American World War II airmen awed as
British dedicate library in their honor
Story and photos by Ron
Jensen, U.K. bureau
The honor guard from RAF
Mildenhall, England, took part in Wednesday's dedication ceremony. |
NORWICH, England — Future generations of Britons will have only to visit the
dynamic library in the center of Norwich to be reminded of the sacrifice made by Americans
during World War II.
The $100 million library was dedicated Wednesday to the memory of more than 6,700
Americans in the U.S. Army Air Forces’ 2nd Air Division who gave their lives in the
war against Nazi Germany while serving at air bases around Norwich.
A roll of honor containing the names of those dead was placed in the library, which is
decorated with photos, banners and model aircraft to forever remind visitors of its
purpose. The library holds many of the papers and documents from the division’s time
in England. Written and oral histories from division members have been added to the
collection.
"Let me assure you that your memorial library will endure in perpetuity,"
said Paul King, chairman of the Memorial Trust that raised the money to build the library.
Maj. Gen. Kenneth W.
Hess, right, commander of the 3rd Air Force, watches a fly-by with Lord Lieutenant of
Norfolk, Sir Timothy Colman. |
Attending the ceremony were about 250 veterans of the division. Along with their family
members, they totaled 600 Yanks who have been treated to a warm welcome since arriving
late last week.
"The hospitality has been out of this world," said Allen Hilborn, 81, of
Santee, S.C., a B-24 co-pilot during the war.
His daughter, Jan Hilborn, who accompanied him, said, "They call this their last
mission. And for most of these guys, it is."
The men of the 2nd Air Division first saw England’s East Anglia area nearly 60
years ago when, as young men — some still in their teens — they arrived to take
the fight to Germany with bombers and fighter planes.
They lost more than 6,700 men, but they won the war. And they won a place forever in
the hearts of the people of England. Even before the war had officially ended in Europe,
plans were being made to somehow memorialize those who had died.
Glen Thompson of Oklahoma
City, Okla., sings along during the playing of the national anthem. |
The hope was that any memorial would be of permanent value to the people of the area.
In June 1963, a memorial library opened, dedicated to those who had sacrificed their lives
in the war.
Tragedy struck in 1994, however, when the library was destroyed in a fire. The
replacement, dedicated Wednesday, is a soaring edifice, spacious and well-lit with help
from a partial-glass roof. From the front, it resembles an airplane hangar.
"When I saw this library, I was speechless," said Jordan Uttal, honorary
president of the 2nd Air Division Association, during his remarks.
Before the ceremony, Harold McCormick, who served with the division during the war,
said, "It’s a tribute to the dead. Simple as that. They are the ones who paid
the full price. It was a long damn war."
Glen Thompson, 76, of Oklahoma City, Okla., said after the ceremony, "It makes me
feel very proud to be part of this association. I feel privileged and honored to be here
to represent the United States."
Dan Butler carries the
Roll of Honor to the Norwich library. The book contains the names of the 6,700 who paid
the ultimate price. |
The last time Thompson represented the United States in England, he was a teen-ager
manning the top turret gun on a B-24.
"I flew six missions before I was 19," he said. "I was the baby in the
crew."
The "old man" on the aircraft, he said, was 25 or 26.
That youth has long ago left these men. They became teachers and architects and
shopkeepers and farmers and mechanics.
And now, in their golden years, they remember their years in England with pride and
sadness.
"The older I got, the more I realized what I actually had a part of,"
Thompson said. "It didn’t really sink in until 15 or 20 years ago. It was just a
natural thing to do. You did it because you were expected to do it.
Roz Gersten of Scarsdale,
N.Y., looks over some of the items in the library. Her husband, Jerry, is a veteran of the
division, which was represented by about 250 veterans at the ceremony. |
"All the crew members on my crew — who, I might add, were pretty outstanding
— felt the same way."
His crew, which flew 30 missions together before the war ended, had hoped a few years
ago to attend this week’s ceremony together, Thompson said. But ill health affected
some and others died in recent years. Thompson was the only one to attend.
In remarks during the ceremony, Maj. Gen. Kenneth W. Hess, commander of the 3rd Air
Force and son of a World War II aviator, said the men of the 2nd Air Division had battled
evil in the sky over Europe.
"They did their duty with pride, dedication and honor," he said. "In the
end, nearly 7,000 of them didn’t make it home."
He noted that the skies are once again a battlefield for good vs. evil, a reference to
the ongoing war on terrorism now being fought in Afghanistan. Once again, he said,
Americans and British flyers are together in combat in a war that has to be won.
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