Of the 16.1 million Americans who served in World War II, the US government estimates that fewer than 3 million are alive today.

According to the US Census 2006 American Community Survey, Quincy Massachusetts (population 90,000) is home to more than 1200 World War II veterans, most of whom are over 80 years old.

As part of its Remembering World War II series, Quincy’s Thomas Crane Public Library has created this website to explore and celebrate the history of this “Greatest Generation” through personal stories, interviews, and a selection of books, films, websites, music and pictures that we hope will bring this period of history to life.

We would love to hear from you. Please visit our Stories page to write your own story, or contact us at 617-376-1316 for information on other ways to tell your story.

The Greatest Generation, by Tom Brokaw:
“At a time in their lives when their days and nights should have been filled with innocent adventure, love, and the lessons of the workaday world, they were fighting in the most primitive conditions possible across the bloodied landscape of France, Belgium, Italy, Austria, and the coral islands of the Pacific. They answered the call to save the world from the two most powerful and ruthless military machines ever assembled, instruments of conquest in the hands of fascist maniacs. They faced great odds and a late start, but they did not protest.

They succeeded on every front.

As they now reach the twilight of their adventurous and productive lives, they remain, for the most part, exceptionally modest. They have so many stories to tell, stories that in many cases they have never told before, because in a deep sense they didn’t think that what they were doing was that special, because everyone else was doing it too.”

World War II veterans: Proud to Serve
—From the United States Department of Veteran Affairs

16.1 million
The number of U.S. armed forces personnel who served in World War II between Dec. 1, 1941, and Dec. 31, 1946.

33 months
The average length of active-duty by U.S. military personnel during WWII.

73%
The proportion of U.S. military personnel who served abroad during WWII.

16 months
The average time U.S. personnel served overseas during WWII.

292,000
The number of U.S. soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines killed in battle in WWII.

114,000
The number of other deaths sustained by U.S. forces during WWII.

671,000
The number of U.S. troops wounded during WWII.

210,000
The estimated number of women in 2002 who were WWII veterans. These women comprised 4.4 percent of WWII vets.

22%
The proportion of all veterans in April 2000 who were WWII veterans.

76.7 years old
The median age of WWII veterans four years ago when the last census was conducted.

11.6%
The proportion of WWII veterans who were still employed in 2000.

Dedication

This website is dedicated to the memory of those who served in World War II, both on the homefront and on the battlefield. It is the collective work of Library staff, and the people of Quincy.

To the extent that this site represents design and work on my part, it is  also  dedicated to my father, Jeremiah Thuma, who served as a flight engineer in the US Air Corps and whose pictures appear on several of these pages; and to the late Simmons College professor Allen Smith, whose Library Science class on oral history is the inspiration for this collection of interviews and stories. It wasn’t so much that Professor Smith was an exacting and rigorous teacher–he was–but rather that he taught his students to appreciate–and to accept–those invitations so often overlooked or dismissed– to stop what we are doing and hear a story.

To know  Allen Smith was to value humor, grit, and discipline. And to find yourself cheering on the people who show those qualities, and who are generous enough to share them with you. Whether it’s  in a classroom, in a conversation, or on this Library website.

Allen Smith used to tell his students that we were each allowed to use one exclamation point in our entire lives. And he preferred we did not use it in any papers we submitted to him.

If it is true that we each only have one, then I use mine now, when I say, in thanks, that Allen Smith was a remarkable person, and a remarkable teacher!

End Note: A reporter from the Patriot Ledger newspaper who wrote a story about this website asked me about the importance of World War Two. I’m not a historian–I’m not even a very astute observer of politics or culture or finances. But the financial crisis that is now enveloping the US and other countries has an “end of the century” feel to it that entirely by coincidence makes the library’s World War II programs and site feel as much like a farewell to the America created by that war as it does a remembrance.

The promise and sheer capital that the war generated seems to have been spent, and now we are again looking at tough times and looking for leaders who can help summon not just the policies of recovery, but a collective national will to re-imagine how we live and how we think.

In our final interview, Dan Breen looks at the future through the lens of World War Two, and finds every reason to be optimistic

“You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.” –Aristotle

Please! Leave us a comment. Share your thoughts and memories.

Thank you.