On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, U.S. Army Cpl. Bronsil Metz, a native of Iva, woke up early and walked outside his barracks at Wheeler Field to take in the view of the mountains surrounding Pearl Harbor. But instead of a beautiful Hawaiian sunrise, Metz witnessed the infamous surprise attack that pushed the United States into World War II.
“All of a sudden these planes, so many of them, came through there right over me, so low they were almost on the ground,” says Metz, now 89.
He began running across the tarmac to reach his battle station and almost didn’t make it. “This Japanese plane was diving down on us,” he says. “It was strafing the runway and coming right at me and I said, ‘Oh, God, I’m gone.’ The gunner had me in his sights—I could see him and he could see me, and for some reason he turned his gun up and flew over me.”
The attack at Pearl Harbor was only the first of many history-making events Metz would witness during the war. He went on to serve in some of the bloodiest fighting in the Pacific Campaign, including Guadalcanal, the Northern Solomons and the Philippines. When he returned to South Carolina in 1945, he quickly married his sweetheart, Johnnie, and settled in to live his life.
Metz is typical of the World War II generation in rural South Carolina. The men and women who saved the world came home, put away their military uniforms and went on to quietly build the state and country we enjoy today. In rural South Carolina, that work included building the network of electric cooperatives that now serve more than 1.5 million people in all 46 counties.
The veterans of World War II are doers, not talkers, and as the nation marks the 70th anniversary of the conflict, we are at risk of losing their remarkable stories to the passage of time. Now in their 80s and 90s, these quiet heroes deserve to be honored for their service and sacrifice.
To pay tribute to South Carolina’s “Greatest Generation,” your electric cooperative and 18 others across the Palmetto State, have made a combined donation of $60,000 to Honor Flight of South Carolina. The funds will be used to fly veterans to Washington, D.C., on a VIP tour of the National World War II Memorial on April 11. This is the first time in the history of Honor Flight of South Carolina that one group has paid for an entire trip, says founder Bill Dukes, and it comes at an opportune time.
Recent statistics indicate World War II veterans across the U.S. are passing away at the rate of 670 per day, and the organization is in a race against time to make sure all surviving veterans have a chance to visit the memorial. Honor Flight of South Carolina is also eager to reach more veterans in the rural areas of the state, Dukes says.
“No question, the window for this program is beginning to close. And that’s why I am so thrilled about the partnership with the co-ops. I think they’ll find the vets we haven’t been able to reach,” he says.
“It was an answer to our prayers,” Dukes says of the co-op sponsorship. “We’re losing our veterans at such a fast rate. This flight we’re going to take April 11 ensures we have the opportunity to serve an additional 100 to 120 World War II veterans than we thought we could serve.”
Honor Flight’s track record made it a natural choice when the cooperatives sought a way to honor the state’s World War II veterans, says Mike Couick, CEO of The Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina.
“We couldn’t have done anything better with this money than to give it to Honor Flight,” he says. “Our World War II veterans deserve to know how much we appreciate them.”
Couick and Dukes were joined at a December announcement of the flight by U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, who also contributed to support the program.
DeMint’s father served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during the war, and the senator and his staff often meet with Honor Flight veterans during their visits to the memorial. The sacrifices of the World War II generation provide an inspiring lesson for today’s youth, DeMint says.
“It’s not just to honor the veterans and to make them feel good about what they did, it really is to remind a younger generation of the character of this country,” he says. Now, more than ever, “We need courage; we need character. And we need to be inspired be those who, without meaning to be heroes, signed up so willingly to give their lives for their country, their fellow countrymen and the concepts of freedom that we created for the whole world.
“I appreciate the co-ops taking this on as a project,” DeMint says. “There’s not a better group to do it.”