Seeing an Old Neighbor

Yesterday after church, I ran into two old neighbors of mine, Mr. and Mrs. Dormani. I hadn't seen in them in a few years, and they were certinaly two of the most friendly people I have ever met. George, who is 85 but has the energy of a man 25 years younger, immediately remembered my name and shook hands as if he was my best friend and we saw each other every day.

Then he turned rather serious and said, "Do you know where I was 65 years ago today?" I knew that George was a World War II vet, and this was the 65th aniversary of D-Day, but I still only managed to stumble out "D-Day." Then he said, "Yes, I was sitting in a boat in the English Channel. We couldn't go ashore yet because they hadn't cleared the beach, so we waited for the artillery to make way for us." I asked him if he was frightened. He smiled at me and said, "Well, I was 20." I said, "George, I'm 20. I'd be scared out of mind." "I don't know about that," George said. "When you're young you just know it's what you have to do, and I was more excited than anything else." I was struck by his demeanor. He was serious, yet he remembered it almost as one recalls an important sporting event. Very matter of fact and calm.

Over 2 million Americans eventually fought their way through Normany in June of 1944. My own grandfather had been part of a similar attack on a beach in Anzio, Italy in January, that led to the defeat of the Axis in Rome. He didn't talk about the war much. He mostly reminisced about the Italian girls and his favorite restaurants - though my Dad says he always complained about the idiocy of the generals - I don't know why, but I'm not surprised that a Pergament had a problem with bad decision-makers.

Before we left church, George told me to do what I love, and to recognize what I had to do when I had to do it. He also said to tell everyone that I talked to a veteran of D-Day. So that's I'm doing.

To George, my grandfather Hyman Pergament, and to everyone who served and serves our country, thank you.