It was a packed pavilion Monday as the Madison American Legion Post 157 held its annual Memorial Day ceremony.
This year’s speaker, U.S. Air Force Veteran Albert Yowell, shared his family’s personal connection to Memorial Day–his uncle Robert Yowell. The oldest of eight children, Robert Yowell enlisted in the Army Air Corps at the outbreak of WWII and rose to the rank of First Lieutenant. He served in the 444th group in India, flying bombing raids. During his 72nd mission on Jan. 11, 1945, his B-29 was struck, causing a fire in the bomb bay resulting in an explosion. Some of the crew members were able to safely parachute to the ground, including Yowell. He and another crew member were kept safe overnight by a guerilla group, but captured the next day. Yowell was interrogated and tortured before being beheaded Feb. 10, 1945.
Albert Yowell explained that for decades his family wasn’t aware of what had happened to Robert Yowell. It wasn’t until a niece began researching in 2007 that they learned the truth. Several years ago, the Rt. 231 bridge in Banco was renamed for First Lieutenant Robert Yowell.
In addition to his own family member, Albert Yowell also shared the stories of the Sullivan brothers, five men from Waterloo, IA who died in war and the Bixby brothers, four men who died in war and the fifth brother who later made his way home.
“How many have suffered due to the nastiness of war,” Yowell asked. “It’s humanity’s terminal cancer.”
Also speaking during the ceremony was Caroline Wright, a student at Madison County High School and the Blue Ridge Virginia Governor’s School, who will represent the legion at Girls State this summer.
