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The true American GI
Since the publication of Brokaw’s collection, “The Greatest Generation,” many have reflected on Americans who fought so courageously and sacrificed so willingly during the Second World War. As a high school history teacher, I have tried to infuse my students with an interest and appreciation for the war and its participants. Yet not until the January 2002 death of my grandfather, Rhuben Raymond Frank, did I gain a true perspective on just how great he and his generation were. Poring over my grandfather’s mementoes months after his death, I really met him for the first time in yellowed forms, letters and pictures. He fought under the American flag during World War II in the Pacific (1944-1945). Later he was part of Germany’s occupation during the war’s aftermath (where he met and married my German grandmother). He served two tours in the Korean War (1950-51, 1952-53), and one in Vietnam (1967-68). He was an Oklahoma farm boy turned American GI. His scribbled notes, bronze stars, purple hearts and black and white pictures remain as a testament to the tremendous life he did not always share. Kind, selfless and humble, he was certainly great. Now I finally know just how much. Bianka
Rhodes Stumpf, Sanford |
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