Meet Bob Bright, WWII POW

January 10 is a special day to Georgia. The Georgia Bulldogs proved that Alabama can be beaten as the Dogs won the National Championship.

January 10 is also a special day for 96 year old WWII Veteran, Bob Bright of Cordele, Georgia. It was January 10, 1945 when Bob Bright climbed into the gun turret on his 23rd mission. A short time later, at 25,000 feet Bob was donning his parachute to jump from the burning plane before it exploded.

Of the 9 crew members, only 3 survived. Bob was captured and spent the next six months in a German Prisoner of War camp. General George Patton and his troops liberated the camp and Bob came home.

I had the privilege and honor to talk with Bob Bright and another World War II veteran, Jack Roche. This is Bob’s story.

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Put Memorial Back in Memorial Day

Each year in America, we recognize Memorial Day. The name of the holiday itself is about remembering. It is a day to remember those who gave their lives for our nation in service.

Memorial Day originated in America after the civil war. Widows and daughters of Confederate soldiers gathered to decorate the graves of their loved ones who died in that terrible war. They referred to these gatherings as Decoration Day. Continue reading

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Vets to Vote

Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient Retired USMC Major General James E. Livingston

I am a veteran and I vote. I served four years in the US Army, two in the Panama Canal Zone and two at Hunter Army Air Field in Savannah.

My Military Occupational Skill (MOS) was Military Police Investigator. One of the skills for an investigator was the ability to type. This was long before the days of the personal computer. Continue reading

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Brothers in Arms

There is a tight bond that ties men who served together in the military. Young men in their late teens and early twenties from different communities, different cultures, different religious backgrounds, different ways of life were put together for a primary purpose – to defend the United States of America. 

Veterans from 549th MP Company Ft. Davis/Coco Solo Canal Zone 1971-1976

Over a period of a few months, the men from diverse backgrounds became brothers in arms. Those few months in the lives of these men created a tight bond that would stand out uniquely for the rest of their lives. Continue reading

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Veterans Day Recollections

Today is the 100th anniversary of the first Armistice Day. The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month was the time and date established to remember the end of World War I.

World War I was to be the war to end all wars. The philosophy of the day was that man’s upward evolution and advances in science would usher in peace and prosperity for all. We see how quickly the reality of the nature of man revealed the error of that thinking.

After World War II, Congress changed Armistice day to Veterans Day to recognize all veterans who served in war and in peace.

Today, I decided to look back in my recent commentaries and pull out some stories of veterans. These are all men of the greatest generation who served in the World War II time frame. Just click on the photo or the heading to read about them.

Bob Bright POW

Picture of Bob Bright
Bob Bright



Bob Bright turned 94 earlier this year and he is still going strong. He was shot down over Europe and taken POW by the Germans.

Two WWII Veterans Reminisce

Two WWII Vets talking and eating soup
Robert Cole (l) & Billy Forrest

My father, Robert Cole, (left) and Billy Forrest (right) were in training when President Truman dropped the atomic bombs on Japan to end the war. It is quite likely that they, along with tens of thousands of young Americans, would have died in that war had it not been for Truman’s decision.


They both went to Japan after the surrender to help Japan rebuild. Today, Japan is one of our strongest allies.

He Still Remembers D-Day

Julian Parker



Julian Parker of Cordele still remembers wading on that beach on June 6, 1944. The experience of war and death had such an effect on him that when he got home, he took his hunting rifle out to the woods and buried it.




I hope that you enjoy reading these past articles of veterans. we owe our veterans a debt of gratitude. From those who are approaching the century mark in their lives, to the men and women who have not reached the 2nd decade of their lives and are serving us today, we owe a debt of gratitude. Happy Veterans Day.

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President Roosevelt Leads the Nation in Prayer as Troops Land on D-Day 75 Years Ago

On June 6, 2019 the entire world will remember the 75th anniversary of the largest military operation in history. It was an epic conflict of good vs evil.

Thousands of young Americans who just months before were securely living in homes on farms and in cities across our nation crowded into landing craft.

The vast armada chugged toward the beaches of Normandy like a cloud of gnats on a South Georgia farm. As these brave young men stormed the beaches, they were charging into the gates of hell itself.

While the invasion was underway, President Franklin Roosevelt, in a nationwide radio address, led the nation in prayer for this undertaking. Take 5 minutes to listen. Share this with your friends and especially young students who are learning about our nation’s history.

Text of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Address and Prayer on D-Day – June 6, 1944

My fellow Americans: Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.

And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:

Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.

Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.

They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest-until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men’s souls will be shaken with the violences of war.

For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and good will among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.

And for us at home — fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas — whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them–help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.

Many people have urged that I call the Nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.

Give us strength, too — strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.

And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.

And, O Lord, give us Faith. Give us Faith in Thee; Faith in our sons; Faith in each other; Faith in our united crusade. Let not the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.

With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogancies. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister Nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.

Thy will be done, Almighty God. Amen.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt – June 6, 1944

Wall at Normandy Cemetery - American Battle Monuments Commission
Wall at Normandy Cemetery – American Battle Monuments Commission
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Happy 94th Bob Bright

Bob Bright celebrates his 94th birthday today. He is not only a veteran of WWII but also has a Purple Heart and a POW. 

Picture of Bob Bright
Bob Bright of Cordele, GA

Bob graduated from Crisp County High school and shortly after that received his draft notice. He went through basic training in Fort Bliss, Texas and one day saw a notice on the bulletin board to apply for Army Air Corp. Bob said that he wasn’t particularly crazy about being in the infantry so he took the test and was accepted. 

Teenage Turret Gunner

Bob Bright outside his turret gun position
Bob Bright Turret Gunner

He trained to be a gunner on the B-17 Flying Fortress. After his training he was assigned to the European theater.

By this time in the war, the Americans had landed at Normandy and were moving across Germany.

Flight crew in front of B-17 named Starduster
Bob Center Top Row Pilot and Navigator Circled in Red

Bob was in the Mighty 8th Bomber Command and part of a proud nine-man crew on the Starduster. The Americans were bombing every day.

In an effort to describe the intensity of the bombing, Bob said that if they were making bomb runs over Berlin, when the first plane got over the target and started to drop its payload, there were still planes in line on the runway back in England waiting to take off.

On his 23rd bombing mission, Bob was going to the plane and decided that he would go back and get another parachute because he didn’t like the way the pin looked. That may have been a providential decision. 

Miracle at 30,000 Feet

The B-17 was hit while flying at 30,000 feet. Bob recalled that one of the engines was on fire. He put on his oxygen mask and looked for one of the crew members but could not find him. Two of the crew members did not put on their oxygen masks and they collapsed.  Bob was in the process of dragging them to the door to jettison the door and get them out of the plane.

It was at that point that the plane exploded. M.F. Carter from Cordele, was on another plane and saw the B-17 explode in a ball of fire. Carter felt the pain of the loss of a friend, knowing that all on board perished.

Miraculously, Bob did not perish. The blast blew him out of the plane and blew off his boots and his jacket. He said that at that height the temperature was probably about 30 degrees below zero. Free falling through the air and nearly frozen, he was able to pull the rip cord and felt the parachute open.

He had escaped death from the lack of oxygen, the explosion, and the freezing temperatures at high altitudes. Now as he floated down through the sky, he was an easy target for anyone on the ground. 

When Bob hit the ground, he found himself surrounded and being beaten up by German youth armed with machine guns. “They were little kids, maybe 8 to 12 years old and they were mean as they could be,” he said. Ironically it was the German SS and Gestapo that rescued the dazed and weakened survivor from the vicious youth. 

They took him to the basement of a nearby church and he was reunited with the pilot and navigator who also miraculously escaped. The other men on the plane were never found. Their bodies likely disintegrated in the high altitude fiery explosion.

The navigator spoke some German and the Gestapo took him outside. Bob and the pilot sat in the basement for hours beginning to think that they lost another fellow crew member. The next morning, they were surprised to see the navigator return. 

Because he could speak German, the navigator was taken to the local Mayor’s home where he was treated with a home cooked meal. Bob laughed that they were sitting there starving, thinking he had been taken out and shot, while he was eating high on the hog.  

They left and walked for about 4 days to a POW camp. On the journey the worst thing he experienced was being led through the little towns where the Germans lined up the bodies of those killed in the bombings. The people in town saw the three US soldiers and wanted to take vengeance. 

The two SS troopers escorting the three Americans were given orders to shoot the first one who laid a hand on the men. Bob said that they did their job and protected their prisoners.

Prisoner of War

When they arrived at the camp, Bob was in solitary confinement for about ten days. He said that it was the worst thing he had ever been through. 

German Prisoner of War Record
Bob Bright’s POW Record

Some of the men in the camp tried to escape. Bob’s observation was that the Germans knew what they were doing and let them try to “give them something to do.” One man got beyond three barriers before being shot by the guards. The Germans lined the men in the yard and dragged the body of the escapee by so that all could see the consequences. 

Bob also remembered the German Shepherds. “They hated Americans. If you just looked at them, they would snarl and show their teeth.” 

Bob said that he never took a shower there. He had heard stories of the Germans putting cyanide in the water and he wasn’t taking any chances. 

After six months in the camp, General Patton and the Americans arrived to liberate the men. The POW’s had to take off all their clothes and burn them. 

Bob finally got his shower and for the first few days they were on a strict liquid diet of eggnog. There were 50 gallon tanks all around the camp and the men could drink all they wanted. After their bodies stabilized, they could eat solid food and were fed royally. 

He got home, went to the University of Georgia, then to graduate school at Purdue University. When the Korean war broke out, Bob was recalled and he served in Tokyo making maps. 

Bob has lived a blessed life and is still blessing others every day. He still drives and is actively involved at Christ Episcopal Church in Cordele. Happy 94th Birthday, Bob Bright. Thank you for your service to our nation.  


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He Still Remembers D-Day

Young American soldier

“There were body parts flying everywhere.” 93 year old Julian Parker of Cordele still remembers D-Day, June 6, 1944, wading on that beach in France. He said that the Germans had two big guns that were supposed to have been knocked out before the Americans landed.

The young soldiers wading on the beach were like sitting ducks. Julian said that some thought they were being smart by huddling close together. From his point of view, that just made a bigger target. He put a little bit of distance between himself and other groups as he made his way up the beach.

After the landing he moved through France and Germany. He saw the horrors of Nazi Germany and the death camps. At one place he said that bodies were stacked up like cord wood where the Nazis had executed thousands.

Julian does not talk a lot about his experiences. A medal display in his room shows, among others, two Purple Hearts and one Bronze Star. He pointed to his head to show where he was hit one time. He said that sometimes he still feels bits of shrapnel in his body.

He did not remember what he did to get the Bronze Star. He said that they wanted to promote him on the battlefield, but he turned it down. As he put it, he told the Army that he did not want to be there to start with and just wanted to get the job done and go home.

As a young teenager, Julian lived near the Georgia coast. He was still in school when he turned 18 and was drafted. After basic training in Mississippi, he went to London, and from London took the cruise across the English Channel with 500,000 other troops to land on a beach in France.

The war had an immense impact on Julian. He said that when he returned home, he went to his house and got his old hunting rifle that he owned since he was a boy. “I took it to the woods, dug a hole and buried it. I had seen enough killing and didn’t want anything more to do with it!”

On the day those men stormed the beaches, parachuted from planes, and flew gliders behind enemy lines, President Roosevelt addressed the nation and prayed for victory. The prayer is about 6 minutes and it is worth your time to hear it.

Read or Listen to President Roosevelt’s D-Day Prayer Here

Signature-Donald E. Cole

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