The Dallas Journal, Volume 51, 2005 Page: 4
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Remeberance Ceremony for Staff Sgt. Thomas J. Morrow
In a letter, Bob Stone asked Peter Celis why he
was doing all this. Peter answered, "It is indeed
not common that people of my generation are
interested in the sacrifices that you and your
friends brought to free our world from a
notorious dictator. I can only speak for myself,
but for me it has been a thrill and fascinating
experience to learn more about it and make sure
everything does not go lost for history." But
there were many more people in Ramsel who
felt the same as Peter.
Because of my genealogical interests, I had a
significant amount of information about T.J.,
which I immediately e-mailed to Peter to add to
the information Bob Stone had given him. Peter,
using all this information, began efforts to
contact families of the crew and enlisted the aid
of other dignitaries of the town of Ramsel to
begin preparation for a memorial celebration in
honor of Thomas J. Morrow. This effort took
almost four years.
On 5 August 2004, invitations were sent to all
the families of the aircraft's crew from the
mayor and other city officials of Ramsel to a
"remembrance ceremony in honor of Staff
Sergeant Thomas J. Morrow" to be held on 9
October 2004. This date was essentially the 60th
anniversary of T.J.'s death. As plans progressed,
there were seven members of the Morrow
family who attended, along with twenty
members of families of the crew, including one
surviving crew member, Bob Stone, the
navigator. In all, six of the ten crew members
were represented at the event.
Remembrance ceremony and related events
Peter Celis picked us up by motor coach at our
hotels early in the morning, 9 October 2004.
The first stop was at the site where the plane
crashed. There we met several people who had
seen the plane crash in 1944, including the man
who had retrieved T.J.'s body from the plane
and delivered it to the town morgue. A smallmemorial at that site consisted of four pylons at
the corners of a small plot of ground about three
feet square covered by beautiful living flowers
and a wooden cross with a metal plaque on
which T.J.'s name, rank, and death date had
been engraved. An honor guard of two
uniformed soldiers guarded the site. This was
adjacent to a roadway, just in front of a field of
growing corn, and Peter explained that the
actual site of the crash was about 100 yards
back into the corn field. This memorial was on
private property, so it was temporary, put there
just for this occasion.
We re-boarded the bus and drove to the city hall
where we were greeted by local dignitaries and
Belgian and American military personnel. The
mayor of Ramsel, Mr. L. Peetermans, welcomed
us. Drinks were provided there, and we were
each asked to sign the "Golden Book," which
appeared to be a guest register for visitors to the
city. After about forty-five minutes, we again
boarded the bus for transfer to the church where
the remembrance ceremony was held. As we
approached the church, we observed that about
1,000 townspeople had gathered to observe the
ceremony. I was particularly impressed by the
school children who were all waving Belgian
and American flags. This was only the
beginning of our astonishment at what the city
had done for us.
The ceremony began with the posting of the
colors, both Belgian and American. A local
band accompanied the beginning of the
ceremony. The Mayor spoke (all speeches were
in Flemish and English), and Lillian Bierner,
T.J.'s sister, was asked to unveil the
commemorative plaque, which hung on the wall
of the church. This was followed by a speech by
Colonel Misuinas, the Air Attach6 of the
American Embassy in Brussels. Next was a
prayer by the priest and the laying of about six
wreaths representing different Belgian and
American groups. I was asked to lay the wreath
representing the Morrow family. As soon as the4 Dallas Journal 2005
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Dallas Genealogical Society. The Dallas Journal, Volume 51, 2005, periodical, October 2005; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth186864/m1/8/?rotate=270: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Dallas Genealogical Society.