Above are six World War II POWs who attended this year's memorial plaque dedication. At the top and from left to right are: Mr. Kevin Powell from Nashville, Tenn., Mr. Homer Lewis from Marietta, Ga., Mr. Ewell Black from Austell, Ga., Mr. Bill Price from Marietta, Ga., Mr. Art Starratt, from West Columbia, Texas, and Dr. Eugene Williams from Marietta, Ga. Click here for more photos from the dedication.

Unveiling the plaque were Mr. Price and Mr. Starratt. The memorial plaque's words and emotions of being a POW during World War II are shared by Mr. Price, while the image on the plaque is of Mr. Starratt, as described below.

We have an initial design for the World War II plaque and what is truly goodness is that our downed flyer is doing well in Texas. After being attacked by two Messerschmitt-190s, and crash landing in western Holland on February 24, 1944, this bombardier walks away from his downed B-17 under the watchful eye of German troops. Lucky to walk away, this Army Air Corps Lt. spent the next 15 months as a prisoner of war.

The plans seem to be pretty well in place and the plaque is being produced with some changes. Instead of a blended affect of the downed flyer that is in the current rendering produced by a computer, we had to go with a photograph attached to the memorial. The image should still blend fairly well but will be smaller.

And, we hope that Mr. Art Starratt will join us in September with some members of his family. While not mentioned on the memorial, Mr. Starratt's image portrays the anguish that only those who have been captured can express. And speaking of children, here's what they did to memorialize their father's life and his POW experiences. Click here to learn more about how this World War II veteran lived his life before and after being a prisoner of war. This is also how we found the image for our park memorial, and if you've seen the movie Memphis Belle, you will have some more insight to what these B-17 Flying Fortress fellows did.

Words for our plaque came from another downed flyer who landed in enemy hands on the other side of the world. Mr. William Price, a local and active veteran, went down in the Pacific and shared some of his feelings about his experience as a POW in Japan. Mr. Price has been a speaker at our Tree Planting Ceremony in the past. Mr. Price continues to serve on a number of POW committees and is on the advisory board for the recently opened Cherokee National Cemetery here in Cherokee County, Georgia. He's also featured on our history page.