Remember the ‘Greatest Generation’

To the editor:

Lou Conter, the last survivor of the USS Arizona, died Monday of heart failure at his home in California.

His death is a reminder that we are losing, on a daily basis, the Americans who lived through the depression and World War II.

Newman and author Tom Brokaw called these Americans “The Greatest Generation.”   If you have not read and been inspired by the sacrifices and the lessons of service and true patriotism of the greatest generation of Americans, we have this series available for check out.  Better yet, it is in large print.

We need always to remember the men and women who stepped up and answered the call to service following the Pearl Harbor attack.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, in 2023, estimated that there were 119,550 left of the 16.1 million Americans who served in World War II.  All the survivors are now in their 90’s or older.

In a television interview, Conter summed up the feelings that he and his fellow survivors of the conflict had when he said, “They call a lot of us heroes, and I’ve always said we are not the heroes. Heroes are the ones right there that day that lost their lives.  They gave everything up. We got back to the States. We got married. We had kids and grandkids. We are still here. They were lost forever right then and there.”

They saw the threat of fascism, xenophobic nationalism and racism and they were willing to fight to eradicate those ideas that threatened our freedom. They died to defend our democratic Republic.

In an era of increasing partisanship, we need to remember that they did not die for either political party but for America.

Mary Kathryn Gepner

    Benton