If You Can Read This, Thank A Veteran

Every now and then, on purpose, I dwell on the sacrifices made by the American soldier in all wars. It boggles my mind after just a few minutes and I can barely continue, but I do it anyway. Years ago I began reading The Long Gray Line: The American Journey of the West Point Class of 1966 by Rick Atkinson. It is the story of the experiences of a group of cadets while at West Point, in Vietnam, and beyond. I am almost ashamed to admit that I could not finish the book; certain passages are so graphic and so sad that they made me physically ill. I need to try again, and I plan to do it soon, because I don't want to forget what these men and their families suffered.

Another excellent book that I did finish, and which made a huge impression upon me, is entitled Good Night Officially: The Pacific War Letters of a Destroyer Sailor edited by William M. McBride. Yeoman James Orvill Raines's letters home to Ray Ellen, his wife of four years, contain some of the most romantic prose I've ever read; I get the shivers just thinking about it. I wish I could set forth here the entire letter that Orvill wrote, dated 30 July 1944, to be given to Ray Ellen in the event of his death. It reads in part:

My Darling Baby Ray Ellen, I hope that you never read this letter ... whether I am with you or in the sea, please realize that my love for you has been the greatest that any man has bestowed upon a woman ... you are a beautiful woman, Ray Ellen. This time I am having the last word on it. You are a beautiful woman and intelligent. Kind and generous. A wonderful woman to have for a wife. You made my life while it lasted the most happy life a man could have and may God bless you for it ... however I get it, My Darling, remember that my last breath was drawn in an effort to get back to you. That my last thought was of you and if I cried, it wasn't from pain of wound but pain of not holding you in my arms again. All the love, devotion and worship that any man can give a woman I give to you in this, my last "Good Bye Officially." Your devoted husband, Orvill.

That's what I'm talking about. After leaving for active duty on the USS Howorth in April of 1944, James Orvill Raines never saw Ray Ellen again. He was killed in action off Okinawa on April 6, 1945.

One night several years ago I decided I needed to see the film Saving Private Ryan. Normally I don't like war movies because I find them so depressing, but I wanted to see this one. I like the work of Steven Spielberg and I like Tom Hanks, and I liked the fact that it was a true story. I thought I knew something about what the Allied forces had faced as they took the beaches at Normandy, but nothing could have prepared me for what is depicted in the first 24 minutes of that film. I was dumbfounded at the sight of young boys being shot and killed before they could even get out of the Harris boats. And if they did get out of the boats, the horror of what they faced on Omaha Beach was incomprehensible to me. I don't think I blinked for a long time; I wanted to look away but I couldn't. Incredulous, I asked my husband, who has done a great deal of reading on the subject of D-Day, if that's what it was really like. He nodded, his eyes bright with tears.

A few years ago I watched another war movie which, much like Schindler's List, another Spielberg masterpiece, I'm both glad I saw and I wish I hadn't. We Were Soldiers, starring Mel Gibson, depicts the circumstances surrounding a horrific battle that took place in the Ia Drang Valley of Vietnam in November of 1965. It was the first major battle of the Vietnam war in which Americans were involved. The movie features the haunting song The Mansions of the Lord, sung during the end credits by the West Point Glee Club. The song had a prominent place in the majestic state funeral of President Ronald Reagan (a WWII veteran), where it was sung by the Armed Forces Chorus as his coffin was removed from the National Cathedral. Below is a video of that segment of the service. It's longish but worth watching.

To fallen soldiers let us sing
Where no rockets fly nor bullets wing
Our broken brothers let us bring
To the mansions of the Lord

No more bleeding no more fight
No prayers pleading through the night
Just divine embrace, eternal light
In the mansions of the Lord

Where no mothers cry and no children weep
We will stand and guard though the angels sleep
All through the ages safely keep

The mansions of the Lord

In 2005 our daughter, Audrey, was given a trip to France as a college graduation present. Of course she was thrilled to be "going abroad." She was practically incoherent at the mere thought of seeing Paris with her own eyes. But one of the things she looked forward to the most was seeing the beaches at Normandy ... the beaches where Operation Overlord, D-Day, June 6, 1944, was carried out. Audrey enjoys history and as my husband is a WWII buff, she was well-informed about the events that transpired on D-Day. In the days before her trip, as a sort of readiness exercise, Audrey read her father's copy of Douglas Brinkley's The Boys of Pointe du Hoc: Ronald Reagan, D-Day, and the US Army 2nd Ranger Battalion. She brought her father a small bottle of sand that she collected from Normandy, and we all cried as she told us what it had been like to visit the cemetery there. The sheer number of the white crosses had a huge impact on Audrey and she said she would never be the same. I'm glad she had that experience; I hope to be able to see that sight myself one day. God Bless our troops and our veterans, and God bless America.

Update on Monday, November 12, 2007 at 02:05AM by Jennifer

Comments

[Deppfest]

We have just celebrated Remembrance Sunday here, where the dead of our wars are remembered. The last veteran of World War One died just a couple of weeks ago and one can only imagine what horrors he has lived with for the past 90 years.

So glad Audrey got to experience Normandy - it's something Pip and I keep meaning to do but something 'more important' always seems to come up. Perhaps it's time for us to change our priorities.

[Jennifer]

The British certainly fought valiantly alongside Americans in both World Wars, and with splendid heroism at Normandy. I did not know that about the last WWI vet in England ... I'll have to tell Greg. I hope you and Pip get to see Normandy soon! I'd love to see it with you.