"Plane blew up, caught fire," Bill Scruggs remembers.
Scruggs was a student at the University of Florida when his studies were interrupted by World War II. Then his war was interrupted by a mechanical failure.
"I crawled out through the fire and then someone was there and helped me get away from the flames. There were two of us out of the crew of nine that survived. So seven were killed in the crash."
In 1944, he endured a plane crash that left only him and one other survivor. But Scruggs insists, he's nothing special: he flew his missions, including one that placed him above the beaches of Normandy on D-Day.
"I commented to the crew," he recalls, "you know, I think we could walk from England to the Continent without wetting our feet, stepping on ships. That's how close they looked from where we were."
In 1950, another veteran was serving his country in Korea: Duane Dewey. Dewey is the recipient of a Medal of Honor and had a monument dedicated to him today at the celebration. People wasted no time in commemorating both the monument and its recipient's service.
Like Scruggs, Dewey says he doesn't deserve to be honored over any other veteran because they all fought for the same thing.
"We fought for freedom," Dewey says, "for our country, our flag, and most of all, the ones that were fighting with us. Because, I guess you've heard it before, you become brothers."
Brothers who stand together, across generations and across wars.