My father was a navigator on a B-17 , The Fertile Myrtle. He flew 25 missions over Germany, received two distinguished flying crosses, five air medals, and turned down several purple hearts because he wasn't "wounded badly enough". Yet I didn't know( until I was 14 years old and saw the blue boxes in his dresser drawer) that he was a decorated veteran. I took him to see "Memphis Bell", both the Movie and the real one. As we waited for the plane to take off, we stood in the prop wash to feel the wind ruffle our hair and get spattered with oil, like the guys did 50 years ago. It was a surreal moment. Yet Dad never felt he did anything extraordinary. Tom Brokaw certainly said it best when he called my father's generation the "Greatest Generation." As Dad said,"They did what they had to do, because there WAS no other choice." Dad, I love and miss you, and I'm proud to be printing this memorial page to place you along with so many other fine and deserving folks. To all veterans of all wars, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart.