48-72

JOHNSON, FRED D

JOHNSON, H MAcLEAN

JONES, QUE D

KILLPACK, REECE

KIMBALL, VAUGHN

KING, RALPH V

KNAPHUS, NED

KNIGHT, DALE C

LAKE, GEORGE M

LARSEN, CORWIN T

LARSEN, JAY REED

LAW, RONDO

LUNDY, WAYNE I

MAcFARLANE, HUBERT W

MADSEN, ALLEN E

MALONEY, JAY PAUL

McBRIDE, WILLIAM J

McPHIE, DONALD A

MENDENHALL, DEAN

MILLER, BERT H

MILNER, LEON ROSS

OWENS, ROBERT L

PETERBORG, JOHN DELILE

PETERSON, CLAIR L

PETERSON, JOHN R

I'm posting this during the Christmas holiday, surrounded by my family. I obviously didn't run all of these names today, but I have in the past two weeks, and am happy to honor these men today. 

Christmas is a sacred holiday for most Americans-regardless of the religious or other significance it means to them. I think we can all universally agree that Christmas is about family, about celebration, and about making each other happy. That's why I love Christmas. 

I'm sorry that so many of these men and their families missed so many Christmas holidays, so many birthdays, so many anniversaries. This has been an incredible time for me to get to see my family, and greet the newest member, my nephew Adam. This isn't just a shameless ploy for attention, I really love this kid. He's a small reminder of why these men have given their lives. Adam has a beautiful life ahead of him. He can live, learn, and love freely. There will be dark times, but the light will far outweigh the dark-due in part to the sacrifices of the men who have come before him. When no one else could or would, they took a stand and put their lives on the line. We're all indebted to them. 

Enjoy your holidays. Love your life. Cultivate hope and happiness in those around you. Give freely of your time and energy so that others may live. I hope I can stay true to those principles and be an influence for good wherever I go. For now though, I'll just keep on running.

39-47

William "Billy" Hugo Huish is one of the names that I ran for today.  2nd Lieutenant Huish was the Navigator of a B-17 nickname "Skunkface" in the 91st heavy bomber group in Europe during WWII. In February of 1944, his bomber was shot down while returning from a target in Oschersleben Germany. He parachuted and survived the crash, and began to make his way to Allied territory. While in Belgium he met up with the Belgium underground resistance movement. He and 8 other American airmen evading capture were caught by German SS Officers.

They had been taking shelter in a farm with some local farmers when a Nazi collaborator turned them in. At the same time, over 30 citizens were arrested and sent to concentration camps. These airmen were taken to a nearby woods and stripped down, their dogtags clearly visible. Even though they were legitimate combatants, they were made to kneel down and were executed. All of these men had survived multiple harrowing missions through enemy flak, and enemy fighters, and had even survived being shot down, yet were mercilessly gunned down and buried in a mass grave. Their bodies were exhumed after the war and laid to rest in a military cemetery. The German Officers responsible were tried and executed or imprisoned.

Billy left behind a wife and family, and sacrificed everything. He did so in an ugly campaign of an ugly war in an ugly world, and I respect and honor him for that.

Billy Huish and Mary Lovisa Huish

HAWS, GILBERT SMITH

HECKER, JAMES C

HERMANSEN, GLEN R

HODSON, ROBERT

HUFF, MARVIN S

HUISH, BILLY HUGO

HUNTINGTON, ROYAL C

JANSON, LAWRENCE A

JOHNSON, DONALD U

33-38

HAND, ROLAND J

HANSEN, GRANT N

HARRIS, JED E

HARRIS, NORMAN

HART, SYLVESTER E

HARVEY, RICHARD P