Lest We Forget
Oil on canvas 36" x 24" © Troy White, 2007. For Sale
Also available as a limited edition canvas print.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.*George and Bill Preddy were two typical American boys who answered America's call to arms during the Second World War by joining the Air Force. Both boys were natural pilots and were assigned to fly fighters after earning their wings. They both eventually made their ways to England and were part of the 8th Air Force. George flew with the 352nd Fighter Group and Bill flew with the 339th Fighter Group. Both George and Bill Preddy were killed in action and were buried in the Lorraine American Military Cemetery at St. Avold, France where they lie side-by-side.
In June of 2007 it came to my attention that although Lt. Bill Preddy is included on the Wall of Honour in the American Air Museum in Britain, his brother Major George Preddy was not. The reason for his omission, which was given to me and fellow members of the Preddy Memorial Foundation by a museum official, was that on the day of Major Preddy's death, his flight did not originate from England.
Over the course of about six weeks several polite letters were exchanged between myself, Joe Noah and the official from the American Museum in Britain. We explained that at the time of his death Major Preddy was the top scoring 8th AF ace and that his unit had operated from their base in Bodney, England from July 1943 until just two days before his death on 25 December 1944. Because of the "Battle of the Bulge" Preddy's unit had been ordered to operate from advanced air base in Belgium to help to turn the tide of battle. Despite this the American Museum in Britain refused to budge from its policy.
George has been omitted from the Wall of Honour because of a technicality. It is shocking to think that any man's life given to preserve freedom and that others may live to enjoy that freedom would be so trivial as to be allowed to fall through the cracks this way. How many other members of the 8th AF who sacrificed their lives have been omitted?
This was my inspiration to paint "Brothers in Arms" depicting the two brothers together in high flight.
George Preddy with his arm around Bill Whisner in late January 1944 and Bill Whisner with Bill Preddy a year later.
Photos copyright ©352nd FG Association via Sam Sox . Used with permission.
The Graves of Bill and George Preddy on Armistice Day 2007. Photo by Arnaud Beinat
*This Ode is an excerpt from the poem "For the Fallen" by Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)
©
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Revised: 20 Feb 2008.e-mail: Webmaster@starduststudios.com
