We don’t often use only one story on Sunday’s front page, but we did this week and I wanted to explain why.
Memorial Day is an important American holiday, when we pause to honor those who fought for our country and died doing so. And World War II history fascinates me, in part, because like so many people I had family members who served.
As a journalist, I’ve written or edited many stories about WW II veterans, some who came home and some who didn’t. But the opportunities to tell those stories are fading with the years.
Just 0.5% of the 16.4 million Americans who served in WW II are alive today, according to the National WW II Museum. That’s about 45,000 people, all of whom are well into their 90s or older now.
Reporter Karly Graham over the last several weeks reported the story of Hubert Thane Bauman II, who grew up on Ferguson Street in Lansing, just around the corner from what is now the University of Michigan Health – Sparrow Hospital. In 1944, the ROTC student at Michigan State walked a few blocks west down Michigan Avenue to the train station, probably better known today as the former Clara’s restaurant, and went to war.
He was killed a few months later on Nov. 27, 1944, in Germany. He is buried along with more than 8,300 American soldiers at the Netherlands-American Cemetery near Margraten, Netherlands.
For decades, his grave has been cared for by a Dutch family. Bauman’s surviving family including his youngest sister Rita, who still lives in Lansing, connected with the Dutch caretakers. They met in person in 2018 and members of each family have visited each other’s homes and communities.
It’s a tragic story. Bauman was a 23-year-old war hero, awarded both a Silver Star and Bronze Star for valor, among numerous other honors. Huub Bessems was 13 when he saw thousands of graves dug on farmland near his home in Margraten. I found it heartwarming as well. Two families who were so impacted by the war have, generations later, found a common bond.
I hope you are able to take some time this weekend to reflect on the sacrifices made by so many.
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This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Stories of WW II veterans are fading with the years
Reporting by Al Wilson, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
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