Every day from now until Spring, I will play a song from each year from 1940-2020. I’ll also write a little bit about the song and why I chose it to represent that year.
In 1941 the United States entered the war. My grandfather Robert Wyss was one of the millions who enlisted. He took part in the Normandy invasion and took shrapnel from mortar fire. He survived but his feet and legs were badly scarred. He almost never spoke of the war. When he did everyone in the family would stop what they were doing and listen. I could go on for hours talking about him. He died in 2004. He was the finest man I ever knew.
My uncle was in the second wave at Normandy, and later earned a Purple Heart for being shot. He would never speak of the war either. When Saving Private Ryan came out, my cousin and I went to see it. One of the first scenes was a graphic depiction of the storming of Normandy. Then we understood why Uncle John just couldn’t talk about it.
Interestingly enough after the film came out I asked my grandfather if he had seen it. He said yes. I asked him what he thought of it and he said “very realistic’ and changed the subject.