Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Celebrate 64 years of FREEDOM!

I missed an important anniversary last week.

64 years of Freedom. Not for me, but my Great Uncle (read more about him in THIS previous post).

April 16, 1945. My Great Uncle, who has spent the last five months of his life in a German P.O.W. camp, surviving on a diet of grass, straw, sugar beets, bread made with "tree flour" (a.k.a. sawdust), and charcoal made from potatoes to prevent dysentery, was liberated by the English 5th Infantry. He was 20 when h was liberated.

Last week, he decided to hold a liberation celebration dinner at the building he lives in.

Go read the entire article here.

Also, check the comments. There are several who make a great suggestion that this should be done not with seniors, but with youth. And I think that is a great idea.

1 comment:

Kevin said...

I know not everyone reading this will know Bruce, but given that Petey is my brother, I do know him and just knowing him, I think the part he may have enjoyed most was this:

And why begin precisely at 5:24 p.m.?

"Why not?" Longstreet said. "It had to start sometime. The truth is, I made a typo and didn't feel like doing it over."
Thank you for posting Petey...and Thanks to Bruce and all of our veterans for their sacrifice and service. Amazing concept that an all-volunteer defense force can be the most powerful in the world!