A Port McNicoll family will continue an important tradition Saturday when they take two valuable heirlooms with them to a Remembrance Day service.
Marilyn Moriarty-Nigro wears two rings on her left hand and while they are both special, the small gold ring with the letter ‘M’ on it is a family heirloom that is priceless.
“It’s history, it’s who we are, it means somebody very close to us gave up everything for us,” says Marilyn.
The ring belonged to her great uncle Frank McCormick, a RCAF flight engineer from Port McNicoll who lost his life January 16, 1945 when his plane crashed into a bog in Germany. But because of the efforts of McCormick and the pilot, others onboard the plane were able to parachute to safety.
Marilyn’s father John Moriarty still remembers his uncle Frank.
“Very quiet, very soft spoken, tall and the uniform was impressive.”
McCormick’s ring was returned to the family in 1949 when his remains were buried in a Germany cemetery. In 1951, McCormick’s ID bracelet was returned to the family after a scrap iron company found it in an old aircraft engine. Years later John visited his uncle’s grave in Germany, an emotional moment he says he’ll never forget.
“I know the night I called her from Germany to tell her I was at the gravesite she was very speechless.”
Since then the family has all visited Frank’s grave and kept his memory alive by assembling a collection of his life with pictures, medals, his flight book and letters.
John and Marilyn will attend the Remembrance Day ceremony at Veterans Park in Port McNicoll to thank their hero Frank McCormick.
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