Charles Skelton: “It appears to me that after some 60 years, the veterans of what we now call the Second World War should be rightfully…”

“It appears to me that after some 60 years, the veterans of what we now call the Second World War should be rightfully honored here in the District of Columbia. We have a memorial to the Vietnam veterans. We have a memorial to those who fought in Korea. It is the generation that Tom Brokaw, the NBC author and anchorman, calls the greatest generation, yet there is no memorial to them. This bill puts an end to the discussion, the disagreements. After 22 public hearings on its site and design, it is something that needs to be done. Growing up in the era of the Second World War, my heroes were those who fought, who came home, such as my best friend's older brother, Walter Savio, when he came over to the grade school with his uniform on and his gas mask attached to his side; others like Hector Polla, who did not come back; others like Raymond Howard, who was captured at Corregidor; George Steir, who was shot down while flying his B-17 over Europe. He was a prisoner of war. So many of them should be honored, and this will be an honor that will pass on to later generations.”