Remembering the cost on Memorial Day

"World War II was the greatest catastrophe in history. More people were killed and more buildings destroyed than in previous or subsequent wars. It brought terror and death to millions of civilians, women, children, old men, more millions of soldiers killed in their teens or twenties." - "Wild Blue," Stephen Ambrose.

The huge cost of human life from 1940 to 1945 was largely the result of the destructive forces of air power. Air power was welcomed after the carnage of trench warfare in World War I. H.G. Wells had predicted as much in 1908 in "The War in the Air." Even devout, pastor-raised college kids such as George McGovern, who became a B-24 pilot, found the call too compelling to resist.

The Fifteenth Air Force with the Eighth Air Force had no choice but to deliver in like kind to the German Luftwaffe and subsequently the German industry and civilian populations with very inaccurate iron bombs.

In July 1944, the 15th lost 318 heavy bombers in trying to destroy the oil production of Ploesti. In the following September, the loss rate climbed to an additional 350 heavy bombers. But, oil was no less critical then, than it is today. The Germans had better tanks and better airplanes and had to be stopped with sheer numbers of opposing machinery and men willing to die commanding them, for they knew the odds were against them. Statistically, in 1943 it was unlikely that any airman would finish his assigned 25 missions. A shortage of aircrews later forced the mission count to 35.

With the introduction of the P-51 flying cover for the heavy bombers, the losses eased considerably. The P-51 was a superior fighter. One such fighter group, the 99th, from the 5th Air Force was the Tuskegee Airmen. One black pilot, Lt. Lou Purnell said, "If that plane had been a girl, I'd have married her right on the spot."

The Eighth Air Force included Jimmy Stewart, Clark Gable, Andy Rooney and Walter Cronkite. They were to be counted among the lucky. America alone lost 43,581 aircraft and 121,867 airmen in four years.

On the ground in 1944 in France, it was worse. The 82nd and 101st Airborne units lost half their men when they parachuted behind the lines on D-Day and in the subsequent few weeks. When the 30th Division came to relieve the 82nd a month later, Lt. Sidney Eichen stared in disbelief, as he asked, "Where are all your officers?" The answer came back, "They're all dead." "Well then who's in charge?" A sergeant spoke up and said, "I am."

The German tanks were superior to the American Sherman tanks in almost every respect. The Germans made 24,630 tanks. The Americans survived by sheer numbers... they made 88,410 Shermans. But, the magic ingredient was the American ingenuity in repair. ("Citizen Soldiers," Steven Ambrose)

Major Tom Howie, a mild-mannered teacher of English literature before the war, in a night-time drive into critical St.-Lo, told his men to not stop no matter what. They didn't stop. Howie led from the front of the assault. Life magazine did a special story on his leadership, concern for his enlisted men, and his death in St.-Lo from shrapnel through his lung. Howie's Third Battalion lost 100 percent of its enlisted men and 150 percent of its officers, in two months (possible through a steady supply of "replacements").

Ali M., a third-grader at Academy Elementary, Madison, Connecticut, wrote of Memorial Day:

"As the flowers rest on the decorated graves and the sunlight shines on the beautiful sailboats, Uncle Sam whispers in my ear about how we should care for the soldiers and remember the ones that have died.... Today is the day to think of what they have done for us... But we should always remember and never forget what set us free, from this very day on."

Jack Addison is a Sisters resident and a former USAF pilot.