From 1995. As they are leaving us now, we should recall how the War marked the men and women of the generation of World War II, particularly those in their twenties and thirties. They didn’t talk much about it, that wasn’t their style, and they had been eager for the madness of the War to end and return to normal life, but mark them it did. As far as I know, Prince Philip was the last high level figure in public life who was a veteran of that great conflict. With his passing we see the passing of a great generation, a title they would doubtless have scoffed at, particularly during the War, when their songs tended to be about anything other than the War or to engage in mockery of the crucible they were passing through.
Slightly over 300,000 American veterans of the Big One are still alive, out of the sixteen million who served. About one hundred thousand British veterans of the 2.9 million who served are still alive.
My Bride and I are taking a vacation week this week. Over the weekend we visited the mother in law who turned 89 in December and who is still spry and active. As we do during each visit, we went out to the grave of the father-in-law who passed away in 1997. He served in the Navy during World War II, enlisting at age 17 with the permission of his parents. As we were making our way to his grave we passed by the graves of many other World War II vets, and it occurred to me that these men and their wives were the building blocks of our world.
How sad to see their valiant actions save the world, only to have it and their own nation turn into exactly what they fought against.
Some lessons are extremely hard to learn. I’m afraid that the lesson America will learn will come at the cost of millions of lives.
As the number of [ none’s ] grow and with it agnosticism, the elements that welled up inside those dear brave men and women in 1941 are going to be in short supply if ever a future call to arms is sounded.
Duty.
Honor.
[ ? ]
God and Country. Those brave veterans had everything as they postponed their plan’s to stop the evil of the day. That everything was a nation praying to Almighty God for the success of their children, brothers, uncles and fathers.
No God. No future.
None. That’s the future of those who are indifferent to God. Imagine America without Christianity.
Imagine hell on earth.
Doesn’t take much imagination in 2021. One only needs to pay attention to the current events.
Up North for example;
https://www.jccf.ca/statement-regarding-sunday-april-11-protest-near-grace-life-church-grounds/
https://notthebee.com/article/after-throwing-their-pastor-in-jail-for-over-a-month-for-disobeying-rona-rules-canadian-officials-are-not-erecting-a-us-capitol-style-fence-around-this-church-to-keep-members-from-worshipping
I went to the Normandy beaches and cemetery in 2019. I was so moved by looking out over those graves. I kissed the ground and prayed all five of the beaches. I’m so grateful for the sacrifices of these men and women AND their families. There is no GOOD war, but there are necessary wars. I think the “hard heart” necessary to kill and process the killing around you that is necessary in war is difficult to come back from, which is what I think Audie was talking about in the quote. I hope I see him and these other veterans and thank them for saving us from the socialist tyranny at the Beatific Vision.
I’ve always wondered, how is it possible that the children of The Greatest Generation ended up as the drug induced and sex obsessed hippies of the 60’s???
Nothing fails like success Ben!
I think the “hard heart” necessary to kill and process the killing around you that is necessary in war is difficult to come back from, which is what I think Audie was talking about in the quote.
It is hard to remain the same person after being in a war, both good and bad. Audie Murphy was haunted by nightmares about the War for the rest of his life.
I’ve always wondered, how is it possible that the children of The Greatest Generation ended up as the drug induced and sex obsessed hippies of the 60’s???
Few of them did, and some quondam hippies are rather benign characters, like my sister in law.
What did happen en masse was that the children of people who worked to build an orderly life for themselves made stupefyingly frequent use of divorce courts. If you’re looking at women born around 1930, I believe the lifetime probability for resort to divorce courts was around 25%. For women born around 1950, it was something on the order of 60%. It tapered off for younger cohorts.
My wife read a recent biography of Audie Murphy, and she said it was clear part of him stayed in the War and never came back. Hollywood fame was both blessing and curse, but at least he had something of a life after the war.
But it was better than poor Charles Whittlesey, who never stopped seeing the horror, even after the guns fell silent.
May God rest both of their souls.
In his film 1955 biopic, which he did not want to star in, a good deal of focus is given to his buddies which Murphy insisted on. it is chilling seeing them die one by one and realizing how Murphy during the filming had to be reliving it all over and over again.
My wife told me how much he hated the idea of being in the biopic. It sounds like him to put the limelight on them.
He was in financial trouble toward the end of his life, but he refused offers of cigarette and alcohol endorsements, not wanting to be a bad example to youth.
That America can produce such men is both a credit and a wonder.
He wanted Tony Curtis to star in it. Curtis was a fellow vet, he and Murphy were friends and they had starred in three Westerns together. His war memoir, the aptly named To Hell and Back, which he wrote with the help of another vet, was I think, part cathartic, and he never expected it to become the best seller it did.
I occasionally go to a coffee shop/bakery in San Francisco. Sitting inside is about a 90 year old guy-quite healthy looking. He joined the merchant marine at the age of 15. Was in the Battle of Guadalcanal. Delivered troops to North Africa. Served on Liberty ships in Alaska. His stories are fascinating. And he had wisdom that has been obliterated by what seems to be a dying culture.
Talking to World War II vets Tim has taught me much over the years. Sadly, they do seem like a different breed.