Community Corner
West Bloomfield, Tuskegee Airmen Dedicate Monument
The Tomb of the Unknown Solider monument is located near Town Hall on the Civic Center campus.
West Bloomfield Township officials and the Macon-Thomas Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen today unveiled a monument dedicated to the memory of those in the military who made the ultimate sacrifice.
Township supervisor Michele Economou Ureste, Tuskegee Airmen chapter president Maj. William Burnett and U.S. Rep. Gary Peters were among those who spoke during the 9 a.m. ceremony. The monument is located off Civic Center Drive, south of Town Hall and north of the Police Department.
Ureste thanked Belfor Property Restorations, Shenandoah Country Club, Nagle Paving and Artistic Outdoors for their contributions to the project.
"Everything you see here has been donated by our community leaders, and I am truly touched and honored by that," she said.
Burnett gave a brief history of Veterans Day, which was originally designated as Armistice Day to honor the end of World War I. Congress amended the holiday in 1954, to honor all military veterans.
Tuskegee Airmen, Burnett said, were part of a U.S. Army program that trained African American soldiers to fly and maintain combat aircraft, from pilots and navigators to maintenance and support staff.
The monument, Peters said, "reminds us of our history and our duty".
"We all have a moral obligation to support the men and women who fight to protect our freedom overseas and in their transition back to civilian life," he said. "America must never turn its back on these brave men and women."
Township supervisor Michele Economou Ureste, Tuskegee Airmen chapter president Maj. William Burnett and U.S. Rep. Gary Peters were among those who spoke during the 9 a.m. ceremony. The monument is located off Civic Center Drive, south of Town Hall and north of the Police Department.
Ureste thanked Belfor Property Restorations, Shenandoah Country Club, Nagle Paving and Artistic Outdoors for their contributions to the project.
"Everything you see here has been donated by our community leaders, and I am truly touched and honored by that," she said.
Burnett gave a brief history of Veterans Day, which was originally designated as Armistice Day to honor the end of World War I. Congress amended the holiday in 1954, to honor all military veterans.
Tuskegee Airmen, Burnett said, were part of a U.S. Army program that trained African American soldiers to fly and maintain combat aircraft, from pilots and navigators to maintenance and support staff.
The monument, Peters said, "reminds us of our history and our duty".
"We all have a moral obligation to support the men and women who fight to protect our freedom overseas and in their transition back to civilian life," he said. "America must never turn its back on these brave men and women."
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