Local WWII vets reap uplifting kudos on Big Easy trip

The twin motorcycle police escort, engines growling and blue lights dazzling, suggested something special about the buses approaching the airport in the foggy, misty pre-dawn darkness. North Charleston's World War II combat veterans were on the move again, this time headed for New Orleans and a day at the new National World War II Museum.

See them separately and these 21 men look like what they are, octogenarians, with mostly settled lives, enjoying retirement and their families. Put them together, with their combat veteran emblematic hats and shirts, and you have the real deal VIPs.

America is digging World War II veterans.

It's a wonderful thing to watch.

Pilots announced their presence; passengers responded with applause.

The veterans parted the sea of fellow travelers as they hustled through the crowded Atlanta airport concourses. Five needed wheelchairs, six others used walking canes. One veteran admitted that he had a bothersome protruding abdominal hernia. The trip to the surgeon, he declared, would have to wait until this trip was over.

They heard the yells, "You're our heroes," and "Thank you!"

In a fairly repeatable pattern, men approached asking for handshakes. Women approached and asked for hugs — and many seemed determined to give their targeted veteran a nice kiss. So spontaneous, so genuine. Humility, humanity, respect and gratitude. In all parts of this scene, America is at its best.

Today, World War II veterans everywhere enjoy an adulation that simply acknowledges the backbone of America's greatness — ordinary men, very young men, will make selfless sacrifices for their country. They did it in World War II, and over the frozen hills of Korea, in the jungles of Vietnam, and they're doing it now in the streets of Baghdad and the mountains of Afghanistan.

Many of these North Charleston veterans were teen-agers when they stormed beaches, charged hills and machine gun nests, worked ships through enemy submarine attacks, and survived kamikaze suicide air attacks. They savored victory in Europe and fought on in the Pacific. Some were wounded. All came of age in the sobering realities of war — death and destruction. These men punched their cards, and joined America's Greatest Generation.

New Orleans has expanded its D-Day museum into a campus of honor for World War II achievements, and the sacrifices of the 16 million Americans who served. It's a magnificent addition to the New Orleans tourism attraction, featuring a diner with a war-time menu and a four-dimensional movie theatre.

A day after experiencing the Museum's new Tom Hanks-produced documentary movie, a North Charleston veteran teared up. "It was hard to look at; it was hard on everybody back then, but I kept thinking about those young people fighting for us right now. What we saw is what they're experiencing right now. We should pray for them as hard as we can." Another said the opening scenes "told the whole story. I had trouble watching it after that."

Those opening scenes simply summarize how many lives were lost country by country. The bottom line: World War II killed 78 million humans, nearly four per cent of the world's pre-war population. The majority were civilians.

The North Charleston veterans were hosted by their city. Several very proud wives and one attentive daughter tagged along at personal expense. Mayor Keith Summey and Councilman Robert King were supporting cast members. They and several city staffers tended to the veterans, driving wheel chairs and handling baggage. The Veterans Administration sent along a nurse.

Most of the money for the trip came from private donations and fund-raising activities, Summey said. "Every penny we spend like this is worth it; these men are special and we can't honor them enough."

Aboard the paddle-wheeler Creole Queen, a jazz band entertained the North Charleston party. As the Mississippi River cruise ended, the clarinet player saluted the veterans and declared, "It's because of you that we are able to do this. Because of you, we're singing in English and not German or Japanese."

A dramatic overstatement? Perhaps.

But what would have become of the United States had America and its Allies "lost" World War II? "Sooner or later," one veteran suggested, "there would have been World War III. We would never have lived like that."

Watch these veterans and imagine their personal and collective experience and you realize history grants a reassuring hindsight. And thus, the issue of America's "defeat" in World War II seems academic.

In our hearts, we know now the possibility of defeat never existed, for Providence assembled for America's its Greatest Generation. Their members left an enduring triple legacy — sacrifice, courage and victory.

Every one of them is a VIP.

Ron Brinson is a former associate editor of this newspaper. He can be reached at rbrin1013@gmail.com.