Memorializing Two Hero Pilots From One Tiny Town in New York State, Both Lost in WWII

A new mural in North Rose recalls the price of victory

Mark Williams, mural designer, at work

Just sixteen students graduated from North Rose, New York in 1938. Two of them, John Blakeslee Thomas and Melvin Donald Putnam, became pilots in the US Army Air Corps. Thomas flew a B-24 Liberator bomber, Putnam a P-47 Thunderbolt fighter. Although they died more than 1,500 miles and 18 months apart, both men were k…