Local WWII veterans share gratitude for fallen soldiers [Video]

Bryan’s Doyle Moore turns 100 next month, but he can still remember his 21st birthday well.

That’s because Doyle, a member of the 437th Troop Carrier Group in the 9th Air Force, was in western Europe on D-Day during World War II when he turned 21 on June 6, 1944. Although Doyle returned home and has lived a full life since, Monday’s annual Memorial Day will recognize the 400,000-plus Americans who died in the second world war.

“I tie things before and after that,” Moore said. “[I was] very fortunate to serve and come away without a scratch.”

Last September, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs said only around 167,000 of the 16 million Americans who served in WWII were still alive. Only 8,200 were estimated to live in Texas. Moore and fellow Bryan resident Buddy McGown are two of them. Most are over the age of 95 and the …