Memorial Day 2023 at National WWII Memorial

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Episode #788 of Hometown Heroes, airing June 3-8, 2023, was recorded at the National World War II Memorial in Washington D.C. on Memorial Day, May 29, 2023. You’ll hear excerpts from the official Memorial Day ceremony, as well as comments from one of three WWII veteran wreathlayers. You’ll also learn about one of the more than 406,000 Gold Star heroes that memorial honors, from the son that never got to meet his decorated fighter pilot father. You can watch the ceremony in its entirety on the facebook feed from the Friends of the National World War II Memorial.

You’ll hear WWII veteran Dixon Hemphill reflect on his service in the Navy, which included patrolling the Atlantic Ocean in search of German submarines while aboard the USS Little Rock (CL-92). Hemphill, 97, who has generated headlines in recent years for his running exploits, was the 1949 college decathlon champion while competing for Middlebury College (Vermont). While continuing in the Naval Reserve for two decades after WWII, Hemphill didn’t think too much about the war, more concerned with working and raising a family.

“As I’ve gotten older, I’ve been really impressed by the interest in World War II,” you’ll hear Hemphill say. “I’ve realized that we frankly helped save the world.”

He was one of three WWII veterans to lay wreaths in front of the WWII Memorial’s “Freedom Wall” on Memorial Day, along with Les Jones and Callan Saffell. You can read more about this year’s commemoration in this article from Stars & Stripes. Hemphill and Saffell have both shared memories on the Friends of the National WWII Memorial’s podcast, which you can follow through this link.

Here is a link to Hemphill’s podcast, and you can access the interview with Saffell here. A Purple Heart recipient, Les Jones remains active in advocating for suicide prevention, sharing transparently about his own battles with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury.

Also participating in this year’s wreath-laying at the National World War II Memorial were two members of the American WWII Orphans Network: Robert Meek, Jr. and Ken Underwood II. Underwood was born six weeks after his father was killed in his P-38 Lightning in England in 1944.

“My mother got the telegram when she was seven-and-a-half months pregnant with me,” you’ll hear Underwood explain, “So it was very hard on her.”

Ken’s involvement in the American WWII Orphan’s Network (AWON) has not only helped him in connecting with others who lost their parents in the war, but it has also allowed him to learn more about the father he never met. He encourages anyone who lost a parent in the war to connect with AWON online, and hopes a journey of discovery similar to the one he has experienced will await those who do. While others at the Memorial Day ceremony wore coats and ties, Underwood came in a P-38 Lightning t-shirt as a tribute to his father.

“As I grew older, I always wondered, where did he die, what caused his death,” Underwood says of the vacuum of information resulting in his mother’s reticence to discuss the situation. “It was through his fighter group that I became very interested, and I met men who flew with him.”

One of the 55th Fighter Group veterans Ken was directed towards was Bert Shepard, who had been shot down in his P-38 three days after Ken’s father died. Shepard, an ex-prisoner of war, would go on to pitch one game for the Washington Senators, despite having lost a leg to amputation while in captivity in Germany.

You’ll hear Underwood explain how Bert Shepard helped him find the exact location where his father had been killed, and describe how he even ended up discovering a remnant of that P-38 at the scene. Today, Ken’s son is following in his grandfather’s footsteps as a fighter pilot, flying F-15 Eagles for the U.S. Air Force. Both Ken and his son are featured in this brief video produced by the American Battle Monuments Commision:

As Underwood points out in the video above, every one of World War II’s more than 400,000 Gold Star heroes has a story, which is the reality behind the Stories Behind the Stars project’s quest to tell each one of those stories in time for the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII in 2025. The grass roots effort has made great progress toward that goal, but is always looking for more volunteers in order to bring that ambitious aim to fruition. Click here to sign up as a Stories Behind the Stars volunteer. You’ll hear Underwood also mention a video from Anglia Television in England from 1997, which you can view below. Watch to see the emotional surprise Ken received at the site of his father’s supreme sacrifice:

The privilege of laying a wreath on Memorial Day in front of the National World War II Memorial’s “Freedom Wall” of 4,000 gold stars turns Underwood’s heart and mind once again to the father he never met.

“I look at those stars and I think of him being on one of those stars. He was only 22 years old, he never got to be a father,” you’ll hear Underwood reflect. “I appreciate it, every day, that he gave his life.”

One more video you’ll hear Ken Underwood reference on Hometown Heroes is the one he filmed in 2022 for the Friends of the National World War II Memorial. You can view that below:

—Paul Loeffler