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Group of Macon WWII veterans meet for lunch every week

You may have kept in touch with a friend or two from high school.

You may have kept in touch with a friend or two from high school.

Our Nicole Butler went to meet with a small group of Lanier High School graduates and spoke with them about how some similarities in life caused them to cross paths once again.

But it's not just the guy talk that brings these four men together.

They are all graduates from the Lanier High School Class of 1942 and World War II veterans.

For years, they have been meeting for lunch every Thursday, talking about the good old days and the teacher no one could forget.

"The one I didn't like was Polly Perkins," Ed Norwood said.

"I was gonna say Polly Perkins. I didn't like Polly," everyone laughed.

The group says they weren't really close in high school, but after several decades, they drifted back together.

All serving in World War II, Ed Norwood says having this in common is the glue that keeps them together.

"It's always fun talking to people as old as you are," Norwood said.

He remembers their reactions when Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941.

"You did what everybody else did -- you said, 'Where is Pearl Harbor?'" Norwood said.

But it wasn't all laughs for Zack Young.

Within a month of graduating, the Army drafted him to fight in the war.

"We had a big convoy, ships as far you could see, just about," Young recalled.

Young says he remembers sleeping on the ground or in the trenches and fighting in the Battle of the Bulge, but there's one night that really shook him up.

"A tank picked us up and shelled us pretty heavily, and somehow I got my teeth knocked out. But anyway, it got me a Purple Heart and got me home quick," he said.

Young says he's honored to have served our country and is grateful each of their war experiences ended up turning strangers into best friends.

The group eats at S&S or Jeneane's every Thursday, so if you see them out, they encourage anyone to come and say hello and soak in the history they all share.

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