70 years since the Allies celebrated Victory in Europe

The guns are silent now and those brash scrappy young men and women of the 1940s have all but gone into the pages of history. It is hard for generations now present to remember the sacrifices that were made by everyone at that time — from the housewife to the farmer out in Iowa to Rosy the Riveter in Long Beach, California, working 12 hours a day, building the Army Air Corps armada that would eventually help destroy Nazi Germany.

It is hard to imagine that over 400,000 young American men and women lost their lives in the battle to free Europe from absolute tyranny. But the number of cemeteries that dot the French countryside tell the story in chiseled white granite and the average age was 22 years old. Over 60 million people lost their lives from 1939 to 1945 in Europe from the carnage of the Second World War. Not to mention the total and complete destruction of the nation of Germany, from factories to bridges and historical artifacts, to a whole generation of young men lost to the monstrous ideas of one man, Adolf Hitler, and the idea of a Master Race of people.

It is hard to imagine ration books and ration stamps and shoes and automobile tires no longer in stock. It is hard to imagine nylon stockings being collected to be used to wrap power casing for artillery shells. It is hard to imagine Meatless Tuesdays and Friday Fish days. It is hard to imagine Victory Gardens in every piece of bare ground in communities across the United States. It is hard to imagine no more silk panties for women, for that silk was now being used for parachute canopies. Bacon fat collected in every market and sent to the government depots for use in ammunition.

It is hard to imagine all the doctors, teachers, architects, scientists and other skilled professions that never had a chance to develop, for they now lay in silent row upon row in the fields of France. Young men and young women who gave up their lives so that others could enjoy the freedoms that they so cherished.

We are unique in the sense of nations, for we were born of rebellion and grounded in the principle “That all men are created equal” and each of us has a chance of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.

So it is a simple request: Take the time over this coming week to say a silent prayer for all those brave young men and women who made the freedoms you enjoy possible and be proud to be an American.

Garvey is a resident of Kalispell.