[knighthawk]

Ping

[DustyMoment]

When all of those involved in WWII have passed, we will have truly missed the opportunity to get to know these people. Regardless of the side they were on, they combined to create one of the greatest periods of history imaginable.

Even more, the courage of ordinary civilians, such as the two ladies who helped him escape, and the sacrifices and bravery of millions of American, British, Australian, Free French and other allied partners who willingly went in harm's way for the cause of worldwide freedom is breathtaking. I am always struck by the courage of those brave men who charged ashore from the landing craft, knowing that their odds of survival were small - but they did it anyway.

And the men who went into the clouds in aircraft that, by today's standards, are little more than tin cans with engines and guns are equally deserving of our admiration. Because of these and so, so many others, freedom still reigns in many parts of the world.

IMO, they truly were the Greatest Generation.

[VOA]

Zebrowski said he always wondered about the young women who helped him, but the Cold War
stalled his efforts to visit them.

Yep. An Evil Empire does tend to keep people from getting in touch.

This is reminiscent of a post about a German naturalist who could never
get in touch with the family of a US Airman who died when his P-51 crashed in
Germany...because the site (and the naturalist) were bottled up in what became
East Germany.
The Dallas Morning News had a good article of how the pilot's daughter
eventually found out the rest of the story of her father's demise.

[facedown]

American World War II veteran John Zebrowski, right, whose airplane was shot down in 1944, holds a piece of the plane while talking with amateur historian Jan Babincak, left, and David Wicks, son of an airman who was on the plane together with Zebrowski, Friday Aug. 27, 2004 in Dobra Voda, Slovakia. Parts of the plane are still scattered in the woods surrounding Dobra Voda some 60 years after the B-24 crashed. Woman in background is a member of the Chmelova family who helped Zebrowski after his plane came down.