For those who did not take advantage of Monday’s Veterans Day events, they were something to see.

Fireworks are fun, and food and music and dance are enjoyable. Speeches are expected and welcome. However, it is always a treat to sit awhile and just talk with a veteran of our nation’s wars.

You can see the Hollywood version of war, but it isn’t until you sit and talk with someone who has been there, seen those sights first-hand and felt the ravages of emotion that sweep through them. A person cannot endure warfare unaffected.

Thousands of veterans of World War II are dying every day. In about 10 years or less, nearly all will be gone, and with them the living memory of what has been called “the greatest generation.”

What made them the “greatest generation?” These were a generation of men and women eager and willing to serve their country for the simple reason that it was the right thing to do. Most of them were young, mid-20s and less. Many had never been far from home, never mind overseas. Coming out of the Great Depression, they were filled with a sense of adventure and challenge. They had the innate American courage to an infinite degree.

Most found their way overseas to combat. Friends and brothers died. Many of themselves died as well. None were unchanged by the experience. The survivors know the horrors of the battlefield, the despair of the refugees, the terror of the prisoners of war, the dying and the dead.

They returned home, their eyes filled with memories. It matured them and infused them with an unwavering love for America, unique in all the world. They served out of love of country, not at a dictator’s whim.

They continue to take pride in America and hope to see that pride and love of country carried on by the present generation faced with the spectre of possible war.

They only fear for their grandchildren and great-grandchildren. But they know freedom is not free.

L’Observateur