The Greatest Generation’s sacrifices

War is never a pleasant experience. For the majority of servicemen and women who serve during wartime, they are reluctant to tell of their experiences to family and close friends.

Others, though, relate their stories of service and personal sacrifice from World War II, the Korean or Vietnam wars or the operations in Iraq or Afghanistan.

When newsman Tom Brokaw wrote “The Greatest Generation” in 1998, he told the stories of those who grew up in the Great Depression and then fought in World War II.

“It is, I believe, the greatest generation any society has ever produced,” Brokaw wrote in his best-selling book.

As we have seen and heard since the end of World War II and further emphasized in Brokaw’s book, the men and women of that era fought because it was “the right thing to do.”

With the 70th anniversary of World War II’s end, capped by the Japanese surrender on Aug. 14, 1945, the Nevada Department of Veterans Services recognized those World War II who served overseas or at home. Many of the veterans in attendance at the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Fernley ranged from their late 80s to 105 years old.

Approximately 16 million men and women served in World War II, and an average of 413 die each day. Slowly, “The Greatest Generation” is slowly passing away with many of their stories lost forever.

During the past decade, the LVN has been fortunate to tell some of our local veterans’ stories ranging from Cecil Quinley’s missions over Germany aboard a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber. Mr. Quinley, who recently celebrated his 100th birthday, flew 14 missions over Germany in 1943. Some missions would last only three hours, while other missions would average eight to 10 hours, maybe more. Most bombing runs took place during daylight hours.

On his 14th mission, the Germans shot down his B-17, and many of the crewmembers were captured and kept as prisoners of was until Germany surrendered in May 1945.

Fallon resident Kenneth Shockley, who, as an 18-year-old Merchant Marine, ferried troops on a small landing craft from the larger Navy LSTs (landing ship, tanks) to Omaha Beach during D-Day on June 6, 1944.

Mr. Shockley said everyone involved with the invasion prayed for the best.

Yet, Mr. Shockley fits “The Greatest Generation” mold like those who served with him during World War II. The nation called, and millions answered.

The late Harold “Gus” Forbus’ memoirs detailed his involvement in several major campaigns in the South Pacific during World War II. During his 20 plus years as a Marine, Mr. Forbus, who died in 2012, saw the destruction and horror of war but also the need for the U.S. to defeat the Japanese.

Earlier this month, somber observances marked the 70th anniversary of the dropping of two atomic bombs, one Hiroshima and the second on Nagasaki.

For those yearning for more World War II history, the Wendover Army Air Field on the Nevada-Utah border trained B-17 and B-24 crews and then B-29 crews for a secret mission. While many of the buildings still stand, they are shells of to remind us of the sacrifices that took place there, preparing pilots and their crews to carry out a bombing run over Japan.

Those in attendance at Sunday’s ceremony that coincided with the “Keep the Spirit of ’45 Alive,” also had their stories ranging from one retired Marine who island hopped in the Pacific with his buddies to secure airfields for staging areas to a flight engineer who flew 25 missions over Germany.

We encourage our residents young and old to learn more about World War II from those who served at that time. Time is slowly fading away to capture those stories

Editorials written by the LVN Editorial Board appear on Wednesdays.