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Centenarians recall end of WWII

Posted: Friday, August 08, 2008 2:47 PM
Filed Under:

By John Rutherford, Producer, NBC News, Washington

Aug. 14 doesn't have the ring of Dec. 7 (Pearl Harbor) or June 6 (D-Day) in the annals of World War II history, but on that summer day in 1945 Japan surrendered to the United States and its allies, ending the deadliest conflict in human history.

It's a date etched in the memories of three centenarians featured by Willard Scott on NBC's "Today" show.

"We kept the radio on," Winifred Jeeves, 100, said in a recent interview. "We didn't have television in those days. When the word came through, we were whooping it up and being so happy and relieved. You never knew what was going to happen until then."

Image: Win Jeeves and family, circa 1941
Family photo
Win Jeeves and family, circa 1941

Three and a half years earlier, Win, her husband, their 8-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter had been on the last ship out of Manila before the Japanese invaded the Philippine capital in December of 1941.

"We were scared right out of our wits," she said. "We knew they were going to get into Manila because they were already in the [Philippine] islands. So we knew the next stop would be Manila, and we were on that boat out of there."

Despite the war, Win's ship made scheduled stops in Hong Kong and Honolulu on its way to San Francisco. The voyage took three harrowing weeks.

"We were very fortunate," Win said. "We got back without any unpleasant incidents."

Win and her family settled in Grosse Pointe, Mich., where they were living at war's end. Today, Win lives in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.

Bob Perkinson, also 100, was serving with the U.S. Army in Europe when Japan surrendered.

Image: Bob Perkinson in uniform during World War II
Family photo
Bob Perkinson during World War II

"I was just thankful," Bob remembers. "We got hold of some liquor and drank it, and I will say this, it was the only time in my life I've ever been drunk."

Bob had spent the war chasing Germans across Europe, and one night his unit actually drove right past them.

"It was moonlight, and we drove into a spot with German military vehicles on both sides of the road," he said. "We just had to keep moving, and I wondered when they were going to start shooting at us, but they didn't. We never saw a sign of a German. We got through all right, but if everyone's heart was where mine was, it was right in their teeth."

Bob figured the Germans had gone into a nearby house, possibly to sleep.

"But the racket we made should have woken them up, and they should have had guards out, anyway," he said. "They must have thought we were bait, that if they showed up they'd be shot at, but it sure scared us."

Bob came home to Peoria, Ill., in October of 1945, and he has lived there ever since.

Fannie Brown, 101, was serving as a Red Cross volunteer in Carteret, N.J., on Aug. 14, 1945.

"Oh, there was dancing in the street, and everyone was hollering, and we were very happy," Fannie remembers. "We were having a wonderful time."

Image: Fannie Brown, 1945
Family photo
Fannie Brown in 1945

Fannie had spent the war knitting sweaters, rolling bandages and sending packages to the troops.

"Some of the boys said they were the best dressed men in the Army," Fannie said. "We went to the hospitals, we helped feed people, we went all over. Wherever they needed us, we went, during the blackouts and everything."

Fannie, who now lives in Las Vegas, Nev., also loved to sing songs during the war. There was one song she wasn't supposed to sing, but she sang it anyway:

"I didn't raise my boy to be a soldier,
I brought him up to be my pride and joy.
I wouldn't put a musket on his shoulder.
He'll kill another mother's boy."

On a personal note, my late mother wrote a description in 1945 of the war's end in Washington, D.C., for her infant sons.

"A blur of excitement - laughter and tears, back-thumping and leg of lamb on mint jelly, neighbors and martinis, and a bottle of champagne that had been hopefully put on ice days before," she wrote.

America's "Greatest Generation" not only knew how to win a war, but also how to celebrate the peace.

If you know of any centenarians who've had a brush with history over the past century, please tell us a little bit about them in the comments section below and be sure to fill in your return e-mail address so we can get back to you for more details

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Comments

I was in Central China on VJ Day doing Intelligence work and on location with the 31st Nationalist Army Group. I had been in China since that January and now knew that I would soon be on my way home.

Charles Boardman,Cocoa Beach, FL (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 10:14 AM)

Thanks to all of the Greatest Generation. I can't say anything that hasn't already been said. God bless you all.

K McDonald (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 10:31 AM)

My father was in Europe in early 1945 and he and my mother fell in love through their letter writing. When the war ended he came home on leave and he and my mother had to out their wedding plans on hold because he was going to be shipped out to the Pacific. My mother always told me that August 14 was the happiest day in her life up to that point because it meant my father wasn't going away and they could get married sooner.

Barbara Thomsen, Northvale, NJ (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 10:43 AM)

I was at Camp Okalhoma City about 60 miles north of paris on August 14, 1945.  Some of the soldiers got dunk and was firing their rifes.  I did not drink and so I dug a fox hole next to my cot.  There I was was during the firing of rifes. Some soldiers were killed by the rife fire, but I was deep in my fox hole.  I never found out how many soldiers were killed that night by rife firing.

John C. Welden, 6008 Whispering Cedar Dr., Dallas, Tx 75236 (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 11:00 AM)

Having served Actively & Honorably thru all of WWII in the New Guinea and New Britain Campaigns and Normady in PT Boats, I was in the Great Lakes Naval Hospital awaiting discharge.

PT Lindner, Fremont, Michigan (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 11:26 AM)

I was born in December 1941 while my father was in the Navy.  Nobody told me the war was over. I figured it out myself when the buildings on base were no longer painted in camouflage.!

Sharon Barlow, Nampa, ID (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 12:06 PM)

It's very interesting to hear the first hand accounts of these historic events.  The efforts of the military and supporting organizations are certainly to be commended for their work at that time.  These stories need to be told and recorded, because the eyewitness version of things often differs from what you read in school history books.

Steve C, Frederick MD (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 12:10 PM)

I was camped on the beach at San Jose, Letye,545th FA, most of our equipment was on a ship ready to go into Japan when the war ended. There was a lot of shooting and hollering,some of us climbed onto a M6
Primover(personnel carrying tank)and raced through the street shooting and yelling, I'm sure the locals thought we were crazy,didn't know what was going on, it sure was a wonderful feeling.

Donald Duncan, Poplar Bluff, MO (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 12:25 PM)

My mother Catherine remembers those days with incredible clarity and can discuss WW2, the Hindenburg, the 1939 Worlds Fair and even the depression in detail. She's 84 and has a better memory than I do, the last of her five children.

Matt Doxsey, Howard Beach, New York (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 12:27 PM)

TY to absolutley ALL those who worked in any and every capacity for the freedoms we enjoy today...I'm 27, but appreciate it very much, having snuck out from behing the Iron Curtain...

Kasia, New York, NY (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 12:30 PM)

I was a 17 year old Navy CB on the island of Samar when it ended  "we" were ready to go to Japan, thank heaven for the bomb.

Ed Albuquerque, New Mexico (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 12:45 PM)

Thanks to the Greatest Generation for saving our hides!

Rizzo (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 12:50 PM)

God bless all of the centenarians.  I hope to be one myself one day!  However, you don't have to be 100 to remember WW11 or its end.  I am 75 and can recall the war years along with Aug. 14, as though it happened last week!  We are, indeed, the greatest generation!

Pete Bergamo, Poughkeepsie, NY (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 12:50 PM)

Thank you for fighting to keep us free.

Dan Fugett, Dayton, Ohio (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 1:07 PM)

My mother and her sister (my aunt) both had husbands in the US Navy in WW II. One was a pilot in the Pacific, the other had been on a ship through D-Day in Europe. At the end of the war, ironicly they were stationed together on Pearl Harbor. Mother often spoke of the joy at the end of the war. The celebration in downtown, crowds came out to sing, and dance. She danced until her feet ached. So she took her shoes off, and danced barefoot.

Dali (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 1:21 PM)

I am proud to say my father, Henry Zimerowski Sr., who was born in 1917 in Lynn, Massachusetts is a member of the Greatest Generation. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1941 and was deployed to the sleepy island of Oahu in Hawaii. The son of Polish immigrants he wanted to defend his country and proudly enlisted in the armed forces to do so. After living through the morning of December 7, 1941 at Pearl Harbor, he went on to fight in many of the major battles of the South Pacific during WW II. My sons, now teenagers, would eagerly listen to his stories about the war during his weekly Sunday visits as they were growing up until his health deteriorated to the point he could no longer drive three years ago at the age of 88. He passed on values to his children and grandchildren that few seem to posses today. He told us of stories we never learned in history class such as we shot some of our own planes down the evening of December 7, 1941 as they returned to the base at Pearl Harbor after a surveillance mission, an action stemming from that mornings trauma. It took him years to talk about the war as he lost many of his friends, some family members and suffered a good deal of trauma himself from the war. My mother died on the morning of November 22, 2007. He lost his only son of leukemia in 1991. My brother, Henry Zimerowski Jr.,  served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War and went on to a successful career with the Department of State serving his country well as his father had done. My father now lives in Austin, Texas with his oldest grandson, his wife and their 21 month old daughter.  My sons just returned from visiting Austin where they were happy to see their grandfather a happy and content man, hard of hearing, but still engaging in meaningful conversation and still mobile with the aid of a walker. Grampy is a good man they say. I tell them to follow his example of living a good life by doing things for the right reason and putting your family first and having faith in God.

Nancy Godinho, Gloucester, MA (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 1:31 PM)

I have some wonderful memories of my 2nd cousin who had so many stories to tell; she'd been to the Chicago World's Fair  She and her sister had taken a ship to England and toured all over Europe.  I still have all the letters they sent to their family from all the different countries they visited.  They were in Berlin for the Olympics in 1936 & didn't think much of Hitler's marching across the stadium.  Later on she married and her husband served in the war.  She opened a beauty salon and had a house all paid for when he came back at the end of WWII.

J Shope, Broken Arrow, OK (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 1:40 PM)

I was a young boy attending a summer camp in North Carolina when the war ended.  My three brothers were all in the service; one of whom had driven to North Carolina with our Dad to pick me up at camp's end.  I had not seen him in over a year and a half...he just finished flying his 30 missions as a ball turret gunner in a B-17 in the 390thBBG, 8th AAF in England.  He was on his way to the Pacific so we were all extremely happy for the war to end.  We three were getting haircuts in a barber shop when the whistles started blowing, sirens wailed, and the garbage trucks were driving through this small NC town pulling clanking garbage cans in celebration.  The national speed limit was 35MPH; gas was rationed; so it took us about 3 days to drive home to coastal Georgia.  I still remember vididly that scene.  Everyone was crying they were so happy.  

Bill Stewart, St. Simons Island, GA (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 1:54 PM)

Iam not a centenarian at age 75, but clearly recall the WWII era. At the time, 1941, as a youngster attending the second grade at school I was learning how to read fairly well.
Uncle Sam took a shellacking from the Japanese for about the first six months and then it begin to go in our favor as reflected by the newspaper,  which I had discovered to be interesting since I had learned how to read. The newspapeer was "The Memphis Commercial Appeal".
It was really a terrible time and there were periods when I wondered if it would ever end.  

Joe Pinckard, Round Rock TX (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 2:12 PM)

My grandfather doesn't every talk about WWII. He was in the Battle of the Bulge. What he does talk about, sometimes, is sitting outside a brothel in France where he'd been ordered to drive a lieutenant, but he refused to go in, even when the Lieutenant offered to pay. He sat out in the cold all night in the jeep.

He also discovered that he was 2 miles from the German unit containing the man who would later surrender to English soldiers, convert to a protestant religion, and be the pastor in our church in Phoenix. Amazing how the world changed in those intervening years--I can't imagine that happening in 1960, for example, but in the 80s no one batted an eye at an ex-Hitler Youth religious convert moving into town and preaching.

He is proud of having served, but he saw and did things there he never wants to relive. He also saw what he considered the worst of his fellow soldiers--brothels and looting and the army trying to get him to smoke and swear.

He's made a point of kindness and acceptance of Germans during my lifetime and it truly doesn't seem hard for him. Somehow, being there taught him more acceptance of them and appreciation of their culture than it did hatred.

Every now and then he comes out with some small statement, like helping me shoot a BB gun more accurately with a few simple comments that reminded me, for the first time in years, that he has shot a lot of rounds in his life (he doesn't hunt or shoot recreationally, unlike much of the family). And once, when talking about brains (in the sense of "smarts"), he got kind of quiet and stared off, like he was remembering, and said "I saw a man's brains, once."

I ask him about the good parts, sometimes. He likes to talk about the boat trip over and he loves to talk about his short time in England and the ukulele he bought there. I can't imagine that he ever would have left the US without the war.

Even in the 70s and 80s and 90s and today, I can see how it affected him. He's proud of service and proud of what America did and wouldn't take it back, but he demonstrates the "horror of war" better than any graphic and gory description ever could.

Seth (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 2:20 PM)

Kaiser shipyard was nearby and lived by railroad yard, saw alot of actions in Richmond,Ca. Mother worked in defense factory... kept up with war news at movie theatre...
At 9 years old, I witnessed celebration of V-E and V-J
in Oakland,Ca downtown with mother.

Arthur Harreden, Sacramento,Calif (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 2:33 PM)

When 9/11 happened, I recalled Roosevelt's voice on the radio announcing the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  All those fears returned.  I was born 12/38, and was putting a wooden puzzle together.  I remember the blackouts, the victory gardens, and flags in the window of my grandma's house.  Iowa was my home.  I am a history buff now, and appreciate the sacrifices made then, and being made now.  Thanks to all who serve, and served!

Sandy Johnson (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 2:34 PM)

My stepfather, Charles J. Seitz, landed on Utah Beach on D-Day and had been sent back to the states when Germany surrendered.  He was on orders to go to Japan when the Japanese surrendered.  I will never feel guilty about dropping the bomb on Japan to end that war.  Charlie died Sept. 4, 2007.

Sharon Purlee, Pekin, Indiana (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 2:38 PM)

My father-in-law was in the Army and landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day.  He was a tank driver, and their tank had been outfitted to float to shore.  He was seriously wounded about a month later.  He is still living and has shared many memories of that time in history.
Thank you Veterans!

Rho Hogue, Buckeye, Arizona (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 2:53 PM)

I was born after the war, (1948), in the small town of West Frankfort, Il. I remember a man down the street from my home.  He had lost both legs.  As I grew to be about the age of 10, I recall that I realized he was a war veteran.  I also remember the day that I, as a child, recognized that he was only in his twenty's.  So young. The war veterans in my town never spoke of the war.  Still, their stories were etched into their faces and their lives;  a thread of dignity, courage and sacrifice. I will never forget them.

Thomas Boyer, Evansville, In. (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 2:54 PM)

My father had me late in life...he was born in 1917 and served in WW2 in the Pacific. He did not talk much of this but did tell some of the history to me and my son. In short-he was their-he saw the atrocities that the Japanese had done. He saw the cost it would take for the US to take the Japanese homeland-he knew they would not surrender. Given the choice of losing 1 million men or dropping the bomb they had no problem with making that decision. Our freedoms were earned and so many people here now take for granted....We lost more people in 9-11 than we did at Pearl Harbor---and people want to move on now instead of taking care of business.

Bill Kirton, Waycross, GA (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 3:21 PM)

As others have already said, thanks to the Greatest Generation. My father was  quartermaster (ship driver) on a Destroyer Escort, The USS Blessman. He was involved in D-day, Iwo Jima, and Saipan. His ship was back at Mare Island to repair bomb damage when the war ended. I was and am so proud of him (he passed in 2004) and of everyone the helped us to victory. Does our and subsequent generations have the moral integrity, mental, and physical strength to do the same if something happened now? I look around and wonder.

Phil Sevigny (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 3:42 PM)

Cheers to the greatest generation on VJ day! My mom and Dad were both in the Army Air Corp during WWII and recently passed away. My uncles all fought in Europe. This is s toast to them and the millions of other Americans who were part of the greatest generation. Happy 100th birthday!!

Dan Miller Washingtonville NY (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 3:48 PM)

My father, Richard Hackett,83, served in the US Army during WWII and will be attending the 63rd Division's annual reunion next weekend in Indianapolis.  He has spoken in length about the Siegfried Line, about holding the front line against the Germans for 157 days while they waited for reinforcements and how they were afraid to even open a tin can for fear that their position would be found out.  My father was shot in the head, had a metal plate surgically implanted, and then went back to fight with the 36th Army.  Words cannot express how proud I am of him and the men and women who fought not only for our country but for the freedom of others.  Thank you and God Bless you.

Lisa Hackett, Indianapolis, Indiana (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 3:58 PM)

I am the 68 year old "baby" of the family and as a child remember the end of WWII. I was visiting my Grandparents on a small farm in New Jersey with my parents when the news was announced. Fire engines raced up and down the narrow country roads with bells clanging and sirens on. My aunts and uncles  from NY and PA  were there cheering and hugging and kissing each other. My three older cousins, their boys,  were serving overseas. One was a Marine on Okinawa, the other a sailor whose ship had been attacked off of the same island and the third was in a tank in the battle of the Bulge.  They all survived and came home safely. How lucky we all were.  

A.T. Beckman Lutherville, Md. (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 4:03 PM)

My father served in Europe in '44 & '45 and my father-in-law was at the Battle of the Bulge, was wounded and finally found in a German hospital.  Both served valiantly.  My father talked often about his experiences as a Medic, my father-in-law never discussed his time as a soldier.  One common link, they both risked their lives for their country and are special to me, along with the 100's of thousands of real heroes who never came back.  I don't think most Americans today really appreciate what that generation sacrificed for our liberty and freedom.

Rick Steinheimer, Houston, TX (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 4:07 PM)

I am a young "old soul" and love learning about the history of WWII. Only an Uncle was in the war. He constantly spoke of "The War" but never about anything horrifying as he felt it wasn't appropriate to share such details. He kept his honor 'til the end, never drinking or smoking, and always being a gentleman. If only more of our citizens today would have that sort of pride for this country and for themselves! God Bless all who have had a part in giving us our freedom!!

Beth Meredith, Elburn, IL (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 4:38 PM)

My father-in-law landed on Omaha Beach, D-Day at the age of seventeen. He later cut a flag down from a schoolyard and my husband still keeps it in a box. My mother has told me many stories of being a small girl in California, the black-outs, rules about picking up objects falling out of the sky (don't do it...she did and got in trouble) and sadly, remembering a little Japanese girl whose parents owned a florist shop.  The little girl brought a flower every day to school for the teacher.  Then one day she was just gone. Hopefully, we've actually learned something from these historical events and the people who actually lived through those time.

Beth cox, Kansas City, MO (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 4:42 PM)

My Dad served in WWII in the South Pacific he never talked very much, but he knew Ira Hayes, and was on Guadalcanal.  When I was going up I would ask him: "Am I going to GET a chance to fight in a war Daddy?"  He said: "probably!" during the 50's;  "I'm afraid so in the 60's"  I volunteered and went to Viet Nam in 1966, when other war hereos children were burning their draft cards, and running to Canada, came home in 69.  I'm no hero, I just served my Country.  I have nothing but respect for the "Greatest Generation"

Vic Nixon, Kalispell, MT (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 5:10 PM)

I thank all those who served in WWII, I would not be here, if it was not for the US soldiers that freed my mother from the Mauthaus concentration camp

K Krause, Grand Junction CO (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 5:27 PM)

Bless 'em all, bless 'em all
The long and the short and the tall
Bless all the sergeants and W.O. Ones
Bless all the corp'rals and their blinking sons
For we're saying good-bye to them all
As back to the barracks we crawl
You'll get no promotion this side of the ocean
So cheer up my lads Bless 'em all --- Irving Berlin

What a wonderful generation these folks are. Not only did they live through horror most of us can never really fathom, they came home and built one of the greatest republics the world has ever seen. So the next time you laugh at or get impatient with that little old couple, remember what they did and cut them some slack, or better yet make sure you say thanks and offer some help.

Dan Nunn, Virginia Beach, VA (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 5:33 PM)

Hats off to my grandparents generation.  Cecil Edwin Askins Served in Europe and Asiatic/pacific campaign during the great war. A heavy machine gunner, earning two bronze stars in the Rhineland and Central Europe.  Grandmother Beatrice worked at the Blue Bonnet munitions plant back in the states. They never spoke much about the war.  Their character,values and compassion spoke volumns to me about them as people.  Greatest Generation...Absolutly, I miss them dearly.  

patrick, Lewisville,TX (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 5:55 PM)

Love all the storiesand yes history is best told by those who lived it.  My Father, Silva Burnett and uncles Roger and Leland Burnett, Clarence Burns and Howard Campbell were all in WW11.  Clarence spent three yeasrs in the Pacific, Howard was in Africa,  Uncle Roger was in England and landed on Normandy.  Uncle Leland was a paratrooper and was stationed in England.  Daddy was an MP and was stationed several places they kept German POW's that were sent over here. He came home last.   My aunt Pansey, Clarence's wife and another uncle Audra went to Washington state and worked at Hanover to help build the Atomic bomb.  Uncle Audra drove a semi and said they would load them up and run an armed guard front and back to escort them to California ship yards, forgot where maybe San. Diego.   Everyone else in the family prayed for Peace and save return of soldiers.  Then later my uncle Lindy enlisted at the end then made a career of the  Army, going to Japan, Korea and Germary.  All are now gone except my aunt Pansey know worked in the lab at Hanover Wash.  I think that in right near Kennawick.  They were all great as was the whole country and still is.  Love this land of the Free and Brave.   My grandfather, Henry Bell was sent to France during WW1. After he got back to Arkansas he never much wanted to travel, only going to Kansas and Texas to visit his children, once each.

Frances Ogle Harrison, Arkansas 72601 (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 5:57 PM)

My oldest brother had just been born and Dad was home on leave.  When he returned that weekend to base he was told to pack his bags that he was being shipped out and could not tell anyone where he was going. He was a paratrooper and was being shipped to California for the invasion of Japan.  I understand the expected casualty loss was projected at 80%.  He has always said that was the saddest day of his life...young and in love with his first child just a week old and knowing that he may not come back.  God bless that generation for all the sacrafices they made.

Judy Langley, Lexington, NC (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 6:28 PM)

You guys are all national treasures because like history books you have amazing stories to tell. I wish there was a way to keep you around forever. God bless.

M. Williams, Bronx, New York (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 7:44 PM)

My Mother turned 89 this past March, so she's not quite to the 100 mark yet, she was with the 10Th Army, 76th Field Hospital for the Battle of Saipan and while there they took care of wouded from other battles including the Marines that left from Saipan for Iwo Jima and cared for the returning wounded because Iwo was too small to have a Field Hospital. The Battle for Okinawa started on April 1st and she was onboard ship at that time, They landed April 4th and were there for the entire battle after 3 months the island was called secured though troops were killing and capturing Japanese soldiers at the rate of 90 a day until the surrender. From the end of June until 14 August, the island was becoming the launching point for the Invasion of Japan and so it was a big relief to hear it was over. Instead, they went in October as an Ocupation force to Tokyo until she returned to the States in Feb 1946.

Chris Lund (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 8:33 PM)

Though I wasn't even a thought at the end of WWII, its end and its aftermath have affected  my life and left a profound mark upon it. My parents were in their early teens at the time and have their stories, of course, but in the late 1960's, my family was moved to the Netherlands by the good ol' U.S. Air Force (my dad was a Major). We saw a lot of the devastation and destruction that was caused by WWII in all of the countries we visited (except Switzerland--they were neutral). We saw crumbled buildings, bombed-out churches, factories with glass windows shattered, pillboxes crumbled, homes with bulletholes in the bricks. But the thing that made the most profound effect was that every year, on Memrial Day, Queen Juliana would come to the American Cemetery and lay a wreath in honor of the dead from the failed Market Garden campaign. I was an eight-year-old Girl Scout who was chosed to be a color guard for the Hawaiian state flag. Every year for five years, from 1967-1971, I did this. It showed  me the value of peace and the high price of true freedom. I will be grateful always.

Dorothy Collins, Baton Rouge, LA (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 10:32 PM)

My father is still living, nearly 96.  He was a wheat farmer, a bachelor, in his early 30s and could easily have been deferred for the war effort since he was over the preferred age at 33.  Instead, he volunteered and became a Staff Sargent of Infantry.  He served in the South Pacific but was in the rear areas.  He did not take an R&R to Australia, and retained his position for rotation home.  After 36 months overseas, he was reassigned stateside.  He met my Mother while serving in Paris, TX.  They are still married 61 years later.  The irony is that the war--so destructive of many lives--most likely resulted in my life.
--Retired U.S. Navy.

Philip Ternahan, Ventura CA (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 10:49 PM)

My Uncle, Colonel Fritz Atkinson, served from 1942-44 in the battles of North Africa. His still has vivid memories at El-Alamein and Tripoli, founght his way through Sardinia with comman of the 119th Division. God bless him. He commended the troops who were to suffer 65% casualties at the hands of the bloody fascists.

Kyle Atkinson (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 10:49 PM)

Happiness.    I was 7 years old and my Dad took us down to his office in the evening. A parade had started and soon there were thousands of people walking up Broadway. We were stuck in the office all night. Everyone was crying and so happy at the same time. I'll NEVER forget that night. The Air Raid Sirens wailed all night. The last time they were ever activated. The younger generation will never know what's it's like. WWII we HAD a true victory and something to really celebrate. Wish that could happen sometime soon with Iraq.

John D. Stack Sr. Lorain, Ohio (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 10:50 PM)

My father Bert Talsness was in the CIC (Counter Intelligence Corps) headed for Germany when the Germans surrendered. Fluent in German, he began training for the invasion of Japan, including classes in Japanese.  My mother Esther Talsness was in Minneapolis riding in a friend's car when Japan's surrender was announced.  She tells me she immediatly burst into tears of releif that Dad would not have to be sent to Japan.  

Eric Talsness (Sent Thursday, August 14, 2008 11:03 PM)

    My mother, a 100-and-one-half (DOB: 01/31/08) Canadian, married to a newspaper editor on the Winnipeg Tribune, remebers his telephone call on D-Day, saying "Turn on the radio Ada, something big is going to happen. All the teletype machines have gone quiet."
    And I, (DOB 01/06/1941) remember the milkman or breadman (who came by in his horse-drawn wagon) coming to our door, tears streaming down his face behind his glasses, telling Mom he had just heard the war was over!  

Judith Robertson, 303 Dora Ave. Bremerton, WA 98312 (Sent Friday, August 15, 2008 12:19 AM)

My dad was a professional football player and was playing at tackle for the Brooklyn Dodgers against the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds the day Pearl Harbor was attacked.  He said they kept hearing admirals and generals being paged throughout the game but that no one would tell them what was going on until they were in the locker room at the end of the game.  None of the service branches would take him because he had flat feet and bad eyesight, so he went to work in the steel mill in Pittsburgh.  My uncle, his brother, was a torpedo bomber pilot on the USS Yorktown in the South Pacific.  His friend, Lt. Condit, had been shot down when they were out on a mission together.  Uncle Joe looked for him, flying over the ocean for three days with no luck.  Much later, they were about to leave on a bombing run to take out a Japanese railway yard (in Tokyo, as I remember), when the word came that the Japanese had surrendered.  
He said that, instead of flying in at high altitude to drop their bombs, their mission was changed so that they would fly in low to drop leaflets.  When they passed over the railway yard at low altitude, he saw "Condit is here" written on one of the roofs!  Our guys didn't know it, but the Japanese had been using the railway yard to keep American prisoners -- we would have been attacking our own men.

I just want to say a very inadequate but heartfelt thanks to all who gave so much at that time.  I work at a high school and can say firsthand that we do have many wonderful young people who are passionate about this country, her history, and her future.  "You'll Never Know" how much you mean to us.

Ruth McNamara (Sent Friday, August 15, 2008 12:23 AM)

I was born in 1936 and remember the end of the war very clearly. My Dad was drafted three times and got a military deferment as he was a specialist in making submarines.
Every night I listened to Gabriel Heater at ( 9 PM and then went to bed. I learned to read very early and read the news papers every night. I had a hard time pronouncing some long unfamiliar names: Czechoslovakia
Yugoslavia Etc.

I read all about the Atomic bomb being dropped. The night the war ended the sirens wailed all night and I think school was canceled the next day.

I have since studied the secret development of the Atomic bomb at Oak Ridge Tenn. I would encourage everyone to read the book "Enola Gay "                            written by Paul Tibbits the Pilot who flew the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb.
It was kept so secret that even Vice President Harry Truman was never told of its development until he became President.

Just a retired surgeon (Sent Friday, August 15, 2008 12:27 AM)

My father who is now 79, made wood models of Japanese planes in his high school shop class that were used by the Army Air Corps to train gunners.  They studied the silouettes so they could identify the different Japanese planes. My grandfather worked for the Remington Arms Company and was an instrumental person in setting up munitions factories all over the United States and in Canada, in very rural places.   I remember him telling us about going to Utah with orders to build and staff a factory in only a few months.  The fact he most stressed to us was that the Mormon farmers with which he was dealing had never seen a factory of any kind!  

Carrie V. (Sent Friday, August 15, 2008 1:19 AM)



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