-By John Armor
This weekend I joined a new family. The members of this family speak fluent German, French, Italian, Polish, Russian. They also speak fluent Chinese, Japanese, Tagalog. And they speak English in the accents of at least five different nations. Lastly, the heart of this family is a group of women who are all at least eighty years old.
As I write this, I’m at the annual reunion of the WW II War Brides Association. The children of war brides and their spouses are also welcome here. But the raison d’etre is the women, like my mother-in-law, who was raised in Paris, married an American soldiers right after the end of WW II, and came to the United States to live.
A large number of the war brides are from England, for a logical reason. The G.I.s spent more time in that country, preparing and staging for the invasions of North Africa, Italy, and finally France, then they spent on the ground anywhere else. A large number are also from Australia, since G.I.s staged there for the attacks “up the islands,” as they say, from the Philippines to Japan.
It seems surprising that there are more German war brides than French. But when you think about it, that makes sense. It has nothing to do with whether the nations of the brides were allies or enemies of the US. Instead, it depended on how long the G.I.s spent on the ground in the various countries. The G.I.s occupied Germany for many years, but they were in France for only a brief time on their way into Germany.
There are incredible stories of bravery and commitment among these women. One of them, who is here now, wrote a powerful book about her experiences. When she arrived in the US, her G.I. husband abandoned her, leaving her alone in a strange land with a young child. She survived, prospered, and married her Joe – a fine gentleman who is also at the Reunion. Her name is Monique Downs, and her book is Abandoned War Bride.
There are some fifty books by and about the war brides. I mention this one because the range is so vast from the worst to the best experiences that Monique Downs had from the time she married a G.I. to the present.
Think of what it took for these women to do what they did. All of them left behind their families, friends, and nations, to go to a strange land as a new wife. They had no idea whether any of them would see their families again, and some never did.
Let’s put that shoe on the other foot. How many men would leave their families, friends, and nation, to be with a women from another nation whom they had married? Let’s simplify the answer to that question. How many men would leave the living room on a Sunday afternoon during football season, to get something their wives needed at the corner store?
Exactly at the time I’m writing this, the war brides are telling their stories, and being videotaped as they do so. These women are, by definition, witnesses to more history of America and other nations, than most people in our society. But each year, there are fewer and fewer of them.
I write this column as an urgent request. If you know any women anywhere in your family or circle of friends who are war brides from WW II, get this column to them. Urge them to join the WW II War Brides Association. Here’s the e-mail address. http://www.geocities.com/us_warbrides/index.html
I won’t breach the confidences of my mother-in-law by telling any of her tales without her permission. Suffice to say, it is a pleasure, and honor, and a humbling experience to hear these ladies tell their stories. A few steps away from me, as I write, are two ladies talking about using chisels to clean broken mortar from bricks so they could be used to reconstruct Austrian buildings. Doing this also allowed them to eat, because they received rationing cards for that work.
At a meeting like this you learn to take your own troubles much less seriously, and to have a greater respect for those who have preceded you. If you or yours are qualified to join this family, I hope to see you at the Reunion next year in San Francisco. The children of these women are called War Babies though some are in their sixties, like me. All are welcome to join.
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John Armor is a graduate of Yale, and Maryland Law School, and has 33 years practice at law in the US Supreme Court. Mr. Armor has authored seven books and over 750 articles. Armor happily lives on a mountaintop in the Blue Ridge. He can be reached at: John_Armor@aya.yale.edu