"Whether they served on the front lines or the
home front, these men and women faced sacrifices that are difficult for
us even to contemplate."
Magazine
Winter/Spring 2002
In
praise of World War II veterans
by Ronald J. Rychlak ’80
Their childhood was dominated by the Great Depression. They went off
to fight the war that saved the world for Democracy, and they came home
to build America. They gave their children what they themselves had missed
in their childhood, and they watched those children reject their ways.
Those who are left have seen the world turn upside down and—just
maybe—start heading back in their direction. They are the veterans
of World War II.
I spent the better part of the last decade working on a book about WWII.
Despite the class that I took at Wabash from Professor Barnes (who graciously
reviewed a very early and very bad copy of my manuscript), I did not know
much about the causes, battles, and personalities of the war. So I spent
lots of time reading books, watching documentaries, and talking to people
who actually were in the war. That was my favorite part of the research.
These are the people who defeated Hitler. Their testimony is a living
link to the most dramatic events of the 20th Century. The only difficulty
is getting them to open up. WWII vets seem rarely to discuss their exploits.
Maybe it is because they saw so much blood and lost so many friends. About
the only time you can count on them to tell their stories is when they
talk to one another, but it is well worth the effort to listen in.
They all have stories of heroics, if not of their own then of their close
friends. Some stories are sad, others funny, but all of them are worth
hearing. It is also worth seeing the faces of these now elderly heroes
light up as they tell their stories. If beauty is to be found in any human
face, it is in these. If any people are worthy of praise, it is them.
Many of the stories that I heard came from people I had known for many
years. An insurance man fought in Germany. A lady at church was a military
nurse. A law professor was at Iwo Jima. The former mayor of our town fought
in Europe, and my wife’s uncle was sent to Pearl Harbor (in fact,
she had five uncles who were all in the war at the same time). I had known
these people in their civilian roles, but when I heard their stories,
they took on a whole new heroic stature.
My father-in-law signed up right out of high school and was assigned
to the infantry. After basic training, he shipped off to Europe. There,
he walked “point,” in front of a tank as his squad made its
way into Germany. He frequently came under fire, and several of his buddies
were killed. As he puts it, he fired his rifle in the general direction
of the enemy several times, but he doesn’t know whether he hit anyone.
Late in the war he was leading his squad into a small German town. Suddenly
a Nazi soldier popped up from behind a stone wall. He had a machine gun
aimed “right down our gut.” Fortunately, the German put his
hands in the air to surrender, as did several others who materialized
from buildings all around the town. “When that guy stood up and I
realized what could have happened, it scared the liver out of me. I’m
sure all of us were scared at one time or another, probably many times.”
Despite the fear and the losses, my father-in-law’s memories are
not all bad. He talks about finding and eating a cake, the men giving
each other bad haircuts, trying to stay warm in the tank’s exhaust
fumes, a rare hot shower, big drinkers, mean drunks, bad meals, and occasional
good ones. When the war ended he got separated from his troop and spent
some time traveling around Europe. It was a big adventure for a Mississippi
boy.
Whether they served on the front lines or the home front, these men and
women faced sacrifices that are difficult for us even to contemplate.
They did their duty, won the war, and built a nation. I am grateful for
what they did and am fortunate to have met so many of them. The only sad
thing is how few of them remain.
Ronald Rychlak is Associate Dean and a professor at the University
of Mississippi Law Center. His book Hitler, the War, and the Pope
was published in 2000.
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