On Sunday, the 66th anniversary of D-Day, many Americans will remember the day when Allied forces penetrated Nazi-occupied Western Europe in a massive, coordinated effort that eventually turned the war against Germany.
But the remaining members of the “Greatest Generation,” especially those who fought in World War II, may recall the moment in more visceral, less sweeping, ways: words spoken to a dying friend, a mother’s care package full of sweets and shoe polish, the heavy smell of blood and bodies, shrapnel piercing skin.
Seated this many years later at Arlington Park racetrack in Illinois, Dick Duchossois struggles to explain the lingering mix of pride and horror from his service in World War II.
“Most people don’t understand,” said Duchossois, 88. “D-Day was very pivotal to the entire war, but you lost so many of your friends and the people close to you ”¦ and you remember those things. It scares you to even think about it.”
We gave a round of applause after the service to a member of the 101st Airborne who dropped that day.
The first week of June also marks the anniversary dates of the 1942 Pacific Theater Battle of Midway. Perhaps we should have a day of Thanksgiving in June, for consider the possible consequences if either of those battles had failed.
Dad’s 89 and going strong. His generation is a different breed and I doubt there will be another like it. It must hurt these veterans to see our country willingly surrender the rights and freedoms their friends died for.
#3, I’m sure it hurts them, but unfortunately, though they were wonderfully brave and sacrificing in WWII, they did not prove effective or inciteful leaders or educators of the generations behind them. “Greatest Generation” is a nice appellation, but it is only true in the sense of their sacrifice in that 2d world war that was never suppose to have happened, and in their sacrifices in the ill-fated Korean War, that set the example for all wars to follow – regional wars played out by the biggest and strongest in countries other than their own. I, like many other Vietnam veterans, do not hold the Greatest Generation in the esteem Mr. Brokaw has tried to give them. Having said the above- there can be little question of the bravery and sacrifice of those who challenged the 3d Reich and the Japanese Empire on D Day, at Midway, and throughout the war on every front, nor of the sacrifice of those who supported them at home and abroad. Korean and Vietnam vets looked for the same support, but it was sadly not only lacking, but in Korea’s case vets were ignored and in Vietnam’s case vets were met with incivility. The GG stood up in 1940s but turned their backs after that war ended.
Billy, your logic seems to be that having experienced the horrors of war, the GG should have risen to the obligation to prevent future conflicts, i.e Korea and Vietnam should have never happened.
Our involvement in Vietnam followed WWII by about 20 years. It has now been 35 years since the fall of Saigon, and war still plagues the planet. Should we then say that our generation (who fought in Vietnam) also “did not prove effective or inciteful leaders or educators of the generations behind them”? The GG was born at the end of WWI, endured the Great Depression and fought the last war wherein our existence was really threatened. Their tax dollars went to rebuild the infrastructure of friend and former foes alike. Their efforts sparked agreat advances in our standard of living. For my part, they are great and always will be.
I am sorry for the treatment of Vietnam vets, but it was not those who fought in WWII that turned their backs – it was the generation that followed who spit on returning soldiers. As I watch groups of men and women in uniform receive standing ovations as they deplane in our airports I sense a resolve that we will never again tolerate the disrepect the our Vietnam vets received.