My father Richard Gandelman died on Memorial Day 2007 at age 88, a proud World War II veteran who saw a lot of death when he served, but cherished his years of service.
His father Nathan Gandelman died in a car crash after saying goodbye to my father as he was about to go overseas ….then saying he didn’t know why but he had to turn back and say good bye to him one more time. Nathan was the only one who died in that crash.
Richard Gandelman, my father, told me he’d never see “Saving Private Ryan” because he saw much of what it depicted and briefly described one thing — but he would never talk about that. Just how he served.
He seemed especially proud because his generation had rid the world of Adolf Hitler and Hitler’s barbarity — and when 9/11 occurred I sensed he was shell shocked because he thought this kind of brutality and mercilessness was largely put to rest by The Greatest Generation.
I salute him and cherish his memory and the memory of all those of The Greatest Generation and all American generations who either made the ultimate sacrifice or were ready to make it, and are ready to make it — to make and keep America what it became and is and will be. (Dad: I may shed a tear but I also break into a smile.)
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.