Veteran's Day
November 11, 2004
This is the story of an 18 year old boy from Philadelphia and a 15 year old girl from North Carolina. The events that took place on June 6, 1944 would eventually bring them together.
On D-Day plus 50 days in late July, the young man, in the 90th Infantry Division, 359th Infantry Regiment, came under heavy fire on a hillside near St. Lo, just southeast of the D-Day beaches.
When enemy machine guns pinned down his platoon and killed its lieutenant
Joe charged out and, despite several wounds, kept firing and tossing grenades.
''He was then shot in the foot, the leg and the lower back, yet managed to keep running ... (and) single-handedly killed every last German soldier who manned those emplacements and in so doing saved his entire platoon.''
He was left for dead but was found a couple of days later, unconscious.
He awoke ''four months later in an Army hospital bed in St. Lo with a Silver Star and a Purple Heart with two oak leaf clusters pinned to his pillow.''
He returned to the United States for recuperation, re-enlisted and was sent to a military hospital at Mitchel Field in Hempstead, Long Island, N.Y.
That’s where he met a young WAC, the girl from North Carolina. They fell in love and married on April 2, 1946.
They later moved to Philadelphia, had two children, Joey and a younger daughter, Nancy, and tried to build a postwar life.
But the war would never end for the couple. He continued to have nightmares about the war and at the age of 39 he suffered a stroke that left him unable to speak.
Joe’s son tells of the time, when he was very young, when he woke to see his father running down the upstairs hall, banging into the wall, and falling to the floor as if he was firing a machine gun. He remembers, ''My mother was chasing behind him and at the very top of the steps on the second floor going down, I peeked out of my room and my mother was holding him in her arms and rocking him.
Joe died Jan. 27, 2001. Lillie died nine months later on Oct. 23. After 55 years of marriage, their torment was finally over. At the end, Lilly had diabetes and could barely see, but still she cared for Joe.
This story is from a book called “GI Joe and Lilly” written by their son, Joe Bonsall of the Oak Ridge Boys. He also wrote a song of the same name. It ends:
SOMEDAY THEY'LL REST IN ARLINGTON
NEATH' THE RED, THE WHITE AND BLUE
SAFE IN THE ARMS OF JESUS
WHEN THEIR JOURNEY HERE IS THROUGH
AN AMERICAN LOVE STORY
NOT UNLIKE A LOT OF OTHERS
EXCEPT THAT G.I. JOE & LILLIE
IS MY FATHER AND MY MOTHER
Today, Joe and Lilly Bonsall do rest at Arlington Cemetery like so many other veterans. Thousands more lie at rest just behind us at Jefferson Barracks. But Veterans’ Day isn’t just about those who made the supreme sacrifice. It’s a day to remember and thank the living veterans who have done so much to keep our land free.
There are over 4 million WWII veterans alive today, more than 8 million who served in Viet Nam, nearly 6 million veterans of the Korean War, and over 2 million from Desert Storm/Desert Shield and the current war in Iraq and Afghanistan. There are also almost a million men and women who still serve in those two countries.
Originally Veterans Day was called Armistice Day and was set aside to commemorate the end of WWI on November 11, 1908. Over the years it has changed its name and its purpose. For a while the date was changed to give people a three day weekend, but has since been moved back to the original date.
In the original act, approved May 13, 1938, the Senate wrote:
“WHERAS it is fitting that the recurring anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations…”
How about that! The Senate, with the agreement of the House of Representatives, set aside a day for prayer. Today is that day.
Some information from "Oak Ridge Boy tells parents' story of suffering, sacrifice after WWII, by Lark Borden, Gannett News Services
This is the story of an 18 year old boy from Philadelphia and a 15 year old girl from North Carolina. The events that took place on June 6, 1944 would eventually bring them together.
On D-Day plus 50 days in late July, the young man, in the 90th Infantry Division, 359th Infantry Regiment, came under heavy fire on a hillside near St. Lo, just southeast of the D-Day beaches.
When enemy machine guns pinned down his platoon and killed its lieutenant
Joe charged out and, despite several wounds, kept firing and tossing grenades.
''He was then shot in the foot, the leg and the lower back, yet managed to keep running ... (and) single-handedly killed every last German soldier who manned those emplacements and in so doing saved his entire platoon.''
He was left for dead but was found a couple of days later, unconscious.
He awoke ''four months later in an Army hospital bed in St. Lo with a Silver Star and a Purple Heart with two oak leaf clusters pinned to his pillow.''
He returned to the United States for recuperation, re-enlisted and was sent to a military hospital at Mitchel Field in Hempstead, Long Island, N.Y.
That’s where he met a young WAC, the girl from North Carolina. They fell in love and married on April 2, 1946.
They later moved to Philadelphia, had two children, Joey and a younger daughter, Nancy, and tried to build a postwar life.
But the war would never end for the couple. He continued to have nightmares about the war and at the age of 39 he suffered a stroke that left him unable to speak.
Joe’s son tells of the time, when he was very young, when he woke to see his father running down the upstairs hall, banging into the wall, and falling to the floor as if he was firing a machine gun. He remembers, ''My mother was chasing behind him and at the very top of the steps on the second floor going down, I peeked out of my room and my mother was holding him in her arms and rocking him.
Joe died Jan. 27, 2001. Lillie died nine months later on Oct. 23. After 55 years of marriage, their torment was finally over. At the end, Lilly had diabetes and could barely see, but still she cared for Joe.
This story is from a book called “GI Joe and Lilly” written by their son, Joe Bonsall of the Oak Ridge Boys. He also wrote a song of the same name. It ends:
SOMEDAY THEY'LL REST IN ARLINGTON
NEATH' THE RED, THE WHITE AND BLUE
SAFE IN THE ARMS OF JESUS
WHEN THEIR JOURNEY HERE IS THROUGH
AN AMERICAN LOVE STORY
NOT UNLIKE A LOT OF OTHERS
EXCEPT THAT G.I. JOE & LILLIE
IS MY FATHER AND MY MOTHER
Today, Joe and Lilly Bonsall do rest at Arlington Cemetery like so many other veterans. Thousands more lie at rest just behind us at Jefferson Barracks. But Veterans’ Day isn’t just about those who made the supreme sacrifice. It’s a day to remember and thank the living veterans who have done so much to keep our land free.
There are over 4 million WWII veterans alive today, more than 8 million who served in Viet Nam, nearly 6 million veterans of the Korean War, and over 2 million from Desert Storm/Desert Shield and the current war in Iraq and Afghanistan. There are also almost a million men and women who still serve in those two countries.
Originally Veterans Day was called Armistice Day and was set aside to commemorate the end of WWI on November 11, 1908. Over the years it has changed its name and its purpose. For a while the date was changed to give people a three day weekend, but has since been moved back to the original date.
In the original act, approved May 13, 1938, the Senate wrote:
“WHERAS it is fitting that the recurring anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations…”
How about that! The Senate, with the agreement of the House of Representatives, set aside a day for prayer. Today is that day.
Some information from "Oak Ridge Boy tells parents' story of suffering, sacrifice after WWII, by Lark Borden, Gannett News Services
posted by Mike at 9:50 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home