Regular readers know that, since the Free State Foundation's
founding in 2006, I have written a Memorial Day message each year. While the
sentiments expressed in each, understandably, have remained largely in the same
vein, this particular message is more personal than the previous ones.
My father, Aaron May, a World War II Army veteran, passed
away last October. He served as a warrant officer with the 68th
Armored Infantry Battalion of the 14th Armored Division of the
Seventh Army as it fought its way up through France, and then across into
Germany. Dad was with his unit when it liberated the concentration camp at
Dachau. He never forgot the sight of the liberated campmates.
Like many WWII vets, for decades after the war, my father never
talked much about his Army life. But as the fiftieth anniversary commemorations
approached in the late 80s and early 90s, Dad's reticence faded. He began to
talk to me about his war experiences and to speak to school groups as well. He
especially wanted to tell students, those old enough to hear, about what he saw
at Dachau.
As part of an oral history project operated by the
University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Dad did a long video interview
in 2001, recalling his wartime experience. He was just shy of 85 at the time.
In 1995, Dad gave me his dog-eared Basic Field Manual
Soldier's Handbook and his yellowed copy of his unit's history. There is much
detail about particular battles in the latter. At the time, he said simply:
"I thought you might want to keep these after I'm gone."
My father was in charge of a transportation unit of 79 men
that was responsible for trucking supplies and food from behind the lines up to
the front. Often, he said, the trucks would come back from the front with the
wounded – and the dead. On the side of each of the unit's trucks was painted: "Norma
I," "Norma II," "Norma III," "Norma IV," and
so forth. Yes, Norma was my mother. She and Dad got married – she was 19 at the
time – a few months before he shipped out for Europe.
But here is something important you should know about the
trucks named "Norma." Dad showed me a faded photo and pointed to the
soldier standing next to him, fellow warrant officer Norman Wemple. Almost inaudibly,
Dad said: "He got blown up by a direct hit in March 1945 while driving
Norma II. Norman was one of my best buddies."
It was only after a long, long pause that Dad told me that
he and Norman had switched places that day in the trucks' usual line order as
they drove to the front. Otherwise, almost certainly it would have been my
father, instead of Norman, who died that day in a truck with "Norma" painted
on the side.
So, Dad came home, having served his country, alive and
without wounds. His story is personal to me, of course, and of no great moment
to you. But I know, in a larger sense, in the sense that matters, it is not an
exceptional story at all. I tell it partly for myself, I'm sure, on this first
Memorial Day he is not here. But I tell it, mostly, I hope, to call to mind the
sacrifices of all of America's veterans, from all our nation's wars.
So very many soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines – so
many it is awful to contemplate -- have given their limbs, and, of course, like
Warrant Officer Norman Wemple, their lives.
Thirty-five American soldiers gave their lives just last
month in Afghanistan.
It is possible you may not agree with the stated purpose or
goals of each of the wars in which these veterans fought. This should not
matter now – on Memorial Day. We honor the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and
Marines because of their dedication and sacrifice to the American cause.
I understand there may be different views. But I happen to
believe that, in the main, our veterans fought to preserve the freedom we
cherish here in America.
At the Free State Foundation, our mission is to promote
understanding of free market, limited government, and rule of law principles. I
am grateful we live in a country that honors the memory of those who have
fought – and died – to preserve our freedom to carry out that mission.
So, I extend my very best wishes to you and your families
for a memorable, in the sense of remembering, Memorial Day.
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