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Mike Moser By 2010, there will be precious few Lloyd Armour had a very interesting column
in The Tennessean recently during which he made the statement,
"We are a vanishing generation, we veterans of World War
II, and the question is whether we will be missed very much when
we are gone." Armour, retired executive editor of The Tennessean,
served in the South Pacific with the U.S. Marines. Here in Cumberland County, there are 106 fewer
WW II veterans this Memorial Day than Memorial Day in 1999. My thoughts had reflected on the issue of
veterans recently, with another D-Day anniversary passing, a
re-watching of "Saving Private Ryan" Memorial Day last
month, and now on the day I write this column, Flag Day. While attending public school in Minnesota,
as a freshman I remember distinctly marching in the high school
band for the Memorial Day parade. Our town wasn't that big, and
the parade usually traveled from the school, three blocks to
Main St., and then south to the city park, a route of 10 to 12
blocks. It was an exciting time, even for a skeptical
teen-ager. People lined the streets, waved small flags, and cheered
the veterans as they marched along. But not all the veterans
marched in the parade - some traveled the route on crutches,
others in wheelchairs. They gave proud but feeble salutes to Old
Glory. They weren't WWII veterans. They were survivors of WWI.
And now they are all gone. Now they are long gone Cumberland County
Veterans Affairs Officer Donald Mustard said recently he believes
there is only one WWI veteran alive in Tennessee. In the Upper
Cumberlands, we had two WWI vets who earned the Congressional
Medal of Honor, Sgt. Alvin C. York of Fentress County and Sgt.
Milo Lemert of Crossville. Now, as Armour points out, the generation
that "saved the world" is quietly disappearing from
our midst. In Cumberland County WWII GIs are dying at the rate
of nearly 10 a month, and Mustard believes the new census from
the state veterans affairs department will show around 1,700
WWII veterans left in Cumberland County. At the war's peak, there were over 16 million
servicemen in WWII. Of those, 291,559 died and 670,846 were wounded.
Nationally, the average age of WWII veterans
is 77, and as Armour admits, "Many too old to march in mile-long
parades and some too old to march at all." Armour then makes this statement, "We
are dying at the rate of 30,000 a month. By 2010, we will have
dwindled down to a precious few. Will they miss us when we are
gone? It is doubtful. We should remember that thousands did not
come home. And many who did come home did so with broken bodies,
and sometimes, minds. We should cherish the sacrifice these men and women gave as sacred, and thank them every day. When you see a WWII veteran, give him a handshake or a hug. Tell him or her thanks. And do it before it is too late because then you will wish you had. |