Precious Few: WWII Vets Dying, Their Stories Will Not

This former school building served as the home of Supreme Headquarters
Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), commanded by GEN Dwight D.
Eisenhower. It was in this building that the German delegation offered
unconditional surrender to the American and British, ending hostilities
major hostilities in WWII. Surrender to the Soviet Union followed on May 8.
Photo by Chris Monroe

7 May, 2018
Detroit, Michigan

I have spent a lot of time recently writing about World War One, as the world is busy honoring the 100th anniversary of the end of combat this coming November. But today and tomorrow mark the final days of World War Two in the European Theater, 73 years ago. So I decided to take a few minutes to give my thoughts about the rapid loss of personal connection to this war.

It is the reality of the linear way in which we understand time. Generations pass, and with it go the memories and the stories both told and untold of another generation. It just so happens however, that the generation we are losing at the fastest rate now is of the finest. Tom Brokaw called them "The Greatest Generation." This title would be hard to argue. The oldest generation living today in our country managed through the great depression, fought against tyranny and fascism during WWII, and came home to work in cities like Detroit and Chicago, developing a great concept called "the middle class" along the way. They forged a character of unquestionable integrity based on experiences in epic economic, political, and military battles that dwarf the "crises" we often complain about in our world today.

Grave marker of  CPL Frank Buckles, the last American
 veteran of WWI in Arlington National Cemetery.
Photo: Wikipedia

It is not uncommon for war veterans to live incredibly long lives, and outlive the public familiarity with the war in which they fought. In 2011, Frank Buckles died at the age of 110 years old. He was the oldest surviving veteran of WWI. He lived 93 years beyond the end of the first conflict that featured airplanes and tanks. In the last decade of his life, as people found it hard to believe that anyone remained from this seemingly ancient conflict, interest arose in documenting the first hand accounts of his experiences in WWI. So three times after his 100th birthday, he was recorded as part of the Veterans History Project, giving his first hand account of the years 1914-1918.

Now, as we recognize the 73rd anniversary of the end of WWII in Europe and later this summer in Asia, it is hard not to look forward to two years from now: the 75th anniversary, or the 80th anniversary in 2023. How many from the WWII generation will remain? What are we doing to document and learn from their experiences?

The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that nearly 400 WWII Soldiers die each day, with less than 400,000 remaining in all from the 16 million (nearly 1 out of 8 citizens) that served during the war. There is a very good chance that there will be very few WWII veterans to see the 80th anniversary in 2023. That means that there is precious time for us to engage with them about their experiences, and record their stories.

My Mother-In-Law often asks me if I ever get tired of war documentaries.  It is quite an understandable question. In fact I frequently do get bored with them. Many people call the History channel the "Hitler Channel" because for years they aired the same WWII content over and over again (and it seems that now they have given up on history all together)! But it is thanks to many of the more recently documented stories that we are getting new accounts of heroism from WWII. These new perspectives open up new avenues for discussion and study of the events of that period. Many who survived the war took their stories to their graves out of respect for those around them who died. It is often after their passing that correspondence discussing their experiences, or their family's recollections of discussions with their patriarchs, that spawns interest anew.

But there is another dynamic at play here. As much as I love a well researched original documentary, I have been very critical of Hollywood's portrayal of war. I can hardly watch depictions of the Global War on Terrorism (Iraq/Afghanistan). I have seen the inside of war and the depictions on the silver screen are usually either grossly over-exaggerated or focused on the wrong points in their story lines. However, the Hollywood depictions play an important role in telling the public about the stories of the men and women that have the guts to volunteer to go to war. Even if they may be exaggerated, it gets people thinking and talking about the wars and the people that played a role in them. The story of Desmond Doss was known among many history gurus and Army veterans like myself. But it was not until it received critical acclaim in the award winning film "Hacksaw Ridge" that the average American heard or cared about the very real events portrayed in the film. Similarly, although everyone knows about D-Day, it was Stephen Spielberg's depiction of the events in Saving Private Ryan that spurred so much interest in the amphibious assault on the beaches of Normandy that a new visitor center was opened by the American Battle Monuments Commission.

Whether it is through dinner table discussions with a WWII veteran in your family or circle of friends, or if it comes through internet research, books, and movies...I highly encourage you to learn something new about a veteran of WWII. There are stories out there that need to be told. I suggest starting with We Were There (Available on Amazon). World War II was not just about Pearl Harbor, Hitler, or The Holocaust. For every major name or battle or story line, there are human beings with a story to tell. I bet you would enjoy listening to a couple of them!

Chris