Over twenty World War II veterans took the Greater Peoria Honor Flight last week to go to Washington, D.C. and visit the World War II memorial.
One of them was Clarence Lee Turner, who fought in the war as a Navy Seaman.
Turner said he was so happy to take part in the flight that he had goosebumps.
He wasn’t sure what to expect from the trip, but the emotions began to rise within him even before the take-off.
“I’m already talking about the war; you know I haven’t done that. Not even to my family,” he said.
Turner was assigned to a landing ship tank in the Pacific for two years.
“We were in three invasions, our tank was loaded with 500-pound bombs on the tank deck,” Turner recalled.
The memorial brought back 70-year-old memories of his 18-year-old self.
“There was a lot of men on our ship when we landed, they were picking them off, and it was a difficult time, a lot of time that we did a lot of praying.”
The memorial has 4,000 gold stars, each of which represents 100 lives.
“I don’t know how to say it…,” Turner said as he was viewing the memorial. “I don’t have the words to explain the inward feelings.”
The memories came back to him and helped write part of our country’s history, ciproud.com reported.
“It was… unthinkable. I’m blessed. Blessed to be here, blessed to see this,” he said.
Turner received three ribbons for his service in combat during his three years in the US Navy.