Will we remember?

A short time ago I saw on the local television news a short reference to a young Marine from Westerville Indiana. I wish I had caught his name. What I did catch was a scene from the town in which someone had made a sign that said, “We will never forget you.” We want to honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, but will we really remember them?
During the fundraising efforts for the World War II Memorial, I recall thinking that the real memorial to the service of the World War II generation was the Baby Boom. I just thought that the men and women who sacrificed so much for their country would count it worthwhile if their children could be free, healthy, and prosperous. And, the time that followed World War II was a time of great change, but we should realize that it was a time of great prosperity. Even the days of stagflation in the 1970s were more prosperous than the 1930s when the World War II generation grew up.
So, we who are the Baby Boom generation owe a great deal to the generation that fought the war. The least we can do is remember them, especially the ones that didn’t come back.
I know the names of three men from Jeffersonville Indiana who went to war and made the ultimate sacrifice. But it wasn’t just their sacrifice. Each one of these men left a widow. Between the three of them, they left four daughters.
John Higgins died during the Battle of Brest in July 1944. He left a wife who never remarried. He left a daughter, Ann, who lived in Jeffersonville, until she and her mother moved to Florida. Ann lives in Mexico and has given her father three grandchildren and four great grandchildren. John’s widow, Adele, had two brothers who also didn’t make it back.
Freddie Hunckler died March 10, 1945 on Iwo Jima. He left a pregnant wife who had their daughter 19 days after he died. She didn’t even find out that she was a widow until after she got home from the hospital. Freddie’s widow, Wanda, eventually married again, but died when she was only 40 years old. Freddie’s daughter, Susan, lives in Louisville and Freddie has five grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
Freddie’s brother, John ‘Buddy’ Hunckler managed to get through the war alive. In October of 1945, the Unites States was reducing its troop levels in the Pacific. Buddy got orders to go home. He got on an airplane loaded with other soldiers to get back to the States. That plane disappeared. Buddy never came home to his wife, Marcie, or their two daughters, Patty and Margaret. This was particularly hard on Buddy’s mother since there was so much uncertainty about the disappearance of the plane. The only memorial to Buddy is his name on the list of missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu. His brother, Freddie is buried there. Buddy’s widow married again and lived a long life. Buddy has five grandchildren and ten great grandchildren.
These families remember their fallen. We remind our children of their grandfathers. But, what about the young men who didn’t leave families behind? Will they be remembered by their nieces, nephews, and cousins? Do you remember anyone who died fighting in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, or Afghanistan? Will you remember them? Memorial Day is not until the end of May. Before then, try to find the name of someone in your family or town who made the ultimate sacrifice. Remember someone.
Remember the sacrifices of these men and their families. Then, live. They died so that we, their children, friends, and fellow citizens could live in freedom and prosperity. That’s what we should do.