The day was perfect! The intense blue of the sky brought smiles and comments from all who looked upward into the heavens; the air was crisp but not cold, ideal for March. The wind co-operated just enough to make the new growth of grass rustle at the feet of all in attendance, and the flags at the entrance waved in a majestic fashion that punctuated the solemnity of the occasion. It was a perfect day, except for the fact that the event was a funeral.
At least two hundred were in attendance at the graveside service. The men were solemn, dressed in everything from dark suits with polished black shoes to denim overalls and work boots. The women were much the same, their dress reflecting the solemn attire of the wealthy to the Sunday best of the poorest in town who wanted to pay their respects to a good man. Jack had been laid to rest in a dark gray suit from J.C. Penny, holding in his hands a church hymnal. He looked at peace, and he was.
The coffin was closed now, and draped with an American flag. Jack was a veteran of World War II, but many in the small town were unaware of that fact because he never spoke of the war or his role in it.
Townsfolk had known him as a local businessman who had always treated them with fairness and compassion, as a devoted husband and father who was a big supporter of the local school and its extracurricular programs for the kids, and as a Christian man who devoted much time to his church as volunteer director of church music for the last 50 years, an active deacon who took great interest in the operation of the church, and a hands-on Christian who was always there to visit the needy and hold out a hand to help whenever it was needed.
Some of the older folks remembered him going off to service during the war. A few even remembered that he had been wounded and spent time in a hospital before coming home, but most had little or no knowledge of Jack's service because he never spoke of it. Even his wife of almost 60 years and his grown children had little knowledge of his activities in the war.
The most he would ever say when pressed with questions was, “That part of my life is in the past…I don't dwell on it…I don't even remember it.”
Just before the service was to begin, two blue vans with United States Air Force insignias pulled into the cemetery. A group of young men dressed in Air Force uniforms emerged and began moving to an apparently prearranged staging area several yards away from the group of mourners.
The funeral director met them at the designated spot, spoke briefly with the officer in charge of the honor guard, and returned to the small pulpit that had been placed at the head of the coffin for the service. As the Air Force group was preparing for the service, onlookers noticed a bagpiper formally dressed in a kilt, sporin, and gillies, emerge from the Air Force van. He assembled his bagpipes at the van, then walked to an area on the other side of the gravesite from the honor guard.
Whispers and looks of astonishment erupted within the group of mourners. “Who are these people?” seemed to be the question of the hour.
“Is that a real military honor guard? Why are they here? And is that a real bagpiper? I've never seen one before, except on television!”
World War II veterans were dying at a rapid rate in those days and people everywhere were accustomed to funerals with flag draped coffins and honor guards from the local VFW, but these were honest to goodness U.S. Air Force airmen. The closest airbase was over 300 miles!
Why did they travel that far? And the Scotsman? Where did he come from and why?
Unspoken Valor Description:
Sometimes heroism is lost to history. Jack and Charlie are two of the millions of farm boys who drop their bales of hay and join the Army or Navy in 1943 because it was the right thing to do. The lifelong friends served together in basic training, but are separated to pursue additional military training that fit their individual talents.
Mere weeks after their separation, Jack finds himself assigned to his dream job, gunner on a B-17 crew that makes regular bombing runs over Germany. Charlie is disappointed to be assigned to ‘company clerk’ school, but soon finds himself assigned to General Dwight Eisenhower’s staff at allied headquarters in London.
A perfect confluence of events brings the two friends back together during a time of critical planning for the D-Day invasion of Europe. In the midst of a Nazi attack on the D-Day planners, the two young men carry out incredible acts of heroism that ultimately save the invasion plans, and possibly, the entire war effort against Hitler and his Nazi regime.
Medals for valor are considered for the two men, but a decision is made at the highest levels that public knowledge of the pair’s actions would be detrimental to the war effort. The two soldiers’ meritorious service to their country and the world is forgotten…almost.
