As the nation reflected Tuesday on the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, two veteran fighter pilots met in Burr Ridge and relived bitter memories of their own — much of it from the time they spent dropping bombs in World War II.
But the meeting between Albert Pfleger, 91, and Jim Crumbliss, 85, in an assisted-living facility was also a happy occasion.
Crumbliss served as Pfleger’s co-pilot in a B-26 bomber for more than 60 missions, mostly bombing bridges and other infrastructure in Germany during the war. While members of the Army Air Forces 451st Squadron, 322nd Bomb Group had once met on a semi-regular basis, the two hadn’t seen each other in six years.
Crumbliss and his wife drove almost 1,000 miles from Bossier City, La., to the Brighton Gardens Assisted Living facility in Burr Ridge to visit Pfleger. The men hugged once they saw each other again, then talked about the war in Iraq and the war they fought in together some 60 years ago.
“It’s important not to forget those tough times,” said Crumbliss, as the men pointed at a photograph of several old war buddies who never made it home. “I still think about those guys.”
Thousands of World War II veterans are dying each year, and Pfleger said he hopes people won’t forget about the war and the sacrifices made by the men and women of his generation. “I just want people to remember that we were there,” he said. “We did what we had to do. And that’s what those in the military still do today.”
Pfleger, who said he is proud of the young people serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, added that the situation today must be tougher for them. “Our goal was to fight Hitler,” said Pfleger. “What is the goal now? The only goal you have is to stay alive. That’s what those men and women must focus on.”
After the war, the two fighter pilots would see each other every year at their squadron’s reunions.
It became more difficult for Pfleger to attend the reunions as he got older.
Crumbliss, who is the secretary of the reunion group, said they will be celebrating the squadron’s 60th anniversary next year in Arizona.
While 49 members attended a reunion in 1976, Crumbliss expects fewer than half that next year.
Pfleger’s daughter, Vicki Santee, visits the nursing home several times a week and often discusses the war with her father. She recently made scrapbooks of pictures of his old buddies from the war. “I feel it was an important part of his life,” said Santee. “I don’t want him to forget about it.”
Her father said that isn’t going to happen.
“They were my friends,” he said. “I can’t forget them.”
