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Never Forget
- Thread starter AVB
- Start date
TexasTraveler
I'm kind of a big deal
If you haven't watched "Darkest Hour" starring Gary Oldman, you should...
kann
One Leg Of Fury.
Back in 11th or 12th grade, our English class took a trip to the local VA hospital to interview WWII veterans and write their stories. At the time, as a teenager with no family connection to speak of, it was an interesting escape from the classroom but, I'll be honest, we were 16 or 17 years old and were looking forward to adventuring freely around Scranton for a few hours afterwards. Not having a greater recollection of those men and those stories is one of my bigger regrets in life.
Later on I would join the military, myself, and as a member of our Base Honor Guard at LRAFB, I presented final military honors for WWII veterans across Arkansas and into Tennessee. I probably took part in 50 or more funerals. At the time, we were told that Honor Guard activity was anticipated to continue increasing as the WWII-era veterans were reaching the age where the population was naturally dying.
A decade later, I would find myself living in Germany. Over a four year period, my family and I immersed ourselves in the historic locations, battlefields, cemeteries, and other venues. The war in Europe became more real.
Four years later, I would find myself living on Oahu and working on Ford Island -- right on the spot where the first bombs were dropped on December 7th, 1941. I was fortunate enough during my time in Hawaii to meet veterans of both the Pacific and European theaters.
Although today we commemorate and memorialize those who took part in Operation Overlord -- "D-Day" -- I still think about every veteran of WWII that I've had the fortune to meet over the years, and how most of them are no longer with us. Most of those young men would now be roughly 100 years old if still alive. I know there are no longer any surviving USS Arizona veterans from Pearl Harbor, though I do not know about the number of D-Day veterans left (not just from the USA, but from every allied nation). If there are any, the numbers are surely few and dwindling by the day. No matter what they became later in life, their actions on 6 June literally helped save the world.
The Greatest Generation, indeed.
Later on I would join the military, myself, and as a member of our Base Honor Guard at LRAFB, I presented final military honors for WWII veterans across Arkansas and into Tennessee. I probably took part in 50 or more funerals. At the time, we were told that Honor Guard activity was anticipated to continue increasing as the WWII-era veterans were reaching the age where the population was naturally dying.
A decade later, I would find myself living in Germany. Over a four year period, my family and I immersed ourselves in the historic locations, battlefields, cemeteries, and other venues. The war in Europe became more real.
Four years later, I would find myself living on Oahu and working on Ford Island -- right on the spot where the first bombs were dropped on December 7th, 1941. I was fortunate enough during my time in Hawaii to meet veterans of both the Pacific and European theaters.
Although today we commemorate and memorialize those who took part in Operation Overlord -- "D-Day" -- I still think about every veteran of WWII that I've had the fortune to meet over the years, and how most of them are no longer with us. Most of those young men would now be roughly 100 years old if still alive. I know there are no longer any surviving USS Arizona veterans from Pearl Harbor, though I do not know about the number of D-Day veterans left (not just from the USA, but from every allied nation). If there are any, the numbers are surely few and dwindling by the day. No matter what they became later in life, their actions on 6 June literally helped save the world.
The Greatest Generation, indeed.
AVB
Jesus of Cool, I'm bad, I'm nationwide
kann
One Leg Of Fury.
Also, today commemorates the Battle of Midway, where the tides of war in the Pacific theater began turning in the allies' direction. It would still be many bloody battles until Hiroshima and Nagasaki fully ended World War II, but the waters off Midway are where it began to happen.