I never found out till years later that my late high school government teacher, tgen Reserve Major and later Colonel Thomas L Morning, was an infantry Second Lieutenant in the first wave landing in Normandy, June 6, 1944. He was a very humble man and had a great impact on my education. A real role model for me unknowingly to him back then.
The vice principal at my middle school in the early 1960s was a Marine combat veteran of Iwo Jima. He had a photo of the famous flag raising above his desk. No student ever tried to cross him. Most of my teachers, in high school too, were WWII vets.
A local historian from my hometown had collected stories and archival data of the local men and women who served in the second world war. The school teacher, banker, mechanic and farmer, people who I had known as ordinary folk had their stories told. Often too late, did I learned of the sacrifices these folks made for our freedom. Multiply these stories across thousands of communities, and you had America's Greatest Generation.