Veterans Stories

Honoring Fallen Hero. Lt. Merrill Burton

1st Lt Merrill Burton, KIA May 30th, 1944 near Piethen, Germany. The attached Video Interview ( Part I and Part II) is a tribute and memorial to Merrill’s life and the ultimate sacrifice he made as a B-17 pilot during WWII. 

He was stationed at Army Air Force Base # 167 near Ridgewell, Essex, U.K, as a member of the United States 8th Air Force, 381st Bomb Group, 533rd Squadron. Merrill was pilot or co-pilot on 27 missions over Western Europe (20 Germany, 6 France, 1 Belgium)

Thanks goes to Jerry Beto, nephew of Lt. Burton, for providing this video

Samuel Winkler

Kellye Carver visited Ridgewell Airfield Museum in 2017. Her great-uncle, Samuel Winkler, flew 18 missions from Ridgewell during the Second World War. During her visit, the museum presented Kellye with a Ridgewell Airfield Museum cap to take back to Samuel. He wore the cap proudly for the rest of his life until his passing in 2020. She made a video of her great-uncle’s time at Ridgewell. Click below to watch Kellye’s video.

Do you have a video of your veteran? Please consider sharing it with the museum for others to appreciate.