Ask Rufus: The Giants Among Us By 8 hours ago Rufus Ward Last week Chance Laws and I were talking about the World War II veterans we had known and how so many of them never talked about what they had been through or what they had done. We were reflecting on many American heroes out there whose stories are unknown. Several local people came to mind. Businessmen, postmen, farmers and neighbors. People who in an earlier time had answered their country’s call and done heroic things they never talked about. Most of these heroes are no longer with us and have passed on to a better place, but their legacy remains. They were people like Lt. Col. Winfred Beaver, who during World War II commanded the U.S. Army Corps 447th Bomb Group in England. During World War I he was a pilot in the famous No. 20 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps. He was credited with shooting down 19 German aircraft and was awarded the British Military Cross by King George V in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace. He had also survived being shot down by the “Red Baron” whose funeral he later attended.