Veterans Day: The uncles, aunts we never knew
A conversation this week with World War II veteran Jack Eick of Dent, who wrote a moving Your Voice column about his visit to the World War II Memorial hosted by a volunteer organization called Honor Flight, started me thinking about not only how we honor those veterans who served and returned, but how we remember those who died and never got the chance to shape our lives.
Mr. Eick had asked me about my family's experience in that war, and I told him that my father had served and returned, but that his brother had died after being shot down over the English Channel. His brother John. The uncle I never knew.
The result is my column on this topic on the editorial page for Veterans Day. I wrote it knowing full well that there must be many, many people of my generation who have had similar musings about how the losses during that war -- and others -- robbed us of the chance to know and to be shaped by those uncles, aunts, fathers, cousins and others. If that's the case and you have some observations on that topic -- or anything else regarding Veterans Day and how we observe it -- post a response or e-mail us at letters@enquirer.com.
posted by Ray Cooklis at 8:36 AM
4 Comments:
at 8:21 PM, November 11, 2006 
Brah Coon said...
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at 10:40 AM, November 13, 2006 
Anonymous said...
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at 2:56 PM, November 13, 2006 
Anonymous said...
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at 10:09 AM, November 14, 2006 
Anonymous said...
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Post a Comment*A late Uncle of mine was a decorated WWII combat vet. He was fortunate enough to return home alive and with no physical injuries. He did however bring home psychological scars that he had for the rest of his life. This was my Mother's brother and she told me that for many months after his return he made no attempt to find a job, did not participate in social activities and did not talk a whole lot about the war. What he mostly did during this period was drink and sit alone in a room and paint canvas landscapes and such . Family and friends began to wonder if he was going to be a " lazy bum" the rest of his life because they just couldn't understand why he would behave this way. He did'nt used to be like this.
If this sounds cliché it's because it's not uncommon behavior in many recently returned combat veterans of all wars. He retired as Vice President of Clermont County Lumber in the mid/late 1970's. When famed American Civil War, General William Sherman, said something like: War is not Glorious, it's all Hell --he just might have known what he was talking about. My Uncle obviously had not become a lazy bum, but he had returned from a stint in hell on earth that we who have never experienced can never understand. Oddly enough, the single horror of horrors that haunted him more than all others was his killing of a German soldier on sentry duty. He killed him from behind with a knife, I'm assuming cutting his throat. We don't know, because that's all the detail he would divulge. He said this act didn't bother him in the least when he did it, nor for the remainder of his time in combat. As a civilian, he thought about it every day until his death in 1984.
War is not a football game, people. Even our vets that return home physically unscathed, a part of them is forever " stuck" there.
They should never be sent to war unless it is absolutely unavoidable
Did i miss something? Im a veteran, I served in the early 80s and Im proud of that privilege. I saw precious little this weekend regarding our vets on tv, the radio ,the papers, I saw virtually nothing, it seemed especially painful with troops overseas. Sunday was Remembrance Day In Canada its the same as our veterans day. I was able to watch a CBC hockey game this weekend and it was a heart breaking comparison the way the Canadians revere their vets and the praise and thanks showered on them. Here I was informed of a Veterans Day sale on some jewelry, just in time for Christmas. Did I miss something?
"...the way the Canadians revere their vets and the praise and thanks showered on them..."
In other countries, the veterans are treated better than royalty. They are taken care of for the balance of their days, and want for nothing. Everything at the expense of the government.
My Mother is a WWII Army Nurse Corps Veteran, DDay +6. It doesn't matter that this country is mired in political wrongdoings & another war that we don't need to be in, she's still a staunch USA supporter & her little American flag has to stand perfectly straight in the window of her nursing home room. And she's damned proud to be a Veteran.
If it weren't for my Mom, a couple of generations of people wouldn't be here. There would have been untold heartache in many families because their sons wouldn't have come home. She nursed hundreds of soldiers back to health from near fatality & critical wounds.
My Mom will always be my hero & my best counselor. For that, I thank her. She gave so others could have & enjoy.
thank you anonymous.
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