Postcard from Miami, OK - “A foreign field that is for ever England”
Entering the town of Miami, Oklahoma on Route 66, you'll pass the GAR Cemetery. A resting place for over 20,000, its director Nancy Bro is quick to say that each one of their graves holds a life that meant something for many people. This is, of course, true of all burial plots. Yet GAR is unique as walking its grounds, you will notice a Union Jack flag flying above fifteen WWII Era graves bearing the badges of Britain's Royal Air Force. In this episode, we'll pay our respects at a memorial service, hear the story of how these young men came to rest so far from home, and learn of how this rural community, miles from the UK, has honored these fallen soldiers for over eighty years.
GAR Cemetery, Miami, Oklahoma
TRANSCRIPT
(As this transcript was obtained via a computerized service, please forgive any typos, spelling and grammatical errors)
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Evan Stern: (00:01)
My grandfather never met his father. He was killed in 1918, rescuing men from a no man's land and lies buried somewhere in France. I, likewise never knew my uncle Buster who was killed in '45, and as far as I know, remains somewhere in Italy. They, like too many, sacrificed their futures so that I could have mine. I was taught this awareness through history classes and movies growing up, but it was made real for me early at age nine, when living in England, my parents and I stopped to visit the Cambridge American cemetery there on 30 acres of East Anglian land rest nearly 4,000 who perished abroad in world war II. Before exiting our car, I'm sure my mom commanded me to be on good behavior. If she did, though, it wasn't necessary because the sacredness of those grounds is something I remember immediately feeling. What's more, while separated by oceans and thousands of miles, walking amongst those white marble crosses engraved with home states like Ohio, Maine, and Texas was the first time I truly recognized the smallness of our world. Regretfully, whether friend or foe, few forces remind us of our interconnectedness more than the tragedy of war.
Evan Stern: (01:32)
And today we'll pay our respects at one small, but similarly hallowed site that recalls these same lessons, right on Route 66. I'm Evan stern. And this is Vanishing Postcards.
Evan Stern: (02:26)
The headstone of Fred Tuft stands alongside a row of 14 others all bearing the badge of the Royal Air Force. Having died roughly six weeks before Pearl Harbor, his grave was this plot's first and at age 31, he's also the oldest of those buried here. Below his name and the symbol of a cross read the words "He nobly gave his life in all its fullness, England us to save. Small Union Jack flags have been placed alongside each marker while a larger one waves high above overlooking all through this morning's damp October breeze. A bagpiper plays Amazing Grace in tribute while a few undeterred by a passing storm look on. But this isn't Yorkshire, The Midlands, Dorset or Surrey. This is the GAR cemetery in Miami, Oklahoma-
Nancy Bro: (03:25)
GAR cemetery stands for Grand Army of the Republic. This cemetery is not any different than any other cemetery. Every grave out here holds a life that meant something for many people. The lives of the people need to be rejoiced and celebrated and not forgotten.
Evan Stern: (03:50)
Indeed. Every life has a story and these grounds provide a resting place for some 21,000. Yet the stories of these young British flyers are unique and Nancy Bro, GARs warm, blonde director invites me in her office to tell me about how they came to lie here so far from home
Nancy Bro: (04:09)
During the war, when England was involved in the war, but the United States was not, uh, England found very quickly that they weren't able to train their air, their cadets, their pilots in their own country, because it was too dangerous for them. So they made arrangements with United States to open some training facilities here in the states so that they could bring their Englishmen over here to train them, to be pilots. Some prominent community members actually went to the city of Miami and convinced them that this was the place that needed to be set up for them. The first class actually, uh, was brought into Miami on April 13th, 1941. There were overall I believe 27 courses and it lasted until the end of the war, 1945. There was over 2000, it was 2,124 cadets that actually trained here, British cadets and then 117 American cadets. And out of all of those 1,493 pilots got their wings. One of the main stories I've heard numerous times from several cadets that I've had, uh, conversations with over the years was that many of them thought they were coming to Miami, Florida. So they were, they were a little, you know, sad that they weren't gonna get the beaches, but once they got here, they, uh, they've all told me that Oklahoma, Miami, Oklahoma holds such a huge place in their heart. And the, the community reached out to them and made their stay here so warm and welcoming.
Evan Stern: (06:11)
It goes without saying that this rural community near Oklahoma's Northern edge, bears no resemblance to Florida let alone England. And the British boys who found themselves here, no doubt had to make a few adjustments. Letters home made frequent mention of the summer heat and thunderstorms, which inspired one unnamed cadet to pin the following poem.
Jeffrey Hardy: (06:32)
Hen we're back in dear old England, And we hear the gentle rain with its pitter, pitter patter beating on the window pain. Let us silently remember that we ought not to complain for it never rains in England, quite like Oklahoma, rain.
Evan Stern: (06:52)
Others like FC Rainbird found amusement in the language differences of his new American neighbors.
FC Rainbird: (06:59)
I was invited to Sunday dinner by one family. Then they repeated the invitation a week later. "Where's Russ?" I asked "Oh, he's just pidling in the garden." She replied. I was puzzled. I knew they had a modern toilet indoors. He soon appeared and it became clear that he'd been fidling about in the garden as we would've put it.
Evan Stern: (07:21)
Most accounts though, reveal a group of young men, quite taken with their new surroundings and American hospitality. Nancy tells me marriage licenses indicate a few found local brides while all seemed to make mention of the food and accommodations, which 19 year old Peter McCallum extolled in a letter dated August 26th, 1941.
Peter McCallum: (07:42)
It is a new school and you could just not imagine what a wonderful place it is. We have four fellas to a room furnished like a hotel and two men to clean up and clean our shoes and do anything we want doing. We fly from 7:00 AM until 12. Then have ground school in the afternoons. The food in the camp is excellent and beautifully served by waiters. The national drink seems to be iced tea served with lemon and sugar.
Evan Stern: (08:10)
A good student, Peter excitedly described his first solo flight in another letter home. Soon after
Peter McCallum: (08:19)
September the seventh, 1941, I went solo at nine hours, 20 minutes, which is nearly two hours below the average time. I was second to go solo for my course. The penalty for this was buying everyone else in the flight, a drink in the canteen. In case you misinterpret this, the drink was orangeade. Oklahoma is one of the few dry states in America, and there are no pubs or licensed houses of any kind. I have met a very nice American family in Miami by the name of Slaton. Mr. Slaton gave me a lift the other evening. And as I wasn't going anywhere in particular, he invited me to his house for dinner. I spent the weekend with them and they gave me a swell time. They're teaching me to ride a horse and I had a good time driving a 40 power Buick. At first, it was difficult to keep on the right side of the road.
Evan Stern: (09:14)
He'd mentioned his growing friendship with the Slatons a month later,
Peter McCallum: (09:18)
October, the first 1941. Last Sunday, the local Episcopal church gave a tea in one of the hotels to the British cadets. It was a help yourself from the table affair and all had a good time. There were lots of Americans there and everyone got invitations for Christmas. I had to refuse because my friends, the Slatons have already booked me up on every occasion I go out from now until I leave
Evan Stern: (09:43)
Tragically though, Peter wouldn't live to experience Christmas with the Slatons or pen another letter to his family, as he became one of the first trainees to die when his plane fell over Kansas during night training on November 13th. Yet the people of Miami have never forgotten his loss or those of his comrades who remain here as they not only continue to maintain their graves, but gather each year to honor them in a remembrance ceremony, which is what has brought me here this weekend. Regretfully though, when I ask Nancy, if she can share details of any of these other young men's passings, she confesses that many records have been frustratingly lost to time.
Nancy Bro: (10:25)
Well, I don't have all of their stories. Unfortunately, I have done a lot of research in the years that I've been here, Fred Tuft. He was, uh, the very first cadet that lost his life. It wasn't in a flying incident. He actually walked into the propeller and lost his life from that. It was extremely tragic. Um, there was four, four gentlemen, four cadets that died in one accident. Uh, two planes with two cadets in each one they collided in mid air and they all four lost their lives. Um, there's just so many and I wish I could find all their information, but it's just very difficult when we're talking second and third generations and these kids were so young that they didn't have children, except for that we know of except for one
Evan Stern: (11:19)
That one child is John Raisbeck whose father Ken, He never knew
John Raisbeck: (11:25)
My mother and father married in 1942, which was uh, 26th of June, in fact. And that was a date which was to become very significant and more than just a wedding anniversary. Um, my, my dad, Ken, he joined the RAF in 1943 and he was selected for air crew training. And then he was selected for advanced training in the USA. So he left the, he left for the USA in January, 1944. And I was born three weeks later. So I was born on February the 19th, 1944. And unfortunately he lost his life. It was many, many, many years before I really started to think about my, shall I call him my biological father. You know, I was too young to dwell on, on the horrors of WWII. I just accepted that he lay in his grave thousands of miles away. Um, and I didn't know very much about him except from stories from my family,
Evan Stern: (12:37)
A retired mining engineer who lives in Kent, John is quick to tell me over zoom that his childhood was a happy one. His mother remarried. He was blessed with a half brother and much loved stepfather whom he always called Dad. Still, the details he shares of his parents' romance and war experiences are powerful.
John Raisbeck: (12:58)
He climbed into his plane on the 26th of June, which was their wedding anniversary. And he was in the cockpit of his AT-6 Harvard. Started the engine, taxed along the runway. Ready for take off in preparation of, of a, of an advanced session of aerobatics. But little did he know that he was approaching the last few minutes of his life. So my mom received a very impersonal telegram. And when she went to the door, she thought it was a message for her wedding anniversary. But instead it said "regret to inform you that your husband, Kenneth Raisbeck has lost his life as a result of an aircraft accident on the 26th of June, 1944." Now that was a huge shock of course. And there was me, four months old in my cot. She never went to America. She was a very emotional woman. It hit her very, very hard.
John Raisbeck: (13:56)
She loved my dad and she wrote him a letter every day of her life. And he had a, on his locker- He had a picture of her and a picture of me and I got the, I received those photographs back. I still got the holes in there where they were pinned to the locker, but you know, life had to go on. I don't think my mom wanted to look and dwell back. My mom always used to cry on remembrance Sundays, but she was a very plucky woman. And I think she was determined to make a life for us all at the same time, not forgetting the sacrifice that my dad made
Evan Stern: (14:39)
At the same time, John says that if you ever read about children who are adopted or lose parents early, there always comes a point when they begin to wonder and ask questions, and he readily acknowledges that's what happened to him. So in 1995, when he learned a group of his Dad's classmates would be reuniting in Miami, he decided to join them in pilgrimage.
John Raisbeck: (15:02)
They said to me, it might be a good idea for you to go and look at your Dad's grave before we have the ceremony. And it was, um, it was a very moving experience and it reminded me, it reminded me of Rupert Brooke's poem when, um, "this corner is forever England" and seeing all the union jacks, I, I felt that he was well looked after. I was very impressed with all of this. And of course, when I, when I heard my father, they always, they always called the names out. And when they called my dad's name out, that really got to me the first time I heard it. Nobody can fail to be totally awestruck by the work that these people do. And the reality is they don't get hardly- I dunno if they get any feedback from anybody because life's moved on-
Evan Stern: (16:00)
But while life does move on, some questions for John have persisted over the years, which inspired him to reach out to Nancy more than two decades. After his first visit-
Nancy Bro: (16:11)
I have such a first and a hunger for information about these guys. They don't have anybody over here. All of their family is across the ocean in a completely different country and their parents are all gone. They may have siblings more than likely if they do, they're gone. And when I get just a piece, just the slightest little nugget of something, I take it and I run with it and I research it. And I see if I can get any links on anything else and tie it to something else or whatever. I never thought that I would be such an avid researcher, but that is definitely something that has came along with this position.
Evan Stern: (16:55)
Unaware that a surviving link like John existed, Nancy sprung into action. And with the help of local historian, Philip Blair succeeded in not only pinpointing the soybean field where Kenneth Raisbeck crashed, but identifying two living witnesses who remembered seeing the accident firsthand at this. John returned to the states again in 2016 to walk the field, meet with these bystanders and of course attend the cemetery ceremony where he was welcomed as a guest of honor. But if this weren't enough, Nancy surprised John by arranging for him to fly over the field in a Harvard AT-6, which was the same plane his father piloted
John Raisbeck: (17:38)
One thing, I didn't know anything about him. And Nancy said to me the night, the night before she said, you don't have to do this, John, but tomorrow morning there's gonna be a Harvard AT-6 on the tarmac outside the new airport, which is just across the runway from the old hangar. So there it will be, if you feel like getting into it, please do so. And it's all on us. So I, I was more than excited to, to go there. I, I could not contain myself with excitement. I got in the cockpit. He, he, he flew me up to the crash site. I did a couple of circuits around the crash site, beneath me were dozen people, waving old glory, union jacks and, and so on. And then on the way back, he flew over my father's grave. So I could see the whole picture was there. I could see the old runways. I could see the old hangar, the parking area where the planes were parked. That was wonderful, wonderful, but, you know, I think that was the most touching thing ever.
Evan Stern: (18:54)
Nancy tells me that she never once thought she'd be working at a cemetery or that it could be a dream job, but she says it is and experiences like these are precisely why. At the same time, she isn't the first to occupy this position and credits her predecessor Kim Horn with instilling her sense of duty to these men, which is a value other local keepers have held sacred for years.
Nancy Bro: (19:19)
Fran Franti may hill. Everybody called her Francis. Um, she was an amazing woman. She loved her British boys. Um, she took, took a lot of them under her wing as though they were her own sons. Her daughter, Nellie was, uh, smitten by one. And, uh, Jack Taylor, he, he did suffer and, and was killed during the war, but Mrs. Hill took care of these graves. And from what I'm understanding, what I've read, she went to every funeral, she'd walk up the railroad track, toting her tote bags and, and tend to the grave. She'd weed 'em and water 'em and plant flowers on them and just took care of 'em diligently for over 40 years. She was a blessing to those boys and to those boys' family, she wrote letters back home to their parents and, you know, made sure that they got flowers for their birthdays, from their parents.
Nancy Bro: (20:32)
One of the cadets, uh, found out that she had done that and he wrote a letter to the UK and they actually awarded her the King's medal. And that's quite an established award, uh, for her selflessness and caring and, and giving that she had done for the, the British graves over here. She wanted to be buried at the, at the north end of the row of the British graves. So she is right next to them. And then her husband is buried to the north of her. I mean, what bigger word could, could we say, but thank you and bless you.
Evan Stern: (21:17)
In many ways, I think one could view Nancy as Ms. Hill's heir apparent. And when I ask Nancy, why it's important to maintain this vigil after so many years, her response is immediate and clear.
Nancy Bro: (21:31)
I know that they don't have anybody else here. I know that if we, as the cemetery staff don't do something for them, that chances are no one will. I, I also know that there are numerous cemeteries over in England and across the world that they hold ceremonies. Why wouldn't we? We were all in the war together. And there's absolutely no reason why we shouldn't celebrate and remember, and honor their lives. Just like we do our own war dead. Yes, world war II was 80 years ago, but people need to remember, because if we forget, that's when it's all gonna happen again, and I guarantee you, it won't be another 80 years
Evan Stern: (22:30)
Following our conversation. She walks me over to tour the burial plot to view the site before tomorrow's gathering. I ask her what she thinks when she looks at these tombstones,
Nancy Bro: (22:42)
They were so young. So young, they were just kids. I mean, you look at here in 17, 19 20, we had, uh, Herbert Hackley was 23 and he may have had a child, but we don't know.
Evan Stern: (22:58)
This is all very sad to take in. And this feeling is not lost on Nancy at all. But while present, I don't think sadness is what guides her. "I was waiting for you to say it, but over the phone, you said I've just fallen in love with these boys."
Nancy Bro: (23:13)
Oh, I have . Yeah. I mean, these boys, they're just part of me. They're part of my life. They're part of my family and I've just fallen in love with them.
Evan Stern: (23:23)
This love is apparent the next morning, when I see the care with which she's orchestrated the ceremony. Each grave has been thoughtfully decorated with red, white, and blue flowers, whose colors, accent, the flags displayed. The sounds of Artie Shaw, Vera Lynn, and other artists of the 40s pour out of speakers that greet arriving visitors, while I notice a Legion of uniformed riflemen congregating some feet away. They're here to give a gun salute while the city of Tulsa's pipes and drum Corps have driven 90 miles to provide musical accompaniment. There are to be prayers, a speech from the head of the Royal British Legion's Tulsa detachment and tribute from squadron leader, Rob Jemmett, who serves as the UK's foreign liaison at tinker air force base. Tall and sporting an impeccably pressed uniform adorned with metals of recognition, he's participated in this Memorial for the past six years and shares with me what a gathering of this nature means to him as a serviceman abroad.
RC Jemmett: (24:26)
As I say, we are in the middle of nowhere, relatively speaking. I had never heard of Miami, Oklahoma. I hadn't heard of the program. It's incredibly moving that, um, this far away bearing in mind, we're what 6, 7,000 miles away from home, but someone is taking the time and effort to remember, um, people who passed gosh, 80 years ago. Now it's a long time ago. I think it's important that we maintain British connections with this place. Um, sometimes we get a little bit confused as I think to what defense is all about and it's ceremonies like this, that remind us exactly what we are trying to achieve.
Evan Stern: (25:05)
If you could say anything personally, uh, to these, uh, young men, what would you say?
RC Jemmett: (25:13)
It's a phrase that we actually don't use in the UK, and that would be thank you for your service. Um, we, we, I don't know why we don't say it in the UK. We really should. Uh, we should recognize that what these chaps did, ultimately they gave up their lives and were unable to perform, um, in the battlefield, but they and their cohort, uh, undoubtedly changed the tide of the war, uh, having those extra four and a half thousand pilots there, um, that made the difference. That's, what's allowed us to win the battle of Britain and ultimately lead to Dday. And then the, uh, the recovery of Europe, as we know it today,
Evan Stern: (25:51)
Just then the wind picks up and what had been a few light sprinkles morphs into a sudden downpour, not unlike the one, the cadet wrote of in the poem he sent home. The speakers are turned off, and those who have gathered race to their cars for shelter. At the sound of thunder, Nancy abruptly cancels the proceedings. But within moments of making this call, the storm dissipates as swiftly as it arrived. All but a few have left and a tangible feeling of frustration with a touch of chaos has taken over the now damp affair. Then, without notice, a solitary bugler emerges from a van, faces the flag and burial plot, and immediately takes charge. At this officer, Jemmett moves to the podium where he begins to read as Nancy proceeds to lay a rose at each grave.
RC Jemmett: (27:36)
RAC, Fred Tuft. He notably gave life in all his fullness to save us. Peter McCallum, only son of MM, and RE McCallum of England. Forever in our thoughts. Allen brown, his short life was a life of service-
Evan Stern: (28:01)
There's no gun salute, no speeches, no pomp and circumstance just respect, dignity, reverence and on my part a few tears-
RC Jemmett: (28:16)
Donald a Harfield. God gave him to us. God has taken him away. Thy will be done. AAC, Ralph K. Price, God moves in mysterious ways. His wonders to perform.
Jeffrey Hardy: (28:33)
If I should die, think only this of me:
That there’s some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam;
A body of England’s, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.
And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.
Rupert Brooke, The Soldier
