I saw a small piece on the morning news. It was about a World War two veteran that had been flown to DC on an honor flight. If you are not familiar with that, it is a non-profit organization that brings veterans to see the memorials on the capitol mall dedicated to their service. This gentleman was taken ill while at the memorials and is in the hospital. A "go fund me page" has now been established to raise sufficient funds to fly him back home to Seattle. It must be a medical equipped airplane, very expensive. I'm sure the funds will be raised.
As I watched that piece and listened to that man speak I couldn't help but think about what it all signifies. His is the generation of my father. These veterans of World War two are leaving us at an alarming rate. I could not help but think how few still walk walk among us. But, more succinct was the thought, I walked among them, hundreds of them ! When I was a child these veterans virtually surrounded me. My father, my uncles and my neighbors. I saw these men daily and listened to their words. Seldom did they speak of war and it's horrors. They did speak of right and wrong. They just went about their lives, raising their families. They were not the ones that built those memorials, those memorials came much later. They have been called the " greatest generation " and it is a moniker well deserved. They asked for nothing in return for their service, but lived with the pride of having served.
I will never forget the privilege of having known these men. How unaware I was. They mentioned their service with such nonchalance and spoke in humble terms. My own father never told me much about his own experience, only that war was an ugly business. I could see the sorrow in his eyes when, on those rare occasions he spoke of losing his comrades. I can but imagine how those veterans left to us now must feel. All there friends that they lost to war and now lost to time and age. Surely they are lonely warriors yet still display such dignity. That ,to me, is their legacy, dignity !
It is my generation that the honor of remembering them falls too. We must be vigilant to preserve that legacy and teach the lessons that we were taught. Those veterans are becoming harder to find and soon those first person accounts will be gone. Is that not ever so. The warriors of the past fading into history. I will carry their banner for them. I will embrace their lessons and pass them along as best I can. Service,honor and dignity are their hallmarks.
I expect, in my lifetime, the last veteran of that horrible combat will be saluted for the last time. It is a day that I will meet with sorrow, but with dignity ! That is how it should be. The last veteran of the first world war, the war to end all wars, has left us. Frank Buckles was the last known American to have served in World War 1 and died in Feb of 2011. Not much was heard of this in the mainstream media, an event, in my opinion, that warranted much coverage. I hope for better when the final combatant from World War two leaves us. That is expected to occur about 2038. That is only twenty three years from now. It will be with his/her passing that the final chapter will be written.
As I watched that piece and listened to that man speak I couldn't help but think about what it all signifies. His is the generation of my father. These veterans of World War two are leaving us at an alarming rate. I could not help but think how few still walk walk among us. But, more succinct was the thought, I walked among them, hundreds of them ! When I was a child these veterans virtually surrounded me. My father, my uncles and my neighbors. I saw these men daily and listened to their words. Seldom did they speak of war and it's horrors. They did speak of right and wrong. They just went about their lives, raising their families. They were not the ones that built those memorials, those memorials came much later. They have been called the " greatest generation " and it is a moniker well deserved. They asked for nothing in return for their service, but lived with the pride of having served.
I will never forget the privilege of having known these men. How unaware I was. They mentioned their service with such nonchalance and spoke in humble terms. My own father never told me much about his own experience, only that war was an ugly business. I could see the sorrow in his eyes when, on those rare occasions he spoke of losing his comrades. I can but imagine how those veterans left to us now must feel. All there friends that they lost to war and now lost to time and age. Surely they are lonely warriors yet still display such dignity. That ,to me, is their legacy, dignity !
It is my generation that the honor of remembering them falls too. We must be vigilant to preserve that legacy and teach the lessons that we were taught. Those veterans are becoming harder to find and soon those first person accounts will be gone. Is that not ever so. The warriors of the past fading into history. I will carry their banner for them. I will embrace their lessons and pass them along as best I can. Service,honor and dignity are their hallmarks.
I expect, in my lifetime, the last veteran of that horrible combat will be saluted for the last time. It is a day that I will meet with sorrow, but with dignity ! That is how it should be. The last veteran of the first world war, the war to end all wars, has left us. Frank Buckles was the last known American to have served in World War 1 and died in Feb of 2011. Not much was heard of this in the mainstream media, an event, in my opinion, that warranted much coverage. I hope for better when the final combatant from World War two leaves us. That is expected to occur about 2038. That is only twenty three years from now. It will be with his/her passing that the final chapter will be written.
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