Meet Sfc. Cyril ("That's a common name!") Leuelling, a tough, old bulldog of a man that stormed Utah Beach with the 90th Infantry Division and later fought all the way to Germany with Patton's Third Army.

"You know the Higgins barges? I came down off an LCI, down the ropes on each side, into a barge, and these barges hold about 30 troops. And they take you as close as they can to the shoreline without getting stuck in the sand, ok? They lower that front end down, you go out. Well, I was a platoon seargent, and we had men, that ... well, I've heard, "did you cry when you had to land?" And I said "No, how can you lead men into battle if you are a crybaby?" So they had some guys that was cryin' a little bit, and I don't blame 'em, I was scared too; the hair on my head was standin' straight up."

GI's approach Utah Beach in a Higgins Boat.

"But (when I got off) I stepped into a hole with my rifle, .45, bandoliers, ammunition, canteen, and bayonet and gasmask, and I also had four 60 mm mortars, two in the front, two in the back. Well when I stepped off in this hole, I thought I was gonna drown because I was only 5'7-and-a-half anyway, and I'm probably about 5'2" right now. But anyway, I kicked myself, you know, with your feet you kick at the bottom, and I worked my way out and got to shore. And that's when I throwed off that extra weight. I don't know what total poundage I was carrying, but I was carrying 70 lbs. just in the (mortar) shells."

"I landed about 8:30 in the morning. At that time, we were getting a lot of mortars, artillery shells, machine gun fire. The Fourth Infantry had it a bit tougher than we did, but when we landed, the enemy knew that we were getting more troops on shore so they was trying to stop the second wave of troops, so that's what we got."

"Well after about an hour or two, we got in to up where the beach and the grass starts, up in that area, and about three hours later we was probably up in about a mile. It was more or less machine gun fire, rifle fire, mortars and artillery that was coming in from about 6 miles out. We took a few prisoners, but the fighting really started once we got into the hedgerows ..."

Thank you, Mr. Leuelling.

Emotions ran high as the ceremony concluded and the crowd began to disperse. We joined the mass exodus towards the Lincoln Memorial ...

... where I noticed another reminder of the intense security measures taken to protect visitors to the Mall. With the ceremony over and the memorial closed until later that evening, I decided to call it a day.

Meet Pfc. Gene Callahan, who served with the 17th Airborne Division at Bastogne.

"I made six jumps in England, but I was driven by truck into the Battle of the Bulge. After that, I never had to jump again because I was wounded before the Rhine Campaign. I was hit in my foot, it healed perfectly (laughs). Million dollar wound, from a piece of shrapnel, an explosion."

Paratroopers dig in outside Bastogne.

On Bastogne:

"It was a pretty rough battle. I was cold, really cold, in a winter storm. I had to wear seven undershirts to stay warm. Every time they gave me one I put one on over the other one ... but I survived it."

Thank you, Mr. Callahan.

The Memorial's fountain at dusk.

On Sunday evening, I headed over to the Memorial to watch the veterans and their families enjoy the space.

Looking towards the Pacific end of the monument.

Meet Pfc. Roland Fraser, who served in North Africa with the 112th Anti-Aircraft Artillery, 44th Brigade, 7th Army.

"We didn't really have battles. I was at Kasserine Pass, but mostly we were guarding Algiers harbor with anti-aircraft ... a 90 mm cannon. We did go up to Kasserine Pass, but we got out of there in a hurry. Where we were, it wasn't too bad."

"We shot at aircraft ... we picked 'em up on radar as they come across Gibraltar Quarter from France ... almost every night ... and then we'd have 'em on radar, and we had the harbor all smoked out so they couldn't tell where land was. We'd take care of 'em on that end. We also had the balloons up, helium balloons that would protect the harbor, so they couldn't come low enough."

An Army anti-aircraft battery stationed in the Mediterranean.

"It wasn't that bad (hard) to hit the planes because we had ... the shells were marked and we cut the fuse for a certain distance. They got within fifty yards of the plane and they were hit. (We took down) quite a few."

Before the rest of his outfit went to Germany, Pfc. Fraser came home and joined the Military Police.

"I came home. I had enough points to come home ... I don't know what or why ... they just come and told me one day that I was coming home that month."

Thank you, Mr. Fraser.

Memorials, pictures, wreaths, flowers, medals and memorabilia were strewn around the monument, typically under the pillar marked with the veteran's state of origin.

Meet Pfc. Basil Gaultney, who served with the 37th Division of the US Army in the South Pacific, New Guinea, Bogansville and the Phillipines. He was wounded as a rifleman in Manila during the invasion of the Phillipines.

Soldiers land at Luzon.

"The invasion was January 9th, and I was wounded on February 11th. Have you seen the movie To Hell and Back? That was my army experience; I finished basic training and went right into combat. I still haven't recovered (from the wounds). I was hit in my right leg with machine gun fire. I was in the hospital briefly in Manila there, and then I was flown out to Leyte and I was in a hospital there in traction for about ... I guess a couple of months, 'till my bones started to knit back. Then they put me in a cast and sent me home."

"The combat wasn't that bad, it was just grueling."

Thank you, Mr. Gaultney.

Looking east towards the Washington Monument.

The wing dedicated to the Pacific theatre of operations.

Meet Cpl. Lionel "Bud" Spencer, who served with the First Marine Division in "the Okinawa fiasco."

"It was a walk ashore, it was beautiful, nothing like the other invasions. They all held back and went into emplacements, and then it was rough as Hell, but the landing was gorgeous. I was fighting 69 days (before getting hit) ... I didn't have the brains to get hit on the first day. Coulda saved a lot of wear-and-tear."

"I stood up when I should have sat down. I was hit with machine gun fire, it was something ... went to Guam in the hospital, and then from there got out five months later and went back to Okinawa and then to China. And we had ourselves a time over there ... we helped rehabilitate millions of Japanese soldiers that had never been defeated, that was one of the main projects."

"We had to keep order and keep everything going. We had to take 'em back to Japan and we took Koreans back to Korea. That was interesting. I'm 19, and we had a load of civilians and two of them were very pregnant and decided to have their babies as our ship rolled into the edge of a typhoon, and we ended up with two Marines delivering two babies. I have no idea how we got out (of the typhoon)."

US Marines fighting on Okinawa.

Battle of Okinawa
Dead and Missing U.S.:

Navy 4,900+

Army 4,600+

Marines 2,900+

Wounded over 36,000+

Non battle casualties 2,600+

Japanese 110,000+

Okinawans 75-140,000

"It isn't much fun to remember the nasty parts, but ... we survived. We were starving ... I was on six meals a day in Guam, and then they let me get up like 6 weeks later and they weighed me and I weighed 122 lbs. Went in at 160 lbs. Nothing unusual at all, just a regular Marine, doing exactly what he was told."

Thank you, Mr. Spencer.

The newly reinvigorated fountains of the Mall's "Rainbow Pool."

A vet looks on.

Meet Sfc. Richard Sanders, who served during the Invasion of the Phillipines and Okinawa in the Army, aka "the only branch of service."

"I signed up, and I was an amphibious driver, driving these landing craft unloading troops on the shore. Not very many interesting stories from World War Two, most of my really interesting stories are from Korea."

LSM-22, LSM-21, and LSM-19 beached at Mindanao, P.I., 22 April 1945

"You gotta understand, during World War II, we (blacks) were not supposed to be able to do anything but that (ferry supplies) ... but after that war they realized ..."

"In Korea, I was infantry, one of the Buffalo Soldiers. All I know is that I walked all the way from South Korea, from the Pusan Perimeter, all the way to Manchuria, and then turned around and back to the 38th Parallel. I was wounded at Pusan, then at the Manchurian border and then again on the 38th Parallel."

"When I came back to the States, they sent me to school for radio repair, TV repair, atomic weapons, and they realized hey, these guys can do something else! And then they sent me to college to be an electrical engineer."

Thank you, Mr. Sanders.

Facing east.

A veteran enjoys the monument.

Meet Al Farris "out of Portland, Maine," easily one of the funniest guys that I've ever met.

"I picked up a new ship, the USS Astoria, CL-90. I picked it up in Philadelphia, and as soon as it was finished, we had trials, had to break it in and then we went through the (Panama) Canal and out to the Pacific. It was a medium cruiser."

"I was there, I could see when they were doing the signing of the treaty. I was there when the damn thing was signed, believe me. The night before that we had been on a midnight run, we chased a big battlewagon out onto the strip where it got bogged down in the mud. Yeah, they got bogged in the mud, alright, right on Tokyo. They were stuck, we came back out, sat right there ... that was early in the morning, and that's when we found out, the war was over, right then. I said hallelujah."

The USS Astoria, CL-90.

"I covered a lot of battles. We got hit (by kamikazes) amid-ship. Let's put it this way, they took our library out on us, and the post office - that pissed us all off. Never heard so much swearing in your life. It was bad, it was bad. Nobody would really realize, and you can't explain it unless you was there. All you could see was planes, the sky was black, and they was going in all directions. And of course the task force was real busy, they were knocking planes down, and the one that hit us, and I believe one of our gunners hit it, but it was coming in our direction and it hit us amid-ship. Didn't stop us."

"Most of it was air-to-ship. Earlier it was ship-to-ship, but they backed off, 'cause we had so many DD's and small cruisers coming up. We were more like a lead ship, with a wolfpack behind us. We'd bring 'em out and the wolfpack would go in there and raise Hell with 'em. Plain English. I don't plan on bein' too polite on words, I say it just the way it comes out; that's my nature. I come from Maine, you say it just how you think it. We're fighters, in Maine. When there ain't no war on, we get drunk and fight each other, just to stay sharp."

A kamikaze is downed by anti-aircraft fire.

"Some of the memories stay where they are. I cry ... by myself, I don't like to bring everything out. But I did lose some of my own friends, people that I went through boot camp with. They didn't come home with me, but it's part of the deal, we all knew. There's too many things that you try not to talk about anymore. Just that I was there, and I seen the treaty being signed."

On the WW II Memorial:

"I love it. I think it's the greatest thing they ever done for us. We waited a long time to be recognized like Vietnam and the rest of 'em. We went in there and done our thing and all of a sudden we weren't even recognized for a long time. And they finally got around that we were in the war. I think it's beautiful. It's outrageous, it's about about time something of this magnitude come out for us, because there's a lot of WW II veterans that didn't think they'd be recognized; today they're getting their recognition. And I'm proud to be one of 'em."

"I came back and had a good life. I got my boy, my baby. All and all, I thank God for the chance to come back and see what we fought for. And I tell people that I'd do it again if I had to."

No doubt. Thank you, Mr. Farris.

Looking westward towards the Lincoln Memorial. Larger image

Eagles in the Pacific wing.

This is my grandmother, who represents another kind of wartime sacrifice. In September of 1942, 21 year-old William Martin, her high school sweetheart since 1939, traveled to Syracuse, NY and started training to be a Naval Aviator.

10/5/42

My Dearest,
...
A couple of days ago I did my first spin alone and what a thrill it was, bringing her out of it. I was a little nervous at first but I got over it. My instructor took me up previous to my solo flight and we were practicing spins and stalls and later I took off alone, climbed to 3,500 feet, leveled off, and had the intention of doing my spins first, but did I? No. Stalls took the place of spins temporarily and finally I said to myself, "What are you, man or mouse!" and over she went once, twice and another half, then stick forward, a little opposite, then stick back and out I came. After that one I went back and did five more.

Love forever,

Billy

I love you dear. P.S. I'll salute 10:00 o'clock every night and you will see it wherever you are.

8/27/43

Darling,
...
Every time I think of you as my wife, I get little chills which do a dance up and down my spine. I lay on my bunk looking at your pictures and dream of the future, then I close my eyes knowing these dreams will soon come true. Honey, I love you so much that it hurts deep down inside of me. Soon this hurt will go away and in its place will come happiness and contentment. Two little words will make the difference, "I do." Funny how two words can change a picture so much, oh wonderful words.

Adoringly yours,

Billy

On October 23, 1943, Eileen Furler married Ensign Martin, the day after he received his Naval commission and pilot's wings at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, FL. Less than four months later, he would leave the states for the Pacific theatre, where he flew an F6F Hellcat for the 19th Fighter Group based off the Essex Class carrier USS Lexington.

F6F Hellcats.

Over the next 10 months, Ensign Martin took part in action over Formosa, the Marianas, Philippine, Bonin and Nansei Islands, shooting down a total of 4 Japanese planes and destroying various ground and naval targets, for which he received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal.

A modern re-enactment of a Hellcat stalking a Japanese Zero.

The President of the United States takes pride in presenting the DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS to

ENSIGN WILLIAM HENRY MARTIN
UNITED STATES NAVAL RESERVE

For heroism and extraordinary achievement in aerial flight as Pilot of a Fighter Aircraft in Fighting Squadron NINETEEN, attached to the U.S.S. LEXINGTON, in action against the enemy Japanese forces in the Philippine Islands Area, from October 21 to 24, 1944. Assigned to a sweep against hostile aircraft in Southern Luzon, Ensign Martin personally attacked and shot down one enemy plane and assisted in the destruction of three Japanese PT boats. While returning from a long-range westerly patrol during the savagely fought Battle for Leyte Gulf, Ensign Martin personally destroyed two of ten attacking Japanese fighters and, on the same flight, aggressively launched an attack against an enemy dive bomber and shot it down. By his superb airmanship and daring tactics, Ensign Martin rendered invaluable service to our forces during a period of intense aerial activity. His valiant fighting spirit and devotion to duty reflect the highest credit upon himself and the United States Naval Service.

Ensign William Martin (L) is served a sandwich and some orange juice after being fished out of the Pacific (details unknown).

In August of 1944, his daughter Dianne, my mother, was born. From a letter one year earlier:

8/11/43

"... soon we will share a life together. We will go on thinking of each other and someday when things right themselves and return to normal we can go about the business of settling down and raising a family. You and I in a world of our own, with a few little ones to bring a ray of sunshine into our home, wherever it may be."

Pilots leaning across an F6F on board the USS Lexington (CV-16) after shooting down 17 out of 20 Japanese planes heading for Tarawa.

Unfortunately, those future plans would never be realized and he would never see his daughter. On November 3rd, 1944, the fighter that he was piloting suffered mechanical failure and crashed into the ocean.

From the Newark Star Ledger:

A letter from Ensign Martin's commanding officer, Lt. E. L. Lindsay, described his last flight to Mrs. Martin. He wrote that the Irvington pilot volunteered to take a plane that needed several hours run-in time to accompany a combat patrol flight off the Philippines. The plane was flying above the formation when it was seen to be trailing smoke and losing altitude, Lt. Lindsay wrote.

As the plane went down toward the ocean, Ensign Martin radioed his oil pressure was down and he would have to land in the water. At 50 feet above the water the ship nosed down and crashed into the waves. Although a nearby plane and a destroyer searched the area, the fallen airman was not found, the lieutenant wrote.

My grandmother was devastated, her entire life stopped.

"I wanted to commit suicide, but I had this baby daughter to take care of. The thing is ... read those letters ... look at the pictures ... we were happy, so happy. If you look at every picture of Billy, he was smiling. We loved each other so much."

She soldiered on, built a life and raised her daughter, just like hundreds of thousands of other families that faced similar loss. That's the thing about World War II that's difficult to fully grasp: 17 million Americans wore a uniform, roughly 1 in 5 adult males. 400,000 of them never came back, and millions more were wounded. This massive sacrifice is what helped save the world from fascism and cruel tyranny, defined our society and made America what it is today, by forging what has come to be known as our "greatest generation."

Thank you grandpa, and thank you, grandma.

Vets pose in front of the column bearing the name of their state.

Lookin' at the fountain.

Explaining the field of stars.

I think that the sacrifice of World War II can be exemplified by one of the letters that my grandfather wrote five months before shipping off to the Pacific:

8/19/43

Dearest,
...
At this point you realize that there is a lot more to flying than most people think and a thrill comes over you as you feel that you're a part of it. Just being upstairs, cruising around looking at the beautiful green patches that make up the earth and contrasting it with the sky of blue tinted with red and yellow where the sun peeps through clouds makes you feel, "this is where I belong."

I'd like instructing for a while, but when the months passed and I kept hearing of what our boys are doing over there, I know the urge would become so great to get out there with them and do some damage myself. I'd like being an instructor so we could be together and enjoy some of the happiness we've been waiting for. Then like any other American, I'd want to get out there and do my part. You understand how I feel, don't you hon?

When victory is ours then I'll be able to come home to my little wife whom I adore with all of my heart and try to give her all of the happiness she so richly deserves. I'll feel proud to know that I can see why millions of my fellows feel as I do; this is worth fighting for. It's worth more than just a life, for a nation to settle down from the turbulence incurred in the past years, so that girls and fellows may live as they should. May God be with all of them.

Guess I've said enough, so I'll end with my undying love for you dear. Good day until the morrow.

Love always,

Billy