Veterans Day 2010: Books To Remember World War II (PHOTOS)

Today is the day we honor our veterans. Yet many of us, particularly the young amongst us, know little of World War 2, a war that every American played a part in. A new book that pays tribute to World War II veterans hopes to change that. As an immigrant myself born during the war, their stories bring me closer to the truth of that war than anything I learned in school. Of course, there have been many brilliant books published abut the war and I share a few others particularly important to me.

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The Last Good War

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There are two million American veterans still alive, in their eighties and nineties, and we are losing more everyday. An American myself now, I am incredibly lucky to be publishing a book on that war from a deeply American point of view. "The Last Good War" (Welcome Books, $45), with photographs by Thomas Sanders and text by Veronica Kavass, tells the story of the war through the faces and the histories of the veterans who are still alive. Tom began the project as a graduate student in California. He is now twenty-five and through the kindness of a retirement community, Belmont Senior Villages, he flew for three years all over America photographing vets, vets of all colors, sexes and battalions. Veronica Kavass, trained as an oral historian with StoryCorps, interviewed them and in the great tradition of Studs Terkel, wrote their stories. The book is heartbreaking, incredibly funny at times, moving always and dazzling in its ability to bring you the story of the war through these everyday heroes. Of course, there is no good war but this is a war every American was involved in. Imagine: an airplane was manufactured every day from pots and pans that Americans contributed to the melting pot.

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There are two million American veterans still alive, in their eighties and nineties, and we are losing more everyday. An American myself now, I am incredibly lucky to be publishing a book on that war from a deeply American point of view. "The Last Good War" (Welcome Books, $45), with photographs by Thomas Sanders and text by Veronica Kavass, tells the story of the war through the faces and the histories of the veterans who are still alive. Tom began the project as a graduate student in California. He is now twenty-five and through the kindness of a retirement community, Belmont Senior Villages, he flew for three years all over America photographing vets, vets of all colors, sexes and battalions. Veronica Kavass, trained as an oral historian with StoryCorps, interviewed them and in the great tradition of Studs Terkel, wrote their stories. The book is heartbreaking, incredibly funny at times, moving always and dazzling in its ability to bring you the story of the war through these everyday heroes. Of course, there is no good war but this is a war every American was involved in. Imagine: an airplane was manufactured every day from pots and pans that Americans contributed to the melting pot.

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[damyanky]

05:07 PM on 11/22/2010

I must defend the title "Good War". Born in 1941, I lived on Long Island's north shore with my family. I remember the shortage of bacon and sugar, my mother saving old metal, the dark, early evenings. The blackout rules were rigid there so near to NY harbor and the US Navy installations in Conn. My father patched and repatched the car tires.

The war was near its end by the time I formed memories but I do recall the German sub entering Long Island Sound and dropping off frogmen.They were captured before they could pull off sabotage in NY. Since then, I've read a lot of the history. It was a good war because it was a just war. The nation was mobilized to do everything possible in terms of getting the raw materials necessary for our soldiers. Skirts got shortened at that time to save wool for uniforms. Butter was not available. Women were making bandages and knitting warm things for the soldiers in Europe.

We were in real danger of being invaded by the Germans and it was all about preserving our country and our freedom. We were the home team. That hasn't happened since.

[gwinegarden]

11:33 AM on 11/14/2010

There is no such thing as a "good" war. Some may be "necessary", like WWII, but never "good".

[MichaelMcKLA]

04:48 AM on 11/14/2010

The last good war? Gulf War, 1990-1991. Throwing Hussein's Iraq out of Kuwait and keeping it out of Saudi Arabia doesn't count?

[Adam616]

12:09 PM on 11/11/2010

"Good War" is an oxymoron.

[Mike169]

08:56 AM on 11/11/2010

The last good war.? Let's see in my lifetime we've been at war continuously with someone somewhere and that's for sixty years! If none of these wars are "good" why do we continue to fight them? Are we insane?