LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - While there are many things going on in the world, Dec. 7 marks an important anniversary, the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
Very few members of what has been described as the greatest generation are still alive after battling war, disease and now the coronavirus.
An effort is underway to help show gratitude for their service. The attack on Pearl Harbor may have happened 79 years ago, but to 94-year-old Glenn Fisher, the memories are still fresh.
“It just terrified me; I was just so afraid,” said Fisher, who said he heard about the bombing as he was on his way to church in Trimble County.
The fear over the sneak attack by Japan that killed and wounded so many Americans that day pushed Fisher, then just 15, into action. The Bedford, Ky., boy whose father served in World War I did what most people wouldn’t.
“The day after Pearl Harbor, I knew I had to go to the recruiting station and volunteer,” Fisher said, adding that he told recruiters he was 18. “They must have talked to my mother and realized I was not what I said I was.”
The next year, in 1942, he got in, and a 37-year career in the Army followed. He was in France on D-Day, fighting across Europe as a machine gunner with Gen. Omar Bradley’s 9th Army. Trying to cross the Rhine River, he was hit by German artillery, but went back to his unit after surgery.
“I got the French medal of Honor, which was one of the most proud moments of my life,” Fisher said.
Living through war, the polio epidemic and now coronavirus, the Army colonel, Trimble County farmer, husband of 54 years and father of two said what hurts so much is how few of the greatest generation are left.
“They’re just passing away so quick,” he said. “When you put the figures together of how many we lost in war time and how many we are losing to this virus, it’s almost unbelievable,”
“The greatest generation, Glenn’s generation, literally saved the world,” Honor Flight Bluegrass Chair Jeff Thoke said. “They were not conquerors but liberators.”
Of the 16 million men and women who served during World War II, about 300 are dying each day.
“Within about five years, most of them will be gone, so we want to cherish our World War II veterans while they’re here,” Thoke said. “It’s living history.”
To do that, a Christmas card campaign is underway. To bring a little cheer to hundreds of veterans of all wars, who may be homebound because of the pandemic, there’s an easy way to thank them for their service.
You can send your cards to:
Honor Flight Bluegrass
C/O Christmas Cheer
P.O. Box 991364
Louisville, Ky. 40269
Anyone can drop the cards off at the following locations:
+ Brundage Jewelers in St. Mathews at 141 Chenoweth Lane, Open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The deadline is Dec. 12.
+ Sylvan Learning Center in Louisville. The deadline is Dec. 12.
+ Shelby County Old Courthouse, either the Judge Executive’s office or the Sheriff’s Department. The deadline is Dec. 10.
+ Shelbyville Police Department. The deadline is Dec. 10.
+ Shelbyville Fire Department. The deadline is Dec. 10.
+ And on Sunday, Dec. 13, people can drop off Christmas cards from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Middletown 1170 VFW on Evergreen Road right behind the post office.
Copyright 2020 WAVE 3 News. All rights reserved.
The Link LonkDecember 08, 2020 at 04:07PM
https://www.wkyt.com/2020/12/08/remember-veterans-and-send-holiday-cheer-with-christmas-card-campaign/
Remember veterans and send holiday cheer with Christmas card campaign - WKYT
https://news.google.com/search?q=Send&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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