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The First United Methodist Church of Norwood, with the Town of Norwood, the Norwood Museum,and VFW Post 6183, will honor 1st Lt. James Paul Lowder Jr., a former member of the church, in a Service of Remembrance at 6 p.m. July 8. It will conclude with a reception at the Norwood Museum, which is immediately across Pee Dee Avenue.
Photographs of the known Norwood area service members who were killed in action or died in non-combat during wartime are featured in the Norwood Museum, together with various military artifacts.
Lowder, a World War II fighter pilot, lost his life 80 years ago, on July 8, 1944, in Jouarre, France, when his aircraft, a P-51 Mustang, crashed into a nearby forest.
Lowder and 1st Lt. Wallace Blair Shipplett, his brother-in-law, are buried side-by-side at Epinal American Cemetery in France. Shipplett, a bombardier, lost his life on Jan. 14, 1945, in a bombing raid in Germany.
In 2020, the towns of Jouarre and Norwood became Sister Cities.
All are invited to attend.