By Commander Tom Nelson (Ret), U.S. Naval Reserves
Memorial Day Remarks - May 25, 2009
Gypsy Hill Park Gazebo, Staunton, Virginia
Number of deaths: 409,399
While in England, this soldier earned the Air Medal award and Distinguished Flying Cross.
Then a telegram arrived at the Baldridge house, where 16-year-old Billy was home alone. He read the telegram stating that his brother, a Lieutenant, was missing in action. Unable to give the horrible news to his mother, young Billy gave the telegram to his father that night.
For months, the family waited and hoped for the soldier's safe return. Then on January 26, 1945, another telegram arrived with the news the family had been dreading. The government reported the Lieutenant as killed in action on May 21, 1944.
After years of searching, including a trip to Bad Doberan, the family finally felt that they found the truth behind Dick's death. After his plane went down, the Lieutenant managed to land safely and jump out of the burning airplane. He tried to run from the plane, but a German soldier cut off his escape route. A Military Policeman and an SS man arrived and took him to a German jail, where he was tortured. The soldiers shot Dick in the heart, broke his arm and knocked out his teeth. He was buried at first in a local cemetery in Bad Doberan.
HONOR: Lt. Arlen Richard Baldridge, hero of World War II
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