World War II novels
With tattered covers
Worn out bindings
And faded pages
Are put up each night
But by day
You can find them
Out in the halls
Sitting on benches
Walking on pathways
I saw them last week
At the Old Soldier's Home
With their thin necks
Like bookmarks tucked
Into real life war stories
3 comments:
...or in heaven playing golf on the 19th hole. That's where my dad is now.
He was a WW II veteran who was stationed in Japan for 3 and 1/2 years. He lived to be 93 years old.
Judy's dad, who at 91 lives down the street with his bride of 70 years, took home a Bronze Star from the Battle of the Bulge, among other skirmishes. He remains vigorous and engaged.
He speaks little of his wartime experiences, except lightly. For instance, he tells of the American soldiers' first act on entering an Austrian village already wracked by retreating Germans. They first shot all the chickens.
He stops the story there, but a little backup research discloses that the soldiers of the 26th Yankee Division had not been properly supplied by the end of the war, and they were starving.
On the day WWII ended in Europe, my father-in-law participated in the liberation of Gusen Concentration Camp near Mauthausen. He has never mentioned it, and I pretend I don't know.
Pam & Ev:
You can always tell a hero by the way he (or she) doesn't make a big deal about it. I hope both of the men you've described were justly rewarded in life for their quiet heroism.
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