POOLER, Ga. () – During this Memorial Day, 26,000 World War II veterans who never made it back were commemorated with a flag at the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Airforce, marking an annual four-day event called Flags for the Fallen.
On its final day Monday, a C-130 flew over the museum in addition to a wreath laying ceremony in the museum’s garden.
At the museum, not only were the fallen soldiers remembered, but also those who returned, including 99-year-old WWII pilot Bruce Cook, who served with the 379th Bomb Group.
“I flew in this rather small space here, and the only flight equipment I had was a chest flight parachute,” Cook remarked, pointing to the compact cockpit he once navigated.
Cook sat next to the very plane he flew in Great Britain while fighting the Nazis, on the display in the museum.
He was an honorary dignitary along with fellow fighter pilot Kenneth Beckman, 102.
“I didn’t know anything about what to expect other than all the German fighter pilots and the potential of not coming back,” said Cook.
Retired Colonel Brent Bracewell, the museum’s Chairman Elect of the Board of Trustees is instrumental in the annual observance.
“We have a saying here: You die twice. Once when your heart stops beating and once when your name is said the last time. We never want to say their names the last time,” said Bracewell.
For the brave men and women still living, education about Memorial Day’s meaning is of utmost importance, especially according to Cook.
“It kind of bothers me that today people now don’t really realize what it means, and I wish it could be better promoted to the younger people of what it really means. That would mean a whole lot to me,” he said.
Bracewell shared the same sentiment, and therefore encouraged the celebration of Memorial Day.
“You know, people go, well, they’re out celebrating, they’re barbecuing, they’re spending time with their family. Please do that because I think if these fallen heroes would speak from the grave they would say: don’t remember me with the tears. Just remember me,” he said.
