This story is among several that serve as touchstones for Americans; reminders of our nation's greatness. Whereas President Wilson saw World War I as the war to save democracy, President Roosevelt saw World War II as the war to save the world from tyranny. Young Americans met the call to duty, most of then very young, men and women, and Georgians. My mother-in-law and father-in-law served in the Army as well as my father. My mother was clerk-typist at Fort McPherson in Atlanta. Both couples met their spouses shortly after the war.

     In 1942, Nazi-German U-Boats prowled the East Coast from Groton to Jacksonville. One U-Boat captain was especially astonished to see that the American coast was not under black-out orders. Cruising off of Manhattan, the commander could read the marquees on Broadway. Merchantmen sailing out of New York's harbor were silhouetted against the city's lights, making them easy targets. Michael Gannon's book, Operation Drumbeat, recounts the activities of German submarines off our coast during this war. These operations were so unsettling that President Roosevelt ordered the wealthy and captains of industry to depart Jekyll Island. The President feared that the capture of those industrial leaders would cripple our war effort. The millionaire returned to the Island. After the war the State of Georgia acquired the island.

     As a member of the “Mighty Eighth Air Force,” my father and his crew flew a B-17, Flying Fortress from Savannah's Hunter Army Airfield to England. Dad was twenty-two- they were all young- Our family celebrated his 98th birthday in June. I asked what he was doing when President Truman announced Victory in Europe. The crew was over France, returning from a bombing run over Germany. Hearing the news, they decided to fly over Paris and around the Eiffel Tower. From that height they saw crowds celebrating on the Champs-Elysees. Shortly after landing at their base north east of London, they learned that they would be flying to join the Pacific war. That did not happen, given the progress of Allied forces there.

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     Martha, the youngest chief nurse in the European theater of the war, landed on Omaha Beach at Normandy, D-Day plus 13. Heavy fighting continued as she landed. Attached to General George Patton's 3rd Army she would go into the heart of Germany. Dad and Martha have given many the strength and resolve to meet current challenges to freedom.
Attached are two photographs. The first is of my father's B-17 crew. He is stand-ing, second from right. The second is of my mother-in-law shooting at a portrait of Hitler.
                                                                                                        -John Barney