May 31, 2004

U.S. Dedicates Memorial to WWII Vets

America dedicated a memorial Saturday to the fast-thinning ranks of World War II veterans, a poignant last hurrah drawing together tens of thousands of old soldiers, sailors and heroes of the home front.

Frail now, full of spunk then,
[Actually, more than a few of them are still full of spunk!--Jen]
they were thanked for service that "helped save the world."

The National Mall, where huge numbers usually gather in protest[Like John Kerry and Jane Fonda.--J.T.], instead offered a last-of-a-lifetime scene of commemoration as veterans assembled by the sweeping monument of granite and bronze that was more than a decade in the planning.

"We have kept faith with our comrades from a distant youth," said former Sen. Bob Dole, a driving force for the memorial. An Army lieutenant in the war, Dole lost the use of his right arm when a shell hit him while he served in Italy.

"What we dedicate today is not a memorial to war. Rather it is a tribute to the physical and moral courage that makes heroes out of farm and city boys
[My Dad was one of those farm boys, who served with the Army for over 3 years in Europe!
He would have loved this and I'm sure he would have been in Washington for the dedication if he'd lived!--Jen]
, that inspires Americans of every generation to lay down their lives for people they'll never meet," Dole told a crowd estimated at 140,000 by police.

Many veterans gripped canes. Others sat in wheelchairs. The hardiest among them grabbed their wives and danced in the aisles when 1940s swing music wafted over the crowd. Young people came up to old people and said thanks.
[Bless their hearts, every last one of them!]
[...]
"These were the modest sons of a peaceful country," said President Bush. "They gave the best years of their lives to the greatest mission their country ever accepted."
[...]

Former Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton, sitting next to each other on the stage, jumped up to help a Medal of Honor winner who fell from his wheelchair near them;
[This may actually be the only selfless act Bill Clinton's ever performed.--J.T.]
the man stayed for the rest of the event after a medic checked him.
[...]
The elder Bush, a Navy pilot shot down over the South Pacific in 1944, said the World War II generation was remarkable for the challenges it faced, but Americans today, as in any point of history, can rise to the same level of commitment.
[...]
Raymond Veley, 80, of Marysville, Ohio, fought in Italy with the Army and spent 17 months as a POW. Running into other ex-prisoners in Washington was a powerful experience, he said, because "we all know what the other one went through."
[And I'll bet you it made whatever our soldiers were supposed to have done to the Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib look like a tea party!--J.T.]
[...]
The president, born a year after the war ended, concluded his speech on the Mall by asking "every man and woman who saw and lived World War II, every member of that generation, to please rise as you are able and receive the thanks of our great nation."

They rose slowly, as they were able, some in tears, American flags in their hand or tucked into camera straps.
[...]
The memorial features 56 granite pillars, each 17 feet high and representing the states, territories of that time and the District of Columbia, and two arches more than twice that height — Atlantic and Pacific — symbolizing the two theaters of the war. A wall with 4,000 sculpted gold stars commemorates the more than 400,000 Americans killed.

What a wonderful thing to have accomplished this for the "Greatest Generation!"
And about time, too.
But there's something to be said for this fine memorial to be dedicated now, even if so many of our WWII vets have passed on from old age and the war has been over for almost 60 years because we're at war again and once more in the fight to save the world.
The enemy is basically the same--Evil.
And once again, the U.S. and her allies are on the side of the Good.
I want to thank our dads and granddads (and some of our moms and grandmothers) for their service and saying with their very lives that Freedom was worth fighting and dying for.
We get whatever will to fight that we have now from them and they taught us the pride, the dignity, the honor and the respect for our country that impels us to defend it today.
One of the big reasons I named my blog what I did--the Greatest Jeneration--was in the hopes that we shall become the NEW Greatest Generation and rise to the occasion of defending Democracy that the War on Terror and 9/11 has given us and in so many way, many of us already have.
As Rosie the Riveter (Don't forget all those at home who worked on the homefront during WWII!) reminds us, "We can do it!"
This war isn't over by a long shot, but these World War II vets teach us to Keep The Faith and that with perseverance, courage and resolve, Victory is possible!
(And a big thank you to Sen. Bob Dole and actor Tom Hanks, who spearheaded the drive to get this Memorial funded and built!)
May God continue to bless the Greatest Generation of WWII and may He hold in His arms all those souls who have already passed on to their reward, like my Dad!