ndrosen

If you served, thank you.

A few years ago, I was able to write about two surviving veterans of World War Two whom I had the privilege of knowing, but they are no longer with us. I remember Walter Rybeck and Mason Gaffney, who served in the United States Army during World War Two, and also my own maternal grandfather, Roger Harlepp, who fought in the French Army when he could have remained in America, who did his best to halt the German Blitzkrieg, and then escaped from captivity, made his way to Vichy France, and then managed to rejoin his family, including the little girl who would become my mother. After these adventures, he worked as an engineer in a munitions factory during the later stages of the war.

My thanks to all who served, and in particular to any of my own Internet friends and acquaintances who may read this.

Walter Rybeck, a friend of mine and a veteran of World War Two, was alive last Veterans Day, but is no longer with us. Professor Mason Gaffney, another World War Two veteran, was alive two years ago, but no longer. My own maternal grandfather, Roger Harlepp, who fought in the Second World War, has been dead for almost twenty-five years. May they all rest in honored peace.

Let us pause to honor America’s veterans today. There is a Google Doodle which enables you to hear what a few of those veterans have to say about their experiences.

As it happens, I am acquainted with one of our rather few surviving World War Two veterans, Walter Rybeck, whom I last met in Baltimore in August. I hope that he and his wife are still alive and in tolerably good shape.