Keith Chu

The Bulletin

WASHINGTON – Edward Bebb had never met John McIntyre before Saturday, but within minutes of an encounter during the dedication of the World War II Memorial, the retired Madras farmer was laughing and joking with the South Carolina native as if they were long-lost friends.

Bebb, 81, founder of the Madras chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and McIntyre, 82, both came to town for the memorial’s dedication, a long-sought tribute to America’s war against tyranny and the generation that won it.

Both Bebb and McIntyre served in the 360th Army Engineers, a regiment that fought in Europe and lost more than a few members, according to Bebb. Although the men worked under different companies during the war, McIntyre tracked down Bebb’s daughter.

He recognized his old regiment on a bulletin board in Reunion Hall, a tent set up on the National Mall to match veterans with old friends from the war.

”Did you go back on the Mary?” Bebb asked McIntyre, referring to the Queen Mary luxury liner that took their regiment back to the United States from Europe.

”No, I came home on a little bitty Liberty ship,” McIntyre said. ”If I knew what that ride was going to be like, I would be a Frenchman today. I’d have never come back.”

Bebb and McIntyre were two of an estimated 125,000 people on hand to witness the dedication of the memorial, a $175 million monument located on honored ground between the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument.

President Bush dedicated the memorial on a cool and sunny Saturday afternoon, which contrasted with the week of thunderstorms and rain that blanketed the city.

The oval memorial consists of 56 pillars, representing the American states and territories, and two 43-foot-high pavilions, symbolizing the Pacific and Atlantic war theaters.

A sea of 4,000 sculpted gold stars on the Freedom Wall commemorates the 400,000 Americans who lost their lives during the war.

”These were the modest sons of a peaceful country, and many of us here are proud to call them dad,” Bush said, recognizing his father, former President George H.W. Bush, who flew fighter planes in the war.

Bebb’s three daughters, Barbara Kincaid, Shirley Dresher and Vonnie House, often pushed their dad to take credit for actions he was reluctant to mention.

”You just had to do what they tell you to,” Bebb said, while explaining his tour of duty in Europe. ”They gave me a Bronze Star, but I don’t know what it was for.”

”You saved your platoon, Dad!” His daughter Barbara quickly interjected.

Speakers included Tom Hanks, who was a national spokesman for the memorial after his role in the film ”Saving Private Ryan,” and Tom Brokaw, the NBC News anchor who wrote three books about the World War II generation. Although they expounded on the importance of honoring veterans of the war, Bebb echoed the sentiments of many veterans by saying that having a memorial wasn’t as important to them as serving their country.

”It’s nice, but we could do without it,” Bebb said. ”We did what we were supposed to do. We whipped the Germans and the Japanese.”

Jim Willis, director of Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs, said most veterans didn’t have time to worry about monuments and ceremonies.

”The generation themselves didn’t care,” Willis said. ”The last thing in the world they were thinking about was a memorial. They wanted to build this country; they did exactly that.”

Many veterans agreed, however, that the memorial was too long in coming.

”It seems to me we waited long enough,” said Arthur Horsell an 82-year-old veteran from Powell Butte. Horsell, a Redmond VFW member since 1946, flew a PV1 plane in South America during the war.

Five members of the Redmond VFW died last week, Horsell said.

”I wanted to be one of those that made it,” he said. ”I have got a friend in Redmond who would have loved to have made it.”

More than 16 million Americans served in the war. Only about four million are still alive. Horsell noted that more than a thousand veterans of the war die each week.

Keith Chu can be reached at 202-661-0151 or at kchu@northwestern.edu.