COUNTRY HONOR DUTY
It started with just one angry man and as the gravity of the horror visited upon this nation began to materialize, he was joined by another and then another until the surge became a ground swell, an avalanche of humanity that surpassed any previous call to arms. They came from the wheat fields of Kansas , the coal mines of Pennsylvania and the frozen wastes of Alaska. They came from the streets of San Francisco, teachers, blue collar workers, clerks, fathers, sons and brother. Each man with his own private motivation, his own personal crusade. None of these men were soldiers but their country was hurt and bleeding and her sons came by the hundreds of thousands to stop the flow of blood. Take a good look at these men here today, they are the faces of those brash, brave, young men who took the battle to the enemy, so many years ago.
Not too many remain but those that do are haunted by the ghosts of those who made the supreme sacrifice so that we could be here, today. These are the remnants of the greatest generation, tired, old men, upon whom the fate of the civilized world depended for salvation from the yoke of tyrannical oppression. These are the faces, not of professional soldiers but of your neighbors who answered the call with dedication and a courage they didn’t know they possessed until challenged. These are the men to whom you would entrust the life of your youngest child. We will never know of their individual heroics but all of these men, here today, have earned the everlasting gratitude of the free world. Do any of these men look like murderers? And yet, some of them, at one time, took the life of another human being. We do not glory in this fact and most of us have either discarded this from our conscious mind or have learned to live with this ghastly experience. But some, are still haunted at night by persistent nightmares that will forever be a part of who they are. This is the fraternity of warriors, the brotherhood of man, who took up arms to defend the right to live free. They fought with little more than an M1 rifle and guts. They had no body armor apart from the soup bowl they wore on their heads, They did their job and then came home and picked up the shattered remnants of their interrupted lives. They came home and got jobs or went to school on the G.I. bill. Got married and bought homes with government mortgages. They raised families and became productive members of society. They became the foundation and the strength of a recovering country. And they asked for nothing more than a chance to live a life of peace among family and friends. Many of these men spent as much as three, continuous years away from loved ones and yet, suffered no psychological trauma from the enforced separation. It was all a part of what had to be done to defeat a determined enemy.
We have been brought together, once again, not to fight, but to be recognized for our service with a trip to Washington DC, where we will view the memorial built to honor all those who wore the uniforms of our armed services during that critical period in time, known as WW II. While I am deeply appreciative of all the endless time, effort and money these wonderful volunteers have committed to this project, I can’t help but feel somewhat distressed that this memorial was so long in coming. The great tragedy I suffer is that of the sixteen million men in arms during the great war, a very small percentage will actually get to see this memorial intended in their honor. Most of them never had the chance, having died before it’s completion while others are too fragile to make the trip. But those of us who are here, have our own reasons for coming and I will not intrude upon the intimate contemplations of yesterday‘s heroes.
Our great American odyssey began at the wee small hours of the day and as we approached the airport, the Wilmington fire dept was in the process of creating an arch with a giant American flag as the keystone.
This was the beginning of a day that introduced us to the collective outpouring of admiration and respect from all the good people of Wilmington. There were people here to greet us and it warmed my soul to see these people when most sane people are still in bed.
in order to maintain some degree of organization, the group was broken down into smaller segments of 3 to 4 vets with a “guardian” as the leader. These guardians must have been recruited by St Peter for they displayed the patience of saints.
As the morning dragged on with processing, the cohesion of the groups melted away and each vet found his own measure of tolerance. I don’t think this guy ever found any of his buddies.
We are now all checked out and ready to board our magic carpet to Washington. As we approached the boarding station, we passed through an honor guard of Wilmington boy scouts and members of the American Legion Post 10 . We are now airborne and on our way to our great adventure. I believe we had 103 veterans on board with 35 guardians, medical personnel with a sufficient number of wheel chairs to accommodate those who needed them. We even had our own local television news team who would shadow us during the entire day. Let me say that this venture was a brilliantly orchestrated endeavor and Jason McLeod and his staff did an outstanding job of herding this eclectic group of people. Every smallest need had been anticipated and handled expeditiously and with tender care.
The flight was wonderfully smooth and an hour later, we landed in Washington to a dull, dreary and chilly day that promised to get even worse. Upon boarding our land transportation we departed for the primary reason for our trip, the War memorial. After a brief tour of our nation’s capitol, we arrived at the focal point of the day. Perhaps, due to a pre-existing hostile attitude, I found the memorial to be somewhat less than awe inspiring. I harbor too many conflicting emotions to objectively evaluate this attractive piece of artistic architecture. But I am sure that most veterans found these works to be well worth the trip.
We did get to spend a few moments with the architect of this memorial
Eisenhower’s address to assault troops prior to D Day
President Roosevelt’s speech that launched this country into a world crusade that ultimately freed half the world.
There is some controversy concerning the words, “so help me God” allegedly having been omitted from this quotation. There are some historians that maintain these words were never spoken.
Admiral Yamamoto of the imperial Japanese navy was reported to have remarked that, “the only thing this raid on Pearl Harbor accomplished was to awaken a sleeping giant”.
The Lincoln memorial as viewed from the end of the reflecting pool
The Washington memorial, the first thing you see when approaching Washington.
There were no shortage of politicians, our representative to congress, Mike Mcintyre and
Senator Richard Burr, conspicuous by her absence was senator Kay Hagen.
And then the rains came. We boarded our buses for a stop at the Korean and Viet Nam memorials. It was at this place that the full impact of this trip took on an emotional significance for it is here that my son’s name is etched upon that wall
This place has become a shrine, a holy place with an ethereal stillness descending upon the multitude of people who visit here. Every name here is regarded with the respect and honor they have earned in their sacrifice in the name of freedom. It is raining but these are tears from heaven that mingle with those of survivors and friends. And I know that George is in Heaven for he has spent his time in hell. This is a highly charged atmosphere of emotional expression and every time I leave here, I feel I have left a part of myself behind with George. And when he gathers enough pieces, I will join him in that heavenly host.
We visited all the other memorials dedicated to the armed forces but I did not leave the bus because of the nasty weather. It has been a full day and most of us are ready to pack it in and return home. We are a sorry bunch of tired vets as we board our plane for Wilmington but our spirits soon soared with an interesting, heart warming feature introduced by the honors flight staff, identified as “mail call”. we were each given an envelope that contained messages from local school children and our families. Included in my package was an inspirational letter from my wife which included excerpts from a letter I had sent her back in 1942. I will not reveal the contents but I will say that these sentiments have caused me to re-evaluate my life and rediscover who I am and became the foundation of almost 65 years of often tumultuous but largely fruitful marriage. I am an extremely lucky man and today, a very happy man.
We are a tired but grateful group of old men and our energies are quickly restored as we disembark from our plane. A huge crowd of people have gathered to welcome us.
Never, NEVER, have I seen such an outpouring of genuine affection from strangers. We were greeted by most of the boy and girl scout troops from the area, high school junior ROTC cadets, (that’s my wife in the middle of the picture holding the flag),
Civic groups, relatives and friends and a whole lot of average, appreciative folks who just wanted to express their gratitude. I have been back to France to celebrate the 50th and 60th anniversaries of D Day where we were greeted by the French people but in a much subdued manner with music and polite applause from a distance. Here, we literally had to push ourselves through enthusiastic, cheering people holding flags and signs, clamoring to shake our hands or just touch us. It’s the American way, we do everything with so much passion. And that is how we won the war.
This reception was undoubtedly, the high spot of our trip and I shall forever hold a warm spot in my heart for the wonderful people of Wilmington.
It has been my great pleasure and honor to have been selected for this inaugural honors flight and my compliments and gratitude go out to all the selfless volunteers who, collectively, made this a flight to remember.
William George Pepe chevalier in the French Legion of Honor