One of these heroes, Bertram Wilson, lived just down the road from me; he passed away in 2002. When I'd see him on his morning walk, I'd salute him as I drove to work at UConn.
<span style="font-style: italic">WILSON, BERTRAM W
LT COL US AIR FORCE
VETERAN SERVICE DATES: 12/04/1942 - 10/31/1968
DATE OF BIRTH: 09/20/1921
DATE OF DEATH: 07/09/2002
DATE OF INTERMENT: 08/06/2002
BURIED AT: SECTION 68 SITE 2063
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY</span>
Bertram Wilson
"A poem in Professor Marilyn Nelson's collection, The Homeplace, is dedicated to Wilson. It memorializes an incident when, despite being dressed in uniform and being decorated with medals, an elderly white woman asked Wilson to carry her bags. After he had done so, she offered him a tip: "He looks down. Then he looks at me and grins. I TOOK it, too!"
Tom