Missing The Boat: War Stories of Thomas Alan Dirkin

51 because of their willingness to fight and resist. The Germans were good soldiers, he said. He was careful to separate out the Nazi contingent. I have wondered if part of his respect for the Germans is based on the belief that they were formidable opponents. In a contest, you measure yourself as to how you fared against your opponent, particularly against a worthy opponent. Was this a factor in my father’s favorable impression of the Germans? An ingredient I believe. Pretty Normal As these stories wind down, I will deviate a little from the pathway I have been taking and share an observation. My dad was pretty normal. He had his views some of which were biased and traditional. He was prone to a few “red-neck” rants from time to time, but in general you could have a rational conversation about most topics. He was also tuned into people and their feelings. He came across as friendly, which was essential to his career in sales with Laporte Chemicals. My father and his generation, were expected to adapt to post war life and serve their families productively. He dealt with years of nightmares largely his own. Any post-traumatic stress was amazingly well managed. This is quite remarkable to me. How does someone spend five and a half years dealing with daily survival and witnessing horror and then succeed in just “getting on with it”. There are lessons and expectations for us all in from what Tom Brokaw referred to as the “Greatest Generation”. The way post-WW II was handled by men and women of the generation involved was part of that greatness.