On November 11, 2019, ninth-grade students participated in a ceremony to award two US veterans of the French front in WWII with the Legion of Honor, in the presence of Consul Anne-Claire Legendre. Here are the opening remarks of history teacher, Rachelle Friedman.
Chere Madame la Consule générale, Mme Estey, M. Le President of the American Society of the French Legion of Honor, Mme Commissioner of Veterans Affairs, honored veterans and your guests, colleagues, and students, and parents:
Today, we seem to live in the present, finding it hard to believe that in the not-so-distant past, we didn’t have access to those things we take for granted–perhaps first among them all variety of social media that help us to keep in touch with those around the corner and around the world. Living without modern conveniences, whether it be wi-fi, access to whatever food we crave when we crave it, heat when it’s too cold and air-conditioning when it’s too hot is something we can barely imagine. These comprise our present, and everything else, whether Ancient Greece, Rome, the American and French Revolutions, world wars I and II, seem to be in the distant past.
The reality is that World War II is not the distant past. True, World War II began eighty years, 2 months, and 11 days ago, when Germany invaded Poland. And that is a long time ago, perhaps before many of our students’ grandparents were born. For many of us in the auditorium, World War II was and continues to be a part of our lives, through memories, practices, attitudes, even if it has been over for nearly 75 years. The gentleman whom we will honor today–and women, too–were like many of us, living their lives. They were only, in many cases, just a few years older than our high school students. They were concerned with school, work and family, and looked forward, as we all do, to such pleasures as time enjoyed with good friends and days at the beach.
However, that world, often filled with comfort and contentment, was not to be. Whether living in France, the United States, the U.K. or nearly every other country in the world, men and women were called to give up what they knew in order to serve their countries. More important than their lives at home, filled with the familiar joys and tribulations of family and friends, work, school, neighborhood and houses of worship was their dedication to what they knew to be right. For those in Allied countries, this meant fighting against a dictatorship intent on destroying freedom and democracy. Young men were put into conditions most of us cannot imagine on the battlefields of Iwo Jima, Midway, Stalingrad, to name only a few, and the beaches of Normandy.
Many did not return, making the ultimate sacrifice for cause and country. Estimates of those killed in World War II range from 70-85 million. Those who did return came back both with pride knowing that they had served so honorably, but also with the images of what they had seen, again, unimaginable to us, seared into their memories, not to mention battle scars.
We are so fortunate to be able to honor the men with us today. As well as honoring them, we must listen to their stories. Each is unique and each has something to teach us. And we must go home and listen to our own family members’ stories. I can confidently say that each one of us is part of a family that was affected by World War II. For me, that includes my grandfather on my mother’s side who, too old to enlist, served as an air raid warden in Los Angeles. Cousins in England saw combat and others endured the shortages that led British wartime prime minister, Winston Churchill, to proclaim, “All gave some, some gave all.” My father’s side was also touched by World War II. In 1939, he was a 12 year old Jewish child in Poland. He and a brother and sister were fortunate to survive the concentration camps, including Auschwitz. The rest of his family–my family–his parents, another brother, aunts, uncles and cousins were not. They were murdered in the Holocaust.
These are but a few stories of the millions. As World War II recedes into memory, it is our responsibility to listen to those who lived through it and to learn this history, these histories, and to honor and remember those who contributed and sacrificed so that we can lead the comfortable and free lives we do right now.
When so much of the news we hear about today is about intolerance, nationalism, and a general lack of respect for those who are considered different and inferior, it is vital that we listen to the voices and heed the lessons that World War II teaches us. The words of Nobel-prize winning physicist Albert Einstein, himself a Jewish refugee who, seeing the darkening clouds of Nazi Germany, left in 1933 for the United States, resonate today as they did when he first uttered them decades ago: “History has imposed on us a difficult struggle, but so long as we remain devoted servants of truth, justice, and freedom…we will…continue to achieve…works that contribute to the ennoblement of humanity.” We are honored to welcome and recognize these veterans, these gentlemen, who embody all that Einstein called for.
Thank you.
About the Author :
Rachelle Friedman, who started teaching at the Lycée in 2003, was born and raised in Los Angeles. She earned her bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D. in history at UCLA. Before coming to the Lycée, she taught at Harvard University, Milton Academy, and the Fieldston School. At the Lycée, she is the debate coach and co-advisor of the Harvard Model Congress. When not at school, she enjoys going to the gym, reading, cooking, and knitting.