In the Northeastern US, five boys grew to be young men.\u00a0 Their families were of Eastern European heritage.\u00a0 They, however, were all born in this country as first-generation Americans.<\/p>\n
Three of them were brothers.\u00a0 Two were not related – either to the brothers or each other – at the time.\u00a0 They would later come be related to the three brothers, and to each other, by marriage.<\/p>\n
All of them were born relatively early in the 20th Century – during the 1910s and 1920s.\u00a0 They grew up during the Great Depression.\u00a0 All of them were young men on 7 December 1941.<\/p>\n
All of them served in World War II.<\/p>\n
The eldest of the brothers went into the Army.\u00a0 He became a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division.\u00a0 He fought in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, and France\/Belgium.\u00a0 He damn near didn\u2019t make it back, finding himself a bit too close to the impact point of a German high explosive round during the Battle of the Bulge.\u00a0 His family was notified that he was missing and presumed dead.<\/p>\n
With apologies to Mr. Clemens:\u00a0 the reports of his demise turned out to be somewhat premature.\u00a0 He was recovered by friendly forces, still alive; though grievously injured, he lived.\u00a0 He eventually did die – close to 48 years later.\u00a0 He’s buried in Arlington; the letters \u201cSS\u201d and \u201cPH\u201d appear on his grave.<\/p>\n
The middle brother served in the Navy.\u00a0 He served aboard ships in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters.\u00a0 He saw Rio at Carnival, as well as various exotic locations in the Pacific.\u00a0 His service was reasonably uneventful, even if not always pleasant.\u00a0 He specifically disliked his assignment to the crew of a fleet oiler \u2013 that assignment made him nervous as hell.<\/p>\n
He came back from war with no serious injuries.\u00a0 He died at home, in his sleep, a few years after his older brother.\u00a0 He’s buried in his spouse’s family cemetery, close to where they lived after he retired.<\/p>\n
When he was old enough, the youngest of the brothers also joined the Navy. Like his Navy brother, he also served in the Pacific.\u00a0 But unlike his brother\u2019s Navy service, his was anything but uneventful.\u00a0 His ship was hit by a kamikaze late in the war.<\/p>\n
He too escaped any serious injuries and survived the war.\u00a0 He died about 2 years after his middle brother.\u00a0 He’s buried in the veteran’s section of a cemetery about an hour away from where he retired.<\/p>\n
Both of the other young men served in the Army.\u00a0 One served in the South Pacific, in supply; his war was reasonably uneventful.\u00a0 The other, who was a bit older, served in a medical unit in Italy \u2013 at Anzio, and at other locations on the peninsula. \u00a0As you might imagine, though not heroic his wartime service wasn\u2019t<\/em> what you’d call uneventful.\u00a0 Both returned without serious physical problems.<\/p>\n When they returned, these two men ended up marrying sisters.\u00a0 And in doing so they acquired three brothers-in-law – four, counting each other – who were also veterans.<\/p>\n The older of these two passed away a few years ago; he’s buried in a National Cemetery about an hour’s drive west of where he owned his business.\u00a0 The younger of the two is still alive.\u00a0 I guess that makes him the last man standing.<\/p>\n All five returned from the war and got on with their lives.<\/p>\n Two of them made the military a career, retiring in the 1960s.\u00a0 One reentered the military, becoming a member of the US Air Force; he participated in the Berlin Airlift – and was in SAC during the Cuban Missile Crisis.\u00a0 The other stayed in the Navy, serving in various places – the last being off the coast of Vietnam shortly before he retired.\u00a0 Each established a second civilian career after retiring from the military, working at that second career for years before finally retiring permanently in the 1980s\/1990s.<\/p>\n The other three opted for civilian life.\u00a0 The man wounded in Belgium made a reasonably full recovery, all things considered; he was able to work, and supported himself and his family.\u00a0The other two pursued careers in business.\u00a0 One of them chose to own his own small business; the other chose a career in industry.<\/p>\n All five of them raised and supported families.\u00a0 They became parents, then grandparents.\u00a0 They retired, grew old, and with one exception, have now passed from this earth – as have two of their wives.\u00a0 That\u2019s simply the natural order of things.<\/p>\n With one exception, none of these men were heroes. And even the one who’d been decorated for valor and wounded in action didn’t consider himself “special”.\u00a0 All of them were just normal, ordinary Americans of their generation.\u00a0 They served their country, then they came home and got on with their lives.<\/p>\n You might be wondering what my point is with this article.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m not completely sure I have one, except . . . . I knew these men personally.<\/p>\n Four of these men were my uncles.\u00a0 One was my father.\u00a0 And he’s on my mind today.<\/p>\n Like myself, Dad was once a military reservist.<\/p>\n He was a military reservist on 7 December 1941.<\/p>\n Dad passed away before 11 September 2001.\u00a0 In a way I\u2019m glad he did.<\/p>\n Why?\u00a0 Because on 11 September 2001, I knew \u2013 viscerally and firsthand \u2013 the same burning, frustrating, killing rage he must have felt on 7 December 1941.\u00a0 His homeland<\/em> had been attacked, and there wasn\u2019t a damn thing he could to change that.\u00a0\u00a0 All he could do in the short term was watch, and rage from afar.<\/p>\n No one should experience that twice in a lifetime.\u00a0 Though I’m sad he’s gone, I\u2019m also glad he didn\u2019t have to go through that experience again.<\/p>\n But Dad knew he could<\/em> do something to help his nation even the score.\u00a0 And along with millions of others, including his brothers and brothers-in-law-to-be, he did exactly that.\u00a0 In doing so, he helped secure his homeland relative peace and prosperity for half a century.<\/p>\n Rest in peace, Dad; you’ve earned it.\u00a0\u00a0 As have the three of you, Uncles Stan, Joe, and Bill.<\/p>\n And even though it sounds so damned inadequate:\u00a0 thanks to you all – and to you too, Uncle Norb.<\/p>\n Dziekuje, tata. Dziekuje, moich wuj\u00f3w.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"