(MASSLIVE— Dave Canton) Saturday morning broke hot and muggy, not unlike the day 78 years ago when 25 men climbed about a converted B-17 bomber to fly from Greenland to New York after the end of World War II. But the plane never made it.
Fast forward 78 years and nearly 100 people, including family members who never met those killed, sat at a memorial on that side of Mount Tom, the exact place where that plane crashed, just to remember.
Each year, the Mount Tom Memorial Committee holds a special service to remember those killed. An ever-growing crowd of people, most shuttled up the side of the mountain in Civil Air Patrol vans, some walking the old roadway, take up their places in the small memorial site on a day close to the July 9 anniversary, something Army Reserve Major and State Sen. John Velis, D-Westfield, said he appreciates that people take the time to remember.
“I don’t think we don’t talk about it enough in the commonwealth or as a nation, we need to talk about sacrifice more,” he said. “As crazy as the world is right now — and it’s crazy — what allows me to go to sleep at night is that young men and young women are still raising their hands to serve their country.”
Velis said he knew how those men on the B-17 felt that night. He has flown in some of those return flights after he served two tours in Afghanistan.
“I can tell you that your mind is, ‘I can’t wait to see my family. I can’t wait to do those things I haven’t done in so long.’ And the fact that they were so close,” he said, holding his fingers apart just a fraction of an inch. “The young wives, young kids at Westover waiting for them, moms and dads. Those are the sacrifices we honor here today.”