Dedication of memorial stirs up vets' memories

WASHINGTON -- Most of their comrades are dead now, making today's dedication of the National World War II Memorial bittersweet for the tens of thousands of elderly veterans on hand.

Marvin Spencer, who toured the site Friday with his wife, Helen, said the memorial is a lasting tribute to those who served and a history lesson for future generations.

"About all of us are going to be gone in 10 years, but other people will see it and know what we did," said Spencer, 82, an Army infantryman who suffered a serious injury to his right arm during the decisive battle in Metz, France, in 1944, the so-called "unknown battle" that captured the Nazis' final fortification on the Moselle River.

Navy and Coast Guard veteran Jack Walsh said the memorial brought back painful memories of those who didn't return from the war. "I never thought about them until I came here," said Walsh, of Johnstown, Ohio.

He walked the plaza of the memorial with his wife and scores of other vets. Some snapped pictures of the granite-and-bronze monument from wheelchairs. Others stood quietly, holding loved ones' hands, as they read together inscriptions etched into the stone from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Gen. Douglas MacArthur.

The memorial, almost two decades in the making, opened to the public last month. Organizers didn't want to wait until the formal Memorial Day dedication ceremony because the delay would limit the number of veterans who could see it.

America's World War II vets are dying at a rate of 1,056 a day. Only about 4 million remain of the 16 million who served.

With heightened misgivings about terrorism, security is to be extremely tight for the dedication.

President Bush will speak to an expected crowd of 200,000. Sharing the stage will be his World War II veteran father, George H.W. Bush, and former President Bill Clinton as well as former Sen. Bob Dole, a World War II veteran who was instrumental in fund-raising for the memorial.

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, a Vietnam veteran, will join fellow members of Congress at the ceremony. Actor Tom Hanks, among other notables who will attend, served as national spokesman for the fund-raising campaign.

The $174 million, oval-shaped memorial between the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial celebrates not only the service of the men and women in uniform but the millions more of the "Greatest Generation" who helped win the war at home.

Mrs. Spencer, 82, was one of those "Rosie the Riveters" who kept the war machine going while her then-fiance served with the Army's 80th Infantry Division overseas. She worked in a Fort Worth, Texas, factory during the war, building B-24 bombers.

"We just did what needed to be done," she said.

She and her husband said the memorial is a beautiful tribute but something they never expected.

"We were a different generation. We didn't think, 'Oh, they should be thanking us.' We didn't think we had done anything all that great," Mrs. Spencer said.

Some of the veterans in town for the dedication came not only to see the memorial, but also in search of lost comrades. James "Tex" Clark of Farmington, N.M., hasn't seen his old Army buddy, John Archuleta, since they left Germany in 1946.

"I've looked all over the country for him. I've been through half a dozen telephone books, and my kids have searched the Internet," said Clark, who served in the 16th Armored Division.

Clark posted one of hundreds of messages from vets left on a bulletin board at a reunion tent set up by the Smithsonian Institution for its "Tribute to a Generation" festival on the National Mall. It had his name, address and company for his buddies, especially Archuleta, to contact him.

The memorial will be closed for much of the day Saturday because of security. It will reopen Saturday evening.

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On the Net:

National World War II Memorial: http://www.wwiimemorial.com

Video of the WWII memorial is available at: http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/files/specials/interactives/wwii--me morial/i ndex.html