Hailed as a hero, Dutch pilot Capt. Herman Arens wishes were carried out today when his remains were buried alongside his Dutch pilot comrades in Cedar Lawn cemetery in Jackson.

“It means everything for him to be buried here,” Arens’ wife Ans Arens said moments after participating in the interment of her husband and the annual memorial honoring The Dutch Flyers of World War II. “This is where he wanted to be...The ceremony was just awesome.”

On Memorial Day, which is set aside to honor fallen soldiers, Arens’ ashes were buried with full military honors in the cemetery on West Capitol Street where 26 Dutch airmen and 14 other family members have been laid to rest.

Arens was among roughly 800 Dutch aviators and instructors who arrived in Jackson on May 27, 1942, as part of the Royal Netherlands Military Flying School training at Hawkins Field in exile after the Germans overran Holland during WW II. The first of those airmen lost their lives in training exercises, and the city of Jackson deeded the plot in Cedar Lawn Cemetery to the Dutch government for their burial.

“They spoke a strange language and wore strange-looking uniforms..., but they forged a strong bond with the people of Jackson,” said former Mayor Kane Ditto, who spoke during the ceremony.

Meanwhile, at the annual Memorial Day program at the Hinds County Courthouse, District 3 Supervisor Peggy Hobson Calhoun urged prayer for soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.