Military Hero: Dr. Grant Nelson
Nominated by: Alice VanderGiessen
Dr. Grant Nelson was a dentist in Ferndale for many years. He is now 94 and his memory of serving as a World War 2 pilot in the south pacific is amazing. He flew a B-25 Bomber and was on his way home when He learned of the atomic bombings of Japan, and soon to be the end of the war.
My favorite story of his is when they were taking off from Lingayen Philippians, all planes had to be air born as quickly as possible with only one airstrip, planes were taking off every 15 seconds. Taking off with a full fuel and bomb load the plane right in front of Grant blew a tire. First LT. Nelson could not stop in time and made the quick decision to drop down his wing flaps, He clawed his way up, which allowed him to just hop over the plane in front of him, saving everyone!!!!
Thank you for your service Dr. Nelson, we are grateful.