Veterans of World War Two were recently honored at a luncheon in Rapid City. The gathering brought more than one hundred members of “The Greatest Generation” together to share stories, laughter, good food, fond and fearsome memories and even shed the occasional tear.
Seventy years after the end of World War Two, the men and women who took part in those hostilities are leaving us at a rate of 1000 every day.
Air Force veteran Bill Casper decided to let those remaining from what’s been called “The Greatest Generation” know that their sacrifices are still appreciated. Casper’s uncle, served with the 101st Airborne Division. He landed at Normandy on June 6. 1944 and was killed during the Battle of the Bulge.
“It’s a way for me to honor my uncle…who died in the Battle of the Bulge,” Casper explains, “as well as all the rest of the veterans who served in World War Two. South Dakota has about 3000 veterans left. They’re passing at the rate of about 3 or 4 a day. They’re not going to be around that long and I think that everything that we can do to honor them we need to do.”
Sitting quietly at a table with her daughters, I find Lakota elder, former U.S. Army nurse and Normandy invasion veteran Marcella LeBeau.
“We climbed down a rope ladder into a landing barge and landed at Utah Beach…and camped at a cow pasture there for a time,” LeBeau explains. “And then later went up to Paris, France and were temporarily stationed in…the 108th General Hospital. And then we went from there to Liege, Belgium…where we had a 1000-bed tent hospital.”
Marcella LeBeau says that 70 years later, there are still some things she can’t forget about the war.
“A soldier that came in,” LeBeau recalls. “ He was a prisoner of war. And I can remember his look. His skin stretched over his bones and…that vacant stare. And…just, uh…it was such a…an impact on me I can’t…remove that form my memory.”
Among Bill Casper’s goals for having this gathering was to honor all those who served and remind them that when all the fighting was done, there was something to celebrate.
For a longer version of this story go to:
http://listen.sdpb.org/post/wwii-vets-honored-recall-combat-experiences