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WASHINGTON - "I think this was a wonderful event. During the war
there were 16 million men. Since then we are dying out fast. We got
one million now, and losing about 1,500 a day. All these men here -
we're all getting older and soon there will be none left. So this
event was outstanding and fascinating and I was glad to attend it."
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Former Capt. Bernie Dupuis who joined the Army Air Corps at 18 in 1944 attends the historic aircraft sweep over the National Mall in Washington, D.C. during the Arsenal of Democracy Flyover to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the European theater victory in World War II, May 8, 2015. More than 50 aircraft from all periods of World War II, coordinated by the Commemorative Air Force, flew at about 1,000 feet over the nation's capital, including a B-17 Flying Fortress and a P-51 Mustang. The flyover coincides with a commemorative veterans celebration at the WWII Memorial on the National Mall. This was the first time that civilian aircraft were allowed to overfly the National Mall since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. (Image
created by USA Patriotism! from U.S. Army photos by Staff Sgt. Bernardo Fuller)
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Floyd Brantley is a World War II veteran who served in
the Navy in the Pacific Theater. But that didn't stop him
and his son, Charles, from coming all the way from Arkansas
to attend the Victory in Europe 70th Anniversary at the
National World War II Memorial event in Washington, D.C.,
here, May 8, 2015.
In additional to speeches by both
National Security Advisor Susan E. Rice and Katherine Korbel,
who stood in for her sister, former Secretary of State
Madeline Albright, there was a massive laying of wreaths at
the memorial's "Freedom Wall," by representatives of the
allied nations who participated in the war. The biggest draw
came at the end, when a series of military flyovers,
featuring dozens WWII military aircraft, flew overhead.
At the start of the event, when the first speaker took
to the lectern, only the area around the memorial was filled
with visitors, with WWII veterans up front. By the time the
"Arsenal of Democracy Flyover" began, just a bit after noon,
the National Mall was packed with spectators from the
Washington Monument all the way to the Lincoln Memorial.
Brantley went into the Navy in 1944, and served as a
medic during the war on an island near Australia. "I was in
a fleet hospital on an island in the south Pacific ... after
the initial push, we'd take them in the field hospital in
New Caledonia."
He said that he had a brother who had
also served in the war, but who had been killed.
"He
was killed in Guadalcanal a few years before I went in," he
said. "I was in high school when I got the notice I was
being drafted. They typed at the bottom that they will defer
me until the end of school if I want. But I didn't want
that. I cut that message off and showed them that. I had to
go in. So I went on in and I kept that little piece in my
billfold that said I could still be in school. "
When
news of the victory in Europe came, he said he knew it
didn't affect him just exactly, but he and his fellow
Sailors were excited just the same at the turn of events.
"We were thrilled to death because we knew it might soon
be over for us too," he said. "We celebrated when we got the
news that it was over in Europe."
When his time came,
and the war with Japan ended in the Pacific, he said it took
a while for him to get home off the island because at the
time there was a shortage of transportation, but no shortage
of men that wanted to get back to the States.
After
the war, Brantley decided to finish his education. "I was a
20-year-old kid who went back to high school and then went
to Baylor University," he said.
But then war broke
out again - this time Korea. At Baylor, he'd been in ROTC.
And this time he went into service as an Air Force officer.
At the end of WWII, Brantley had earned the rank of
pharmacist mate, third class, in the Navy. At the end of the
Korean War, where he served as a transportation officer, he
was an Air Force captain.
And later, at 49 years old,
he wanted to go back into uniform again. The military was
unwilling to let him go into the Arkansas Air National Guard
as a captain, but he said he was able to resign his
commission and go in as an enlisted Airman - as a cook. He
finished serving in the Air National Guard as a senior
master sergeant, but was allowed, after earning enough
points, to retire - as an Air Force captain.
Brantley's son, Charles, said his dad is still active. He
said he goes to the gym and has competed in bicycling
racing. He's now training for another race.
H. Kurt
Weiser, who lives in Rockville, Maryland, attended the V-E
Day event with his son Greg and granddaughter Susie.
Weiser said at the start of WWII he was living in Altoona,
Pennsylvania, and was "working on steam engines." He entered
service 1942.
As an Army Air Corps officer, and
"ferry pilot," Weiser flew military aircraft -- a lot of
them. From his pocket he pulled a list of the 24 different
military aircraft he's flown. Among those where the AT-6
"Texan," the P-39 Aerocobra, the P-40 Warhawk, the P-63 King
Cobra, the P-51 Mustang, the B-17 Flying Fortress and the
C-47 Skytrain. All of those also flew overhead as part of
the Arsenal of Democracy Flyover.
He said that at one
time he had been responsible for flying 30 P-39 aircraft
from Niagara Falls, New York to Great Falls, Montana, "they
all had red stars pained on the side of them," he said.
From Great Falls, the aircraft were flown by other
pilots to Alaska -- where the Russians came to pick them up,
he said.
Weiser also served outside the U.S. during
the war, in the China, Burma and India theater.
"I
was only scared once. The Air Corps training always gave you
instructions on how to correct a situation. This one night I
was going home - I was India - and I felt something hot on
my left hand and I thought what the heck is that down there?
And I looked down and it was the biggest damn tiger you ever
saw - his mouth was that close to my hand," he said,
gesturing with his hands. "That's the only time I was
scared."
When Weiser learned of the victory in
Europe, he said it was "just another day," for him and his
men. But his time would soon come to go home, and it would
not be just another day.
"I got on a boat with 5,000
other guys in India, and it took us 19 days to get from
India to New York City ... and when we ... ," he paused,
tearing up. "When we came into New York Harbor and saw the
Statue of Liberty ... " and then he was overcome with
emotion, unable to finish his thought.
After WWII
ended, Wiser applied for a regular commission and eventually
left the Army in 1948 as an Army major.
"It's great.
It's the best thing that ever happened," he said of the
event V-E Day event in the nation's capital - also
observing: "There's a lot of old men around here."
By U.S. Army by Staff Sgt. Bernardo Fuller
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2015
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