As we grow older we tend to look back in our memories for events that shaped us, our families, and our country. For many of us, even though we were young children, it was World War II. Many of our dads, uncles, and maybe even big brothers, served our country in some fashion during WW II. The men and women of the Greatest Generation are leaving us at an alarming rate everyday. We need to thank them now while they are still with us.
I have several early childhood recollections of World War II in Meridian. I remember troop trains going through Meridian. There were also trains coming through that were loaded with tanks, trucks, and artillery pieces. A War Bond Drive event sticks in my memory.
The instance I suppose that I remember the most revolves around Dickens' Store which was at Royal Road and State Boulevard. On occasion my mother or dad would stop there and buy me a half-pint of chocolate milk. One day when I was about three or four years of age we stopped at Mr. Dickens' store. My mother asked for a chocolate milk for me. There was none available. I still remember what Mr. Dickens told her. "With the war on most of the chocolate milk has been going to the schools here lately." I was one disappointed young fellow!
Two of us in our church, who both have Air Force backgrounds, take an elderly man, who is also a member of our church, to lunch from time to time. When we find an aviation book having to do with the B-24 bomber we'll buy a copy and give it to him.
Why do two sixty-something men take a ninety-something man to lunch now and then? It's quite simple. This ninety-something man is one of our heroes. This man was a navigator on a B-24 bomber in the European theatre. He flew on the 1 Aug 43 bombing raid of the German oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania. The Ploesti mission was one of the most difficult and dangerous bombing raids of the entire war. This elderly gentleman – when he was a lad in his twenties - was risking his life several times each week to preserve freedom for people everywhere. He did this while we were just small children.
Again, be sure to thank our veterans while we still have the time.
Bob Chatham
MHS Class of '57
In Celebration of MHS Class of 1958
Saturday, June 27, 2009
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1 comment:
Bob,
I think too often we get caught up in our own little world and fail to remember that we only enjoy our world because of the contribution of many others.
Thanks for reminding us that we need to be a little more thankful and to openly show our thanks.
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