World War II hero honored
A World War II hero is finally resting on American soil after more than 80 years. FOX 13’s Kimberly Kuizon reports.
SARASOTA, Fla. – A World War II hero is finally resting on American soil after more than 80 years.
An honor guard of motorcycles, some flying the American flag, lined Sarasota National Cemetery to welcome home U.S. Army Air Force Tech. Sgt. Charles Palmer Jr. and to lay him to rest.
Palmer served as the top turret gunner aboard a B-24 Liberator with a nine-man crew. In 1944, he was killed in action during a raid in Kassel, Germany, which resulted in the largest single group loss for the U.S. Army Air Forces during the war.
What they’re saying:
Rolquin, who met Palmer when she was only 10 years old, is now 98 and has never forgotten his sacrifice.
“It's a closure,” Rolquin said. “We never knew what happened to him. To find parts where he crashed and his dog tag, we just couldn't believe it. It's a wonderful happening.”
“I think we all had to control the tears when they handed us the gunner bullets from the plane that he was shooting out of that sort of took the cup,” Pam Watson, Rolquin’s daughter, said. “It was tears of joy, not sadness, to get to know him. Like all of you, get to know him.”
Posthumous military honors
Following the location of his remains, the military posthumously awarded Palmer the Purple Heart, the Air Medal and the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) Aerial Gunner Badge wings, among other honors.
“It's been such a wonderful journey; they made it so special and so honorable for them that I feel like the welcome couldn't have been more perfect and more at peace for this closure,” Rolquin said.
