A. George Griffiths

A George Griffiths, 84 passed away Tuesday April 14, 2009. He was the widower of Gloria A. Griffiths. Mr. Griffiths was a U.S. Army Air Corps World War II Veteran. The caring Father of, Glenn(Nancy) Griffiths, Gregg(Laura) Griffiths, Gail(Dennis) Murray, Geoff(Sharon) Griffiths, Gloria(Pierre Tismo) Griffiths and Guy(Denise)Griffiths. Sixteen Grandchildren, Carrie (Todd) Fitzpatrick, Kim (Nick) Hartley, Lisa (Ron) Bernert, Matt (Laura) Griffiths, Craig (Ann) Murray, Allyson (Scott) Warren, Jenna, Morgan, Austin and Olivia Griffiths, Gaby, Trevor and Graceann Tismo, and Grant, Luke , and Kyle Griffiths. Two Great-Grandchildren Megan Hartley and Tyler Griffiths also survive. Sister, Kay Young and Brother, Dale(Irene) Griffiths and a host of family and friends are left to mourn his passing. Besides his wife he was preceded in death by his parents, Elmer F. and Mabel Tennant Griffiths and brother, E. Franklin Griffiths.
Visitation will be Friday April 17th 10-12Noon at Strawser Funeral Home 9503 Kenwood Rd. Blue Ash, OH. Blessing Services will be at 1:00 pm at the All Saints Catholic Church 8939 Montgomery Rd. Kenwood, OH. Donations may be made to Honor Flight Network (honorflight.org) and Aubrey Rose Foundation(aubreyrose.org). Final Resting will be in the Gate of Heaven Cemetery. The Family invites you to a reception held in Celebration Honor for Mr. Griffiths at 2:30PM at Montgomery Inn, Montgomery, OH. Guest Book at STRAWSERFUNERALHOME.COM

The following document reminded us strongly about or Father and the Love for his country:

OUR DAD

There will perhaps never be a definitive history of the 8th Air Force written.

While the men of WWI had marched off to glorious tunes and the expectation of a short war, the men of WWII knew that the war would be long and hard for they had already watched Europe again tearing itself apart in the years before the United States was dragged in.

The numbers are for the most part all down on paper now. The revisionists have begun their work, and the dwindling number of living veterans of the 8th are recounting their stories for their last few years.

We know how many tons of bombs were dropped, how many civilians and soldiers were bombed out of existence, how many medals were given, and how many widows were made.

The leaders have all written their stories and most of them have passed on, for they were a few years older than the vast majority of young men who fought the war.

Their accomplishments and deeds of heroism rival those of any empire or army of any period of history. Each of them had a story to tell, and now a great many of them are gone and their memories buried with them. If only our eyes could witness the events that they took part in to more fully appreciate their sacrifices.

We cannot here begin to summon words which will adequately describe what we owe these people, nor can anyone else. The effect is still in process, in the forward momentum of linear time that we know as life.

Suffice to say that we all owe them and we should honor them all. One of them was our dad. We will miss him, but he, like all loved ones who pass on, will never be forgotten.

Here's a simple, but incredible summary of what he was a part of. His ability and great fortune to have survived this madness of the 1940’s has led to all of us being here today either directly as part of his family, or indirectly as one of his friends. We thank you for coming to honor and praise him as we celebrate his life here on Earth and congratulate him on his new mission in heaven.

Our Dad was a B-24 Liberator Pilot in WWII. At the ripe old age of 19, he was the Captain of this Heavy Bomber. He was a member of the 8th Air Force, stationed in England. In 995 days of war with Germany, the Eighth Air Force dispatched 332,645 four engined bombers and 260,574 fighters from its bases in England.

These Aircraft attacked principally oil production facilities, aircraft factories, ammunition plants, railway centers and chemical plants.

On D-Day, as bad as it was on the beaches of Normandy, our troops were not attacked by enemy aircraft - aerial supremacy having already been achieved.

Prior to VE-day, German Oil production had almost ceased to exist.

During the last year of the war, an average of 1,200 Eighth Air Force aircraft attacked Germany every day.

The B-24 Liberators and B-17 Flying Fortresses dropped ( one trillion ) 1,402,600,000 pounds of bombs, -1,063,542,000 pounds on Germany proper. Our fighters and bombers destroyed 15,439 enemy aircraft.

However, the cost was astounding: According to one source, The Liberation Research, 43,742 fliers were killed, or missing in action.

One who made it home to carry forward was Dad.

Our "Man of the 8th" has passed on, leaving us with a sense of loss that will never completely heal.

Sadly, as you look around our Country today, this story has not been given enough publicity, nor enough credit for providing the foundation as to how well-off we live today. Everything . . . Every thing that we do, that we experience, that we see all around us every day and take for granted would be significantly different had this generation of people not sacrificed for future generations.

We have told this all to you now, to the best of our ability, and with a deep sense of regret that we may not have appreciated it as much earlier in our lives.

Our entire family thanks you for coming here today as we remember our Dad.

Thank you, Dad, for all that is our world, our kid’s world and for generations to come.