May 6, 2013 marked the 68th Anniversary of the end of WWII. For my social studies class we were required to interview somebody that lived through the second World War.
The people belonging to what came to be known as "the Greatest Generation," are becoming a rare commodity nowadays. We are talking about people whose parents lived through the hardship of WWI, the feasting times of the roaring twenties only to fall on the harshest economic times of the Great Depression in the early 30's.So imagine being raised by parents such as those who hoped for the best and planned for the worst, never knowing economic stability always expecting harsh times to come up at the turn of the season.
Those were the kids, who grew up and lived through WWII as soldiers who went to fight on far away lands across the ocean. There were also the wives who stayed behind and pulled the country up by the bootstraps taking the jobs of men in factories, offices, and fields so the economy could keep going. Not everybody went to the front to fight. Those who stayed behind sacrificed almost as much as the soldiers who left, many soldiers had the duty of guarding the homeland in case of an attack (such as what happened at Pearl Harbor 1942). Not all duties were glorious, heroic battles. They were nevertheless very necessary.
68 years later the people who were in their 20's and 30's during the war have mostly passed on. Each year less and less WWII veterans are seen on tv on those special days of remembrance. They are living historical patrimony, national human monuments, living testimony of a great piece of history. I've searched for weeks for a WWII veteran I could interview down here in Miami Dade County. I've contacted the American Legion, the V.A. hospital, even the local office of the veteran administration affairs to find somebody to interview. There were a few, less than five all of whom were not available due to poor health or illness. I was fortunate to discover a gentlemen who served in the Navy during WWII, however he lived 215 miles north of here, all the way up in Vero Beach, Florida. He had been visiting his children up North and luckily returned one week prior the project was due.
When I finally heard that he had returned, I convinced my dad to drive me up to Vero Beach with my video camera so I can interview him before he had to travel again or would be otherwise unavailable again. Mr. Doy Davis was stationed in the Aleutians Islands, in Kodiak, Alaska. We are all fortunate to be able to learn from such a heroic generation. Not because they fought in WWII but because of the values they had, because of the way they were raised, the love they had for their country for the American way of life. They never took anything for granted earning everything they got, taking pride in everything they did and never complaining. They still do not feel entitled and overall should be remembered for their great love of their fellow man. They were willing to shed their own blood for the freedom of complete strangers. They believed in freedom that much. Mr. Doy Davis is such a man as you will hear for yourself from his own words.
WWII Veteran Interview:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuYpCrlw7dY
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)