Pencil Work

I spent a good deal of my Memorial Day laying on the couch, trying to digest several pounds of grilled meat products and watching five or six hours of Band of Brothers. And that got me thinking about war. War, it seems, is a necessity of being human. Some wars are more noble then others, but in the grand scheme, war is hell. I started to wonder if I could do it. Iraq is out of the question and Vietnam and Korea were ill advised as well, but World War II was a different monster.In the next decade or so, everyone who fought in World War II will pass away and so another piece of history will fade further from our collective memory. I found myself trying unsuccessfully to find some kind of connection to the past, some thread to bring that piece of history closer. No one in my immediate family had been called upon to fight in World War II, nor any other war (just good timing on their part) but then I remembered that the man who used to own the house I now call home was a war veteran. His name was Albert Flick. He served in the Air Force and spent time in Italy and North Africa. He passed away earlier this year but before he made the long journey home he sat down for an interview with the Library of Congress Veterans History Program.Mr. Flick did mostly what he calls “pencil work” for his group, writing reports and doing statistics. But he was still witness to the horror of war, losing comrades and close friends, watching talented pilots and young men give their lives for the lives of others and for their country.He spoke of the war, his friends and over all experience with mixture of fondness, nostalgia and sadness and helped bring me a little closer to history.The interview is here. It’s about half an hour long so it might take a minute or two to download.