he could be sent overseas. He was discharged on Christmas Eve, 1918.

During World War II, he served in the nation's volunteer defense corps. He spent 45 years working for the Victorian Railway before retiring in 1964.

Bernard Baker - Watergate Burglar

Bernard Baker, who was convicted of breaking into the Democratic Party's National Headquarters at the Watergate building, died at the age of 92 on June 5, 2009.

Mr Baker was a Cuban-born American who was recruited for various undercover operations during President Richard Nixon's administration by E. Howard Hunt. Barker was involved with Hunt and the C.I.A. in planning the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba.

He was also involved in the 1971 break-in at the Los Angels office of the psychiatrist of Daniel Ellsberg who disclosed the Pentagon Papers to the press.

Mr Barker was convicted of the Watergate break-in along with four others. After a series of appeals, he served approximately three months before being released in January 1974. He returned to the Miami area where he served as a city sanitation inspector and later as a building inspector.

In later years, he continued to express no regrets about his prior actions and felt they were in the interest of national security.

Charles Albury - Co-Pilot

Charles Albury, 88, died from congestive heart failure on May 23, 2009 in Orlando, Florida. He was the co-pilot of the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945.

He was a witness to the first bombing of Hiroshima three days earlier as the pilot of a support plane which dropped a set of scientific instruments to measure the magnitude of the blast and the level of radiation.

The 10,200 pound bomb dropped on Nagasaki instantly killed an estimated 40,000 people and another 35,000 who later died from injuries and radiation. Mr Albury would later say that his actions helped put an end to World War II and saved countless lives.

After the war, he settled in the Coral Gables, Florida area with his wife of 65 years. He spent his working years with Eastern Airlines.

Maria Lopez - Blogger

Maria Lopez of Spain was described as the world's oldest blogger. She died on May 20, 2009 in her hometown of Muxia at the age of 97.

The great-grandmother started a blog on her 95th birthday in 2006 after her grandson created the site for her as a present. Her blog attracted a huge following and had over 1.7 million hits. She shared her thoughts about her life over a vast range of topics, including growing up in Spain under the dictatorship of General Fransisco Franco and the war in Iraq.

She urged elderly people to access the internet as she felt it had a profound influence on her life due to her ability to communicate with people all around the world.

Mickey Carroll - Munchkin in "The Wizard of Oz"

Mickey Carroll had a role in only one movie, but it was "The Wizard of Oz". He was recruited, along with 100 other adults and children to play the Munchkins in the iconic 1939 movie. He played the part of the town-crier and was one of the Munchkin soldiers.

Mr Carroll died on May 7, 2009 at the age of 89 in his sleep at a home in Bel-Nor, Missouri. He had recently received a pacemaker in February and succumbed to heart related issues.

The Wizard of Oz was his only movie, but after its release to television in the 1960's, he made numerous appearances at charity and retail events. As a child, he danced and appeared in vaudeville shows as part of the Orpheum Theater circuit.

After the release of the movie, he appeared with President Franklin D Roosevelt during his election campaign, warming up the audiences in New York City. He also made campaign appearances with President Harry Truman.

At his peak, he did Phillip Morriss radios ads and appeared on radio shows with Mae West, George Burns, Gracie Allen, Jack Benny and Al Jolsen.

In the mid-1940's, he settled in St Louis and ran the family business of making cemetery monuments. After he sold it 1996, he continued to do charity work and public appearances.

In November 2007, Mr Carroll, along with six other surviving Munchkins received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Venetia Phair - Named the planet Pluto

Venetia Phair, who at the age of 11 was credited with suggesting the name of Pluto for a newly discovered planet, died on April 30, 2009 in Epsom, England at the age of 90.

In 1930, British astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovered the planet. One day at breakfast, the 11 year old suggested the name to her grandfather while he was discussing an article about the planet in the London Times. She suggested the name "Pluto".

Her grandfather was Falconer Maden, a librarian at Oxford University. He was friends with Herbert Hall Turner a professor of astronomy at Oxford. Maden suggested the name to Turner who passed it on to the Royal Astronomical Society which was in the process of discussing possible names.

Clyde Tombaugh, the discoverer, agreed to the name and "Pluto" was christened. Over the years, Mrs. Phair denied any connections to naming it after the Disney character as her suggestion predated the cartoon character.

Mrs Phair studied mathematics at Cambridge University and spent a career as teacher of math and economics. He husband died in 2006. She is survived by a son.

Jack Kemp - Many Accomplishments

Jack Kemp died on May 2, 2009 at the age of 73 from cancer. He can best be described as a former NFL quarterback, nine term Congressman, cabinet secretary, vice-presidential candidate and self-described "bleeding heart conservative".

He reached the peak of his career in 1996 when he teamed with Bob Dole in the presidential campaign against Bill Clinton. Kemp was attempting to become one of only 47 Americans to have held the post of vice president. Although they lost, he remained active in conservative issues. He was also an unsuccessful candidate for president in 1988, losing in the primary.

Kemp had many successes in his life. In spite of being cut by four teams, he had an 11 year career in the NFL that included seasons with the Buffalo Bills and lead them to American Football League Championships in 1964 & 1965. He ranks third in most passing records for the Bills.

After his football career ended, he served nine terms in Congress representing western New York. He left Congress upon the election of George H.W. Bush and served four years in Bush's cabinet as Housing Secretary.

After the 1996 election, he remained active in speaking on conservative issues and was very involved with NFL Charities.

Elish Ray Nance - D-Day Vet

Elisha Ray Nance was a member of the "Greatest Generation" and like thousands of others was part of the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944 while serving in a company of the Virginia National Guard.

He was part of a 38 man group from his home town of Bedford, Virginia (population 3,200). On that day, 18 of them initially died when they landed on Omaha Beach. Another two would also be killed later. Mr Nance was wounded and received the Purple Heart.

Because of that death-toll and its impact on the community, Bedford was chosen to be the site of the National D-Day Memorial.

Mr Nance died on April 19, 2009 at the age of 94 in Bedford. After the war, he became a letter carrier and was involved in a veteran's group that recognized the sacrifice of his National Guard company.