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At Capitol, Bush saluted as ‘gentle soul,’ ‘great man’

<p>I fought back tears twice this week before Monday was even over.</p><p>The first time was on Sunday morning, sitting in Sally Billings&#8217; kitchen just outside Glen Lyon, as Billings and Lorrie Materewicz and I talked about World War II and the letters our family members sent home from the battlefield.</p><p>The second was on Monday afternoon, as I sat in the newsroom glued to the TV screen watching former President George W. Bush fight back tears himself as his dad lay in state beneath the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.</p><p>George Herbert Walker Bush was the last World War II veteran to lead this nation. With his passing, it&#8217;s hard not to feel as if the standard bearer of an unforgettable generation has quietly slipped away.</p><p>America has lost its last grandfather.</p><p>&#8220;It really is the end of an era,&#8221; colleague Jerry Lynott said as he stopped by my desk to watch.</p><p>Lynott went on to reference the loss of any semblance of civility of American politics, something that has been much lamented since Bush&#8217;s death, as it was when Sen. John McCain died earlier this year.</p><p>That&#8217;s another discussion, but both men will also be remembered for a history of service and sacrifice.</p><p>Yes, both came from powerful families. Yes, they had an education and advantages many families &#8212; my grandfathers&#8217; included &#8212; could only dream of. But their backgrounds also instilled in both young men a strong sense of duty.</p><p>Six months after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, an 18-year-old Bush enlisted in the U.S. Navy immediately after graduating from Phillips Academy, a prestigious private high school in Massachusetts.</p><p>Piloting a bombing run over a Japanese island, Bush was shot down and was rescued from a raft in the Pacific Ocean. He went on to fly dozens of missions before war&#8217;s end.</p><p>Bush was honorably discharged in 1945. He had done more for his country by 21 than some of us will do in a lifetime, and his service to the nation was far from over.</p><p>Anyone who grew up with parents or grandparents who served in that war know how long of a shadow it cast on many families. There were the painful years of separation, when sporadic letters home provided the only lifeline for families and sweethearts hoping and praying for the safe return of loved ones in uniform.</p><p>As I explained in Monday&#8217;s story, Billings and Materewicz are the custodians of hundreds of letters that area servicemembers sent home to St. Adalbert&#8217;s Parish during the war, keeping the church&#8217;s &#8220;Service Club&#8221; informed of their health and wellbeing in thanks for letters and care packages sent to them by parishioners. The two women hope to track down family members who would be interested in having those letters.</p><p>The three of us sat around Billings&#8217; kitchen table, talking about the letters. Many were written by men who, like Bush, were barely out of their teens and facing unimaginable horrors a world away from the green hills of Glen Lyon.</p><p>Like Bush, Materewicz&#8217;s father, Sylvester Materewicz, was an aviator. Like Bush he was shot down &#8212; in his case over Germany &#8212; but survived and came home a decorated veteran. Letters from her father were among those in those parish scrapbooks, along with photos of his aircraft.</p><p>To hold them and read them brought back memories, as well as reflections on his wartime service.</p><p>&#8220;I can remember when I was 18, and what I was like,&#8221; said Materewicz, who herself went on to serve as an Army nurse in the 1970s and &#8217;80s . &#8220;These guys were in combat situations &#8230;&#8221;</p><p>Many of the St. Adalbert&#8217;s parishioners were the children or grandchildren of immigrants &#8212; predominantly Polish &#8212; whose families still spoke the language of their homelands.</p><p>Among the items they showed me is a November 1942 program from an event honoring soldiers from the parish serving in the U.S. Army. It is entirely written in Polish, save for the text of &#8220;The Star-Spangled Banner.&#8221;</p><p>Flipping open to that page gave me chills. Young men whose experience bore little resemblance to the lives of a New England senator&#8217;s son nevertheless shared his love of country and willingness to sacrifice all for what it represents.</p><p>As one president mourns another, we mourn all those who faced down unspeakable evil and won. Keep them in your prayers this week, and never forget how much they did for us.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_121788364-474333ea3bab49e5a7ffc5c98cf70be9-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Former President George W. Bush, second from left, former first lady Laura Bush, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, right, and Vice President Mike Pence, left, attend a service for former President George H.W. Bush as his body lies in state in the Capitol Rotunda on Monday in Washington.  </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_121788364-474333ea3bab49e5a7ffc5c98cf70be9-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Former President George W. Bush, second from left, former first lady Laura Bush, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, right, and Vice President Mike Pence, left, attend a service for former President George H.W. Bush as his body lies in state in the Capitol Rotunda on Monday in Washington.  </caption0><photoCredit0>Jonathan Ernst | Pool via AP </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Roger DuPuis</p><p>rdupuis@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

On Politics: Farewell to the Greatest Generation