From the supervisor: Memorial Day
Last month I was honored to be invited to a bi-yearly reunion of the veterans, families and friends of the 95th Bomb Group of the 8th Air Force stationed in Horham, England during WWII. I will never forget this trip to England.
My Uncle David T. McKnight was a pilot with the 95th and served as Air Operations Officer. Now almost 74 years later their service to our country and to the world is still being remembered by their families, friends and the small communities in England where over 300 bases were established to fight a war that seemed almost impossible to win.
Sadly, there are few World War II veterans still living, but we were fortunate to have one veteran make the trip to England with his daughters. I was taken back by the great emotion I felt as their history unfolded walking through the historical museum they established on the base. So many young lives lost. Such bravery. The bravery that continues to this day in order to preserve the freedom that we must never take for granted.
Horham is a small community about two hours north of London.
The 95th were the first B-17’s to bomb Berlin in the daylight.
I was able to see the original footage of the raid and hear the men tell their stories of that day, March 4, 1944. They suffered great losses, 68 bombers and their crews were lost that day. For this, they received their unprecedented third Presidential Unit Citation.
I stayed with Vi and Gordon, a family in Horham who were only children when the base was established in their community but over the years they and many others in this area have worked diligently to raise money, collect historical artifacts and documents, physically rebuild part of the base and establish a historical museum. Now in their 80s they still continue to honor our veterans and their families and work hard to make sure we never forget.
The reunion included a trip to the Cambridge American Cemetery. The University of Cambridge donated this property and it is beautifully maintained.
The cemetery contains the remains of 3,811 of our war dead; 5,127 names are recorded on the Walls of the Missing. Rosettes mark the names of those since recovered and identified. Most died in the Battle of the Atlantic or in the strategic air bombardment of northwest Europe.
In 2014 a visitor’s center was built allowing visitors to hear personal stories to gain a better understanding of the ultimate sacrifices that contributed to the Allied victory in Europe during World War II.
Sept. 2, 1945 marked the end of World War II but not the end of the many wars that our young men and women have been called up to serve.
Memorial Day is more than a day off from work, it is a somber day to remember our service members who lost their lives for our country. Not forgotten are the families of those brave service members who lost their loved ones.
