Photos by Homer Frank
Destruction of Nuremberg, Germany after the Allies defeated the Nazis.
Bridging the gap
Times of war bring the generations into perspective
Even as many of our friends and loved ones are asked to drop everything to travel overseas and fight, it is hard to relate to the sacrifices of an earlier generation.
safeciness of Homer Frank was a reconnaissance photographer in World War II, who enlisted when he was 19 and served until
he was 23. He recallstaking pictures of liberated concentration camps. "It was unbelievable," Frank says. "I saw bodies stacked in rooms like cardboard. You could see the bones left over in the cremation rooms. There was spilled blood all over the walls. You just had to see it to believe it."
Frank and another veteran, Richard Hewitt, will give a presentation about fighting in World War II from 2:30 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 14, at the Lawrence Public Library auditorium.
Hewitt was 21 when he shipped out to fly as a
Homer Frank was a reconnaissance photographer during World War II. He served in the military from age 19 to 23.
heroes of war.
Pattie Johnston, senior outreach coordishipped in fighter pilot with the 78th fighter group in Duxford, England, but says that he doesn't see himself as a real hero. He says his motivation behind sharing his experience is to tell people about the guys that flew with him and never made it back to enjoy being a veteran, who he calls "the real heroes of war."
nator at the Lawrence Public Library, has organized a presentation as an extension of the Veterans History Project through the Library of Congress featuring Frank and Hewitt. She says the stories of the men that Hewitt flew with really stay with you. Johnston says that each generation says the previous one is unimportant. She says that people need to realize what these young men did at the age of current college students are now. Frank and Hewitt both say that the world is a lot different now and the mentality of the country and our enemies have both changed.
We fought for the freedoms we enjoy, says Hewitt, who has published a book entitled Target of Opportunity, Tales and Contrails of the Second World War, available at the public library, and the Raven bookstore at 6 E. 7<sup>th</sup> St. He says that now we are fighting for those freedoms all over again in a different world.
Hewitt says if you think about what the United States has been going through for the last 20 years, we have essentially been in World War III against terrorism. Hewitt says the difference is they were fighting against an enemy who they could identify. Frank says there was no dissension back then. He says it is hard for him to imagine how we feel at our age, but says that you
just have to do the right thing.
"We were attacked at Pearl Harbor, and the country was completely united," Frank says. He says that the country was sure of what they were doing, and everyone shared a sense of purpose.
When Hewitt answers questions about his experiences, he says that people always ask him if he was scared. But Hewitt says that he never really thought about fear; they just wanted to get the job done. He says that 16 million people went over there, and "Everyone was ready and willing, and those who were able went — we all had one objective and that was to win," he says. This is obviously something that the veterans of our generation will not
get to enjoy. Frank says it is important to support the soldiers fighting overseas and do what needs to be done, but he hopes we get out of Iraq soon.
Nov. 11 celebrates of everyone who has made sacrifices in the armed forces, but was not officially known as Veterans Day until 1954. Formerly Armistice Day, Nov. 11 marked the signing of the Armistice and ceasefire of World War I, but was officially changed by President Eisenhower to Veterans Day. Frank says there are veterans in a lot of wars and they wanted to include all of them. Today is an important time to remember those who have fought for our freedoms in the past as well as those who are missing from us now.
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