Branford Man Goes To Belgium For WWII Ceremony For His Father

On Aug. 17, 1943, during the height of World War II, an American B-17 Flying Fortress holding ten men nicknamed "Dear Mom" was shot down in Lummen, Belgium by Nazi Germany.

Six of the men on the plane died. But one of the survivors, then 19-year-old James Tolbert, made it out of the war alive and went on to have a family.

Now, 70 years later, Tolbert has since died. But the New Haven Register reports that his son, Branford resident John Tolbert, will attend a ceremony in Lummen on Saturday to honor the crew of "Dear Mom."

For the wreath-laying ceremony, a color guard from the U.S. Embassy in Brussels will conduct a 21-gun salute to honor the crew, according to the newspaper. Tolbert said he was blown away when he heard about the event.

“I thought they’d just take a picture, show me the monument, say there it is,” Tolbert told the Register. “It’s amazing to me.”