By Anonymous on Monday, August 27, 2001 - 02:15 pm:| By Anonymous on Monday, August 27, 2001 - 02:15 pm: |
A salute to heroes of war
By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer
Gov. Tom Ridge was moved last week as he presented Jubilee of Liberty medals to a half-dozen members of Company E 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division.
The U.S. Army elite rifle company in World War II -- nicknamed Easy Company -- is spotlighted in an HBO 10-part miniseries that will premiere on Sept. 9.
On July 26, Ridge appeared at the University of Pennsylvania's Irvine Auditorium for a reception and a screening of Band of Brothers, which is based on the best-selling book by Stephen Ambrose.
During the ceremony, Ridge presented medals to the aging veterans who parachuted into France early on D-Day morning, fought in the decisive Battle of the Bulge and captured Hitler's Eagle's Nest at Berchtesgaden.
"Those were some of the finest moments I've ever had as governor of Pennsylvania," Ridge said after presenting the medals.
Band of Brothers, which was produced in England from April to November 2000, will air on the pay-TV network Sundays at 9 p.m.
Produced by actor Tom Hanks and director Steven Spielberg, it was created after interviews with survivors as well as reviews of soldiers' journals and letters.
Last week's event featured a mini-USO show, a collection of war-related relics and pictures of wartime scenes.
The initial miniseries screening was held, appropriately, on June 6 -- the anniversary of D-Day -- at the Utah Beach Memorial in Normandy, France.
Nothing easy about it
The history of Easy Company began in 1942, when the men underwent rigorous training. The unit played an integral part in winning the war. Today, there are just 30 surviving members.
Ridge said that, despite the Easy Company moniker, none of the unit's missions were easy.
How tough was it? In the show, South Philadelphia's Bill Guarnere said he felt like the whole world was shooting at him in the Battle of the Bulge.
Ridge, an Army draftee who won a bronze star for valor in the Vietnam War, has read Band of Brothers twice. He wants schools to use the HBO miniseries as a learning tool for students.
State House Majority Leader John Perzel (R-172nd dist.) plans to introduce the series to his constituents. On Sept. 9 -- the night of the premiere -- he'll welcome area folks 60-and-older to the Vogt Recreation Center for a buffet dinner and a special screening.
Perzel, who attended last week's event as a guest of Comcast Cablevision, said Easy Company and the rest of the World War II veterans deserve the gratitude of all Americans.
After all, the Allies prevailed in what was unquestionably the definitive struggle of the 20th century.
"They gave us the basic liberties we have," Perzel said. "If we lost World War II, we'd be speaking German."
Rep. George Kenney Jr.'s father was a Navy man who fought in the Battle of Midway.
Kenney (R-170th dist.) said Americans should offer a simple "thank you" to all World War II veterans. As young "citizen" soldiers, many of them fresh out of high school, they fought for freedom around the world.
The legislator from Somerton said the Easy Company survivors and all World War II veterans deserve to be honored as they were last week.
"It's a great tribute to them," Kenney said. "These types of nights remind us what they did."
There were a number of local World War II veterans at the screening.
Bustleton's Ed Comly served in the Army and fought in the European theater. He recalls speaking about the Normandy invasion at a local public high school several years ago. Few, if any, of the students knew what he was talking about.
Comly thinks Band of Brothers might change that thinking. "It would be nice if the picture shown tonight could be shown in schools," he said.
Home of the brave
Vince Malatesta is president of the Veterans for a Delaware Valley Nursing Home and is eagerly awaiting the opening of the veterans home at Southampton Road and Roosevelt Boulevard. The ribbon-cutting is tentatively scheduled for April.
Malatesta won't rest now that the long-awaited 170-bed nursing home is less than a year from completion.
A member of the Navy amphibious forces who fought in the crucial battle at Okinawa, Malatesta would like to see the United States observe Memorial Day every May 30, rather than always celebrate it on a Monday so workers can have a three-day weekend.
Malatesta also wants to see the state open a seventh veterans home, perhaps in Dauphin or Schuylkill counties.
On a more general scale, Malatesta favors coverage of any World War II-related subjects that can educate the public about the era.
"I think more respect has to be given to veterans and the people who died in wars," he said.
Torresdale's Stan Wojtusik served in the Army in World War II and is proud to be among the American soldiers who prevailed over the Axis powers.
Wojtusik is a past national president of the Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge. He was captured during the battle and served five and a half months in a German prison.
Today, Wojtusik is looking forward to the Sept. 11 dedication of a World War II-related stained-glass window memorial in Carlisle.
It's among a series of war monuments, and Wojtusik notes that monument designer Charles DeChristopher, of Juniata, offers his services for free.
That type of respect for the World War II soldier is what veterans of the war like to see.
These are men who were born into the Depression, then were shipped off to war. Meanwhile, American women filled in admirably during wartime in the work force at home.
"When they refer to the greatest generation," Wojtusik said, "there's no question about it."