By Greg Ford
Staff Writer
C.B. Perdue plans to end his speech this Veterans Day with the following words — “You heard about my experience as a prisoner of war, or POW. I would like to leave you with a thought from another POW, who, I think expressed it well. David Eberly, a POW in the Persian Gulf War, says this, ‘Freedom. It doesn’t matter if you lost it for five minutes, five years or 50 years … we have an appreciation that other people will not understand.’”
Perdue, 92, lost his freedom for about a month during the latter stages of World War II after bailing out of a stricken B-17 bomber and then being taken prisoner by the Germans upon reaching the ground.
It’s that story, Perdue, a Rockwall resident, will try to relate to those attending Saturday at the Veterans Day ceremony hosted by the Sachse Historical Society.
Perdue represents a group of soldiers and sailors — some have dubbed “The Greatest Generation,” — who fought in and survived a global conflict that helped shape the world’s political order for much of the 20th Century’s second half.
For the full story see the Nov. 9 issue or subscribe online.
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