the almanac A U G U S T 16, 2026
SOUTH HILLS COMMUNITY NEWS
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MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
Canonsburg ceremony reunites piece of bomber plane with WWII veteran By Karen Mansfield
kmansfield@observer-reporter.com
Aug. 6 marked the 81st anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Among the more than 70,000 people killed that day were 12 American prisoners of war. One of those prisoners was 1st Lt. Joseph Dubinsky, 26, of Washington, the pilot of a B-24 bomber, Taloa, which
COURTESY OF THE STUPAR, DUBINSKY AND TATALOVICH FAMILIES
First Lt. Joseph Dubinsky was a U.S. Army Air Force pilot who died while being held as a prisoner of war in Hiroshima when the U.S. dropped the atomic bomb on Aug. 6, 1945.
had been shot down nine days before on July 28, 1945. At St. Michaels Cemetery in Canonsburg on Thursday, Dubinsky’s relatives, friends, veterans and community members gathered for a memorial service, where they buried a piece of the Taloa in a time capsule alongside the pilot, concluding an extraordinary, decades-long effort by historian and atomic bomb survivor Shigeaki Mori to uncover the fates of the American POWs in Hiroshima. “Now 81, years later, on the anniversary of the day Uncle Joe lost his life in Hiroshima, this piece of the plane has crossed the Pacific one final time. In June, it was returned to our family, and today it finally comes home to rest beside Uncle Joe, said Bob Tatalovich, Dubinsky’s nephew and the son of Dubinsky’s younger sister, Helen Stupar Tatalovich. “I ask you to remember not only Uncle Joe, but everyone whose compassion, persistence and humanity carried his story across 81 years and also brought us all together here today in remembrance of all the other victims of Hiroshima as well.” Thursday’s service included the flyover of a C-130 bomber at 4:16 p.m. - the “Little Boy” detonated over Hiroshima at 8:16 a.m. - along with a 21-gun salute, the playing of “Taps,”
BRAD HUNDT
A plaque at the base of Peters’ new municipal clock notes that it was dedicated for the United States’ 250th anniversary.
COURTESY OF BOB TATALOVICH
A 94-year-old man who recovered a piece of a plane flown by U.S. Army Air Force pilot 1st Lt. Joseph Dubinsky of Washington when the aircraft was shot down returns a piece of the plane to Bob Tatalovich, right, Dubinsky’s nephew, in June.
and the presentation of a U.S. flag to the family from VFW Post 191 of Canonsburg. For years, Dubinsky’s family did not know he survived the crash, until Mori contacted family members in 1999. Mori’s research showed that eight crew members died, but Dubinsky and two other survivors parachuted to the ground and were captured by Japanese military police. Dubinsky was detained at Chugoku Regional Military
Headquarters in Hiroshima, near the blast’s hypocenter. Meanwhile, a Japanese youth, Masayoshi Kubota, had witnessed the plane crash and collected fragments of the fuselage. In June, Tatalovich, of Nevada, and his daughter, Haley, traveled to Japan, where Kubota, now 94, handed over the pieces - which he had kept hidden for years in a barn - in a paper bag to Tatalovich. SEE MISSION PAGE A3
COURTESY OF BOB TATALOVICH
KAREN MANSFIELD/OBSERVER-REPORTER
Joe Marinski, left, and Bob Tatalovich, right, place dirt over a capsule that holds a piece of the wreckage of the B-24 bomber Taloa. First Lt. Joseph Dubinsky, who was their uncle, was the pilot of the airplane, which crashed on July 28, 1945.
Bob Tatalovich, right, and his daughter, Haley Tatalovich, left, with Kayoko Mori, center, the widow of Shigeaki Mori, a historian and survivor of the U.S. atomic bomb drop on Hiroshima, in June. Mori discovered the stories of the 12 American POWs who died in the Hiroshima blast and made it his life’s work to make sure the men, including Tatalovich’s uncle, 1st. Lt. Joseph Dubinsky of Washington, would be remembered.
Peters dedicates new clock at entrance to municipal complex By Brad Hundt
bhundt@observer-reporter.com
For years, time has stood still in Peters Township. Well, not literally. Time stopped for the clock that stood on a tall post at the entrance of the township’s municipal complex on East McMurray Road, which meant that anyone who was checking their watch by it was only right twice a day. “It had long since stopped working,” according to Kyle Thuavette, Peters’ assistant township manager. Now, however, the hands on the township’s clock are moving again. On Tuesday evening, the new clock was dedicated with several township and local officials on hand for the occasion. And, thanks to the clock, everyone knew the ribbon-cutting for the clock happened about 6:40 p.m. State Rep. Natalie Mihalek, whose district includes Peters, remarked that “we all know what time it is,” and called it “something a little extra special.” Funding for Peters to get the new clock came from a $25,000 American Spirit grant from the Washington County Tourism Promotion Agency. The grants were given to each municipality in Washington County to mark the United States’ 250th birthday. A plaque at the base of the
BRAD HUNDT
Visitors to Peters Township’s municipal complex are being greeted by a new clock, purchased with grant money from the Washington County Tourism Promotion Agency.
clock notes that the clock was dedicated in honor of the nation’s semiquincentennial. Other communities used the grant money for such projects as downtown beautification, park pavilions, restoring historic structures or, in the case of nearby Canonsburg, placing a mural on the side of a building. Money for the grants came from leftover COVID-19 relief funds. “We did this to invest in our communities,” according to Jeff Kotula, president of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Promotion Agency.
In a meat and potatoes world, group focuses on plants, whole foods By Jill Thurston
Maybe Mom was on to something when she said to eat your vegetables. Plant-Based Pittsburgh South offers information and support for people looking to incorporate whole foods, vegetables and grains into their diet and avoid animal proteins. A whole-food, plantbased diet refers to whole foods that are minimally processed including whole grains, fruits, vegetables,
legumes (beans, peas and lentils), nuts and seeds. Co-leaders Terri West and Naomi Herman host monthly meetings open to anyone, from those who are curious about eating more plants to those who are following a plant-based diet. People choose a wholefood, plant-based lifestyle for different reasons including health, weight loss, environmental concerns and animal ethical issues. “A lot of times, those of us who came across health
LOCATION BP, USC offering fire academies PAGE A3 What’s happening, B3
issues, in researching how we can best take care of ourselves, discovered the plant-based way of eating. There’s a lot of information out there about it now, but it requires support because it’s not the common way of living anymore in our society,” West said. “It requires a different way of living besides going to a fast-food place or making food last in your life … we are offering ways in which you can make it a part of your lifestyle includ-
ing where to shop, how to prep, and things that you can cook, everything from entrees through desserts,” West said. West and Herman embraced a plant-based diet after walking through their own health concerns. For West, 61, following a highrisk breast cancer diagnosis with precancerous cells, online research led her to a JILL THURSTON meet-up group led by HerTerri West, co-leader of Plant-Based Pittsburgh South, man some seven years ago. is shown providing a cooking demonstration at a recent SEE PLANTS PAGE A2 meeting.
SPORTS Humbert hired as Bethel Park athletic director PAGE B1
SIGHTS & SOUNDS ‘Speed‘ roars into the Kamin Science Center PAGE B3
Classifieds, B5
Real estate transactions, A5