Lets correct a disgraceful omission to duty in our community. There is a Memorial in the Grand Bay Cemetery that was erected several years ago to honor the 7 men from Grand Bay who have given their lives defending our nation. Those heroes names are: Pvt. Russell Davis May 1, 1895------August 1, 1918 , Age 23 Pfc. Wilbert Eugene Waxton May 8, 1944------April 29, 1966, Age 21 Pvt Louis H. Furby April 14, 1926------November 29, 1944, Age 18 Lt. Lowell Oliver Hawn June 6, 1922------March 9, 1948, Age 25 Sgt James Otha Merriweather January 1, 1922------January 3, 1945, Age 23 2nd Lt Kenneth L. Collins April29, 1925------February 20, 1952, Age 26 Pfc David N. Lafferty October 4, 1946------February 27, 1967, Age 20 I remember that one of the speakers at the dedication of that memorial said” The debt that we owe to these heroes can never be repaid, but we can at least keep up the interest on that debt”. I fear that the people of this community have defaulted on that promise. Lets start over and once again begin to pay attention to the debt that we owe by showing our respect for those honored here by taking an interest in the monument and what it stands for. The beginning of this new year 2014 is an appropriate time for the community to reassume the promise that was made to the memory of these heroes who never got the privilege to make the Honor Flight to Washington DC. Or to eat watermelon with us on July 4th of each year. To Fly the flags that the monument is designed for, at least on appropriate holidays, is something that we owe them. If you are willing to help make it happen we need volunteers to raise the flags and to retrieve them each day that is appropriate. This, at the very least should include every National Holiday and the dates of birth and deaths of those honored here. On the first and third days of January just past, in honor of Sgt. Otha Merriweather whose birth and death fell on those two days, an American Flag was raised at the cemetery by a lone volunteer. That is not the way that these heroes should be remembered. James Otha Merriweather of Grand Bay, Alabama was a young man of 19 years who answered the call to defend our country from the Axis aggressors during WW II. Otha was sent to the Pacific Theater of Operations and became a crew member of a B-29 bomber assigned to the 20th Air Force. He was stationed on one of the Mariana Islands. On the 3rd day of January in 1945, a flight of 97 B-29 bombers were dispatched from his base to hit targets in Nagoya, Japan. According to Air Force records, over 300 Japanese fighter planes launched an attack against the B-29s and 5 of the B-29s were lost during the battle. A total of 14 of the Japanese fighter planes were shot down and many others were damaged in the fight that ensued. Sgt. James Otha Merriweather was one of the crew members on one of our B-29s that was lost that day. Otha never got to visit the WW II Memorial in our nations capital that has been erected to honor the men of the Greatest Generation, but he played a major role in making it possible that the Memorial could be built. Otha Merriweather was born on New Years day in 1922. An appropriate beginning of a life that was too short lived and unfortunately ended just 23 years and 2 days later. For the privilege of being a part of the volunteer group to show honor to these heroes , call Roland Harper at 865-6257 to be considered for the honor of helping.
Posted on: Tue, 28 Jan 2014 12:44:05 +0000
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