I'm only half-way through the book Flags of our Fathers, by James Bradley, and already it's on my list of favorite books. The story holds more meaning for me because of some recent experiences.
Last spring my husband Mike and I spent a few days in Normandy, France, as part of a two-week trip to England and France. We were so moved by a tour we did of the D-Day beaches of Normandy that we both felt compelled to do something with what we had learned. (The tour was led by Battlebus Tours, http://www.battlebus.fr/, which I highly recommend if you're planning a trip to Normandy. The tour was fantastic and emotionally moving.) Neither Mike nor I remember learning much about World War II during history classes in school. Our grandparents were too old to fight in the war, and our parents were just children at the time. We're getting our dose of history -- living history -- now.
Through a friend, Mike made contact with an organization that sends veterans, free of charge, back to the sites of their battlefield campaigns. The focus of the next few years is World War II veterans, who are dying at a rate of about 1,000 per day, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The foundation raises money and sponsors trips for veterans back to Europe and the Pacific. It also organizes trips to the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. The point is to honor these veterans before they die, give them a forum to tell their stories (which many have refused to talk about for six decades) and let them experience the appreciation of today's generations for their service to our country.
Two weeks ago I had the honor of accompanying 24 World War II veterans from Colorado on a three-day trip to the National World War II Memorial in Washington. These 23 men -- and one woman -- served in a variety of roles during the war. Some flew bombing missions over Europe in the 8th Air Force. Others landed on the beaches of Normandy, marched across Europe and fought in the Battle of the Bulge, a six-week fight in the middle of a harsh winter that resulted in more than 80,000 American casualties. Others were Marines who fought in the Pacific front of the war, including the invasion of the tiny island of Iwo Jima, a horrific 36-day battle that makes the D-Day landings at Normandy almost pale in comparison. Iwo Jima -- and the famous photograph of Marines raising a flag at the top of Mount Suribachi on the island -- is the subject of Flags of our Fathers.
Last spring my husband Mike and I spent a few days in Normandy, France, as part of a two-week trip to England and France. We were so moved by a tour we did of the D-Day beaches of Normandy that we both felt compelled to do something with what we had learned. (The tour was led by Battlebus Tours, http://www.battlebus.fr/, which I highly recommend if you're planning a trip to Normandy. The tour was fantastic and emotionally moving.) Neither Mike nor I remember learning much about World War II during history classes in school. Our grandparents were too old to fight in the war, and our parents were just children at the time. We're getting our dose of history -- living history -- now.
Through a friend, Mike made contact with an organization that sends veterans, free of charge, back to the sites of their battlefield campaigns. The focus of the next few years is World War II veterans, who are dying at a rate of about 1,000 per day, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The foundation raises money and sponsors trips for veterans back to Europe and the Pacific. It also organizes trips to the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. The point is to honor these veterans before they die, give them a forum to tell their stories (which many have refused to talk about for six decades) and let them experience the appreciation of today's generations for their service to our country.
Two weeks ago I had the honor of accompanying 24 World War II veterans from Colorado on a three-day trip to the National World War II Memorial in Washington. These 23 men -- and one woman -- served in a variety of roles during the war. Some flew bombing missions over Europe in the 8th Air Force. Others landed on the beaches of Normandy, marched across Europe and fought in the Battle of the Bulge, a six-week fight in the middle of a harsh winter that resulted in more than 80,000 American casualties. Others were Marines who fought in the Pacific front of the war, including the invasion of the tiny island of Iwo Jima, a horrific 36-day battle that makes the D-Day landings at Normandy almost pale in comparison. Iwo Jima -- and the famous photograph of Marines raising a flag at the top of Mount Suribachi on the island -- is the subject of Flags of our Fathers.
As I read the book, I think of Joe Weinmeier, a former Marine who was a "flamethrower" on Iwo Jima. He wore his heart on his sleeve during the trip to Washington; the tears came easily as he described what the trip meant to him. As he gazed up at the Marine Memorial in Washington, which depicts the flag-raising on Iwo Jima, Joe marveled that he made it through the battle alive . . . while so many others didn't. I think also of Max and Shirley Brown, sweethearts who married after the war. Max was on Iwo Jima while Shirley was doing her part at home. Shirley joined the Marine Corps Women's Reserve at age 20 and became a truck driver at Parris Island, S.C. In Washington two weeks ago, Shirley stared up at the Marine Memorial, then glanced at her husband of nearly 61 years standing next to her. "To think he came home to me," she said. "And we've had 60 years together."
I also think of my own children, whenever the time is right for me and Mike to have them. They won't have the honor of meeting these men and women, of sitting down and hearing the stories that made them the Greatest Generation. But I'll be able to tell some of their stories, only fragments of history though they may be. Someday I'll stand at the Marine Memorial, my children at my side, and say to them, "I met some of the men who were there."
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