Memorial Day 2021

As we all awake from the Covid slumber we have been in for the past 15 months, we should stop, before the party begins, to remember all those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms, and how much their sacrifices have allowed us to build the country we have today.  I was lucky.  My Dad, his brother and my mother’s brother were all in World War II and all came back (Dad with a purple heart).  My grandfather made it through the Ardennes in World War 1.

However, my Dad’s lifelong best friend, who went to school together with him at Cass Tech in Detroit, and volunteered with my Dad in 1943, did not return.  Arnold Bridges and my Dad were very close, as was his older system Marge.  They both were infatuated with airplanes and joined the Army Air Force. My Dad’s eyes were not quite as good as Bridges’, so he ended up in a B-17 for 25 missions.  Arnold trained to be a P-38 fighter pilot.  Unfortunately, a plane crash in Minneapolis on April 14, 1944 killed him and the others on board just as they had completed training and were headed to England.  While confident in his P38, he never saw combat over Germany.  He was given a Gold Star.  My Dad and his sister felt that loss the rest of their lives. 

This is day to remember those lost.  Be happy their sacrifice lives on with you.