A ceremony in memory of 3 heroic American pilots
Every January 27, the municipality pays tribute to 3 American aviators who died in 1944.
The veterans, In the presence of: In front of the stele, located at the edge of the square overlooking the plain of the Cuers – Pierrefeu base, elected officials and representatives of patriotic associations, in the presence of numerous flag-bearers, paid a solemn tribute to Lieutenants Ottaway B. Cornwell, Harold Beedle Junior, and Lyle Kater, three American US Air Force pilots, shot down during an aerial combat on January 27, 1944, on the heights of Pierrefeu-du-Var.
Following the speeches by Colette Cateni, president of the Souvenir Français, and Patrick Martinelli, mayor of the municipality, civil and military authorities laid remembrance wreaths and then observed a minute of silence.
This commemoration is thanks to Steve Leleu, a local history enthusiast who, in 2015, discovered the remains of the American aircraft shot down in 1944. Furthermore, in the United States, a tribute was paid at the American cemetery in Fort-Worth, not far from Houston (Texas), by the representative of the Souvenir Français.
Thus, on both sides of the Atlantic, 81 years later, the tributes in memory of these heroes remain just as strong.
The elected officials of the Conseil municipal, the patriotic and memorial associations (Souvenir Français de Pierrefeu-du-Var and the vallée du Gapeau), Histoire et Patrimoine de la Gendarmerie (ACSPMG), chaired by Nicolas Moulin, and representatives of the Médaille militaire.
Nicolas TUDORT Photo Souvenir Français de Pierrefeu-du-Var.