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In the fall of 1962 a movie was released that became an immediate smash hit with
audiences around the country: The Longest Day. Although it was a very
"Hollywood" version of the D-Day invasion, featuring every big name star of the
day, it was still one of those epic movies that you always remember. At that time in my
life I was already fascinated with history, so when my future husband-to-be invited me to
attend with his family, I was only too eager to go. Of course, at age 15, it probably had
as much to do with "the boyfriend" as it did with seeing the movie.
It was many years later that I fully appreciated what a unique experience that evening had
been. Settling into a row of seats, the first thing I had noticed was that the theater
wasn't jammed with people as you might expect on an opening night. In fact, it wasn't even
half full. I had leaned over and whispered to my future father-in-law that it was amazing
to see so many empty seats, and it was then that he informed me we were attending a
premier --- a special showing just for World War II veterans and their families. I had
been awed by the thought that we were surrounded by men and women who had actually lived
through the battles we were about to witness. No one in my immediate family was a veteran,
so I was overwhelmed with curiosity. The theater darkened, the movie began, and not a word
was uttered in the audience during the entire four hour film. When it was over and we
joined the crowd to file out, I remembered seeing some fighting back tears and others just
staring vacantly. Mostly I remembered that the silence had been deafening.
In fact, not a word was ever spoken by my father-in-law on the subject of World War II. He
never talked about his war experiences with his family, he never mentioned his days as a
soldier. At some point I did learn that he had been among the troops who took part in the
horrific Battle of the Bulge, but unlike many of his fellow soldiers, he made it back home
alive. Whatever scars he carried apparently ran very deep and were very personal, and he
never had any desire to share them with anyone. To this day I still love war movies, but
my perspective is very different from what it was when I saw The Longest Day. It is
sobering now to realize that a great evening at the movies for some of us might be a
painful journey back in time for those who lived through it.
Many years after that eventful evening, there was an ironic footnote to this story. When
my father-in-law passed away, my husband was given a three volume set of books chronicling
the entire history of World War II that had belonged to his father. We were told that
every soldier who took part in the Battle of the Bulge received them. They were fragile
and tattered and obviously well-thumbed. Until that day, we had never even known he had
them. Whatever memories they invoked had gone to the grave with him.
--- Ann Bruns
(c)
Copyright 2001, Bookreporter.com. All rights reserved.
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