Veterans Administration says 900 World War II vets pass away every day

Four brothers in my husband's family were part of WWII. Louis DiCesare, my husband's father was in the Army. He had a Bronze Star and Purple Heart. His uncle John was a Marine and killed in action. Another uncle Tony was in the Navy and Uncle George was a Merchant Marine. While three brothers survived, George never recovered from WWII. His ship was hit by a kamikaze pilot and he spent the rest of his life living on a farm for what they used to call "shell shock."

On my side of the family all of my uncles were in the service as well and my father was a Korean War veteran. Growing up, I was surrounded by veterans but aside from the a few pictures they had on their walls, it was hard to imagine them any different than any other family. Once in a while there were war stories told with a great sense of humor but sooner or later, their eyes would cloud, a tear or two would fall and the subject was quickly changed.

When I was young, I would read about war in history class and imagine my relatives being part of what I was reading about, yet when I was in their company again, I never asked them any questions. The fact they were there, in real time, faded and they were just my uncles and my dad.

They are all gone now. I have memories of the stories they told but above all, I have memories of them as who they were and the love they gave. None of them thought of themselves as heroes. They were just your average "Joe" because most of the people they knew were also in the service at one time or another. Unlike Vietnam when most of the people my husband grew up with didn't go except for one of his nephews, who was the same age as he was at the time. Jack had an older sister with two sons and a daughter. One son went and the other didn't. When they came home, they didn't feel like heroes either. They felt like outcasts. No one wanted to hear their stories. It was almost as if they wanted to dismiss the year out of their lives as if they had been away on vacation. "Shell shock" was understood when George went to live on the farm but it was not understood when my husband and his nephew came home with the same kind of inside wound.

Veterans Administration says 900 World War II vets pass away every day
By Randy Conat
GENESEE COUNTY (WJRT) -- (11/11/09)--While we pause the honor those who have served their country on Veterans Day, we have to face the fact that their numbers are dwindling.
The Veterans Administration says 900 World War II vets pass away every day.
One of the oldest vets in Genesee County fondly remembers answering when his nation called.
He's 91 years old, but Eugene Glass of Flint Township can still clearly remember his time in the Army over 60 years ago. Glass was living near Grand Rapids when he was drafted.
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http://abclocal.go.com/wjrt/story?section=news/local&id=7113176