This browser does not support the Video element.
We're very proud of the men and women who work at FOX 2 and how have served our nation. One of those service members you see almost every weekday: Rich Luterman.
The Air Force Veteran served in Desert Storm long before he became our Chief Meteorologist. But this story isn't about him. It's about the long overdue WWII memorial here in Metro Detroit.
Pearl Harbor. Normandy. Iwo Jima. The names of far away places defined a generation. More than 70 years have passed since the conclusion of World War 2 on the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
So much time has passed, old enemies are now close friends and veterans from that era are far fewer.
"I served aboard a destroyer all the time I was in service. I went all the way from South Pacific to North Pacific," WWII Veteran Art Fishman is very proud of his service and he wants everyone to know how important of a role Michigan played.
It was monumental, in fact, in preserving our freedom. Now the question is how do we prserve their legacy?
The answer is in Royal Oak where Debi Hollis leads the way for the construction of the Michigan World War II Legacy Memorial.
"I think there is a lot of the younger generation who don't know. They've never learned it or had the opportunity to interact with a lot of WWII veterans. So we're taking it upon ourselves to find that opportunity to teach them that," Hollis says. "Everything that generation did for us, needs to be told, it needs to be learned. People need to appreciate and learn where to put their respect"
Local radio celebrity and fellow patriot Big Al Muscovitz is a part of the fundraising effort. Here's what the memorial will contain, once it's built.
"You're going to see lifesized statues that show land, air, and sea representations, both from the warfront and the homefront, that our Michigan residents participated in," Muscovitz said. "You're going to see a walkway, the walk of honor, bricks. There's going to be a wall with stars on it that represent those people that didn't make it home. There's going to be an interactive map of Michigan that shows all the different contributions the state made. This is about Michigan."
It's up to us, to honor and remember and make sure our children - and future generations - know how Michigan and its brave sons and daughters fought for democracy in the 1940's. You can help make this memorial a reality.
"So one of the aspects of the memorial is called the walk of honor where you can purchase inscribed brick pavers where you can put the name of a veteran, a family member that you want to honor. We've had bricks purchased for World War 1 veterans and conflicts all the way up until - guys that are still over in Iraq." Hollis said. "If you have a veteran in your family, buy him a brick. Get it put at the state's tribute to World War 2."
Want to answer the call and honor someone you know? Click here to make sure our heroes don't fade away.