Heros among us

[M.T. Pockets]

Like many folks on this board I'm from a small town, about 1,000 people. All my life I've known a man who has lived among us, a great guy. He liked to hunt & fish, and would organize trips for his brothers and friends, he was self employed as a carpenter and could straighten any barn that was already tipped over. He was the Fire Chief for years and an all around good guy.

He died this morning.

What a lot of people didn't know was that he was a navigator on a bomber during WWII. He flew over 20 missions before he and crew had to bail out over occupied France. He hid in a cellar while the SS troops were searching the house upstairs. The French underground got him back to England and his flying days were through. Shortly before that his crew was chosen to be the lead bomber across the English Channel on D-Day because the weather was bad and they had the most experienced and best navigator available - him. He had an 8th grade education with a knack for navigation. I only heard him talk about it once, he talked of how the weather just broke and they got to France just as the sun was breaking the horizon, flying over the ships below to knock out the big guns on the shore. He downplayed it, saying there were a lot of others with tougher missions. Navigating the first bomber over Normandy on D-Day is no small responsibility either.

If I live to be an old man one thing that I will be proud of is that I knew heros from WWII personally, and heard them tell their stories. I've introduced my kids to those that I can so that they might be able to tell others in 75 years that ther personally met these men too.

Thanks to all you veterans from all wars, and those veterans from peace time too - there wouldn't have been peace if you hadn't been there to protect it. Special thanks to those currently serving.