'It's a Lovely Day Tomorrow'

The voices from World War II are still speaking to us, but you have to listen very carefully.

I’m writing a novel that includes scenes from World War II and I’ve been doing research to make those sections as realistic as possible.

Books and articles are helpful, of course, but I’m always looking to speak with veterans if at all possible so I can have those vital eyewitness accounts.

Sadly, this is is becoming more and more difficult as the old soldiers from the Greatest Generation continue to fade away.

My dad was a veteran and he told me dozens of stories when I was growing up.

I’m using some of his recollections as raw material for the book, but I also want to include the kind of gritty details that I didn’t ask my father about when I was kid.

Well, I finally got my chance.

I belong to a Facebook group of family members of veterans from my father’s division, The Timberwolves.

One of the group’s members very kindly put me in touch with Richard, a 95-year-old veteran, who lives in South Carolina.

I was so nervous as I dialed his number. You shouldn’t be bothering this man with your stupid questions, I scolded myself, he’s got better things to do that waste time with some nitwit wannabe novelist from Brooklyn.

And then Richard picked up the phone and all my fears faded. Richard was happy to speak with me and share some of his experiences.

Listening to him speak was like going back in time, back when he and my father were young men fighting for their country.

Forget Your Troubles

Today is Father’s Day and I’m thinking about my father’s time as a soldier. His stories were exciting and often funny, but I realize now that he must have seen so many terrible things that he would never share with us.

And how can you explain what it’s like to live with the constant threat of death, to have your friends and comrades shot down or blown to pieces before your eyes?

Just yesterday I learned from my Uncle Joe that my father was thrust into a leadership position shortly after arriving in Europe when his lieutenant was killed in action.

He was in his early Twenties at the time and I think of what I was doing when I was that age, when I was stumbling around trying to figure out what the hell I was going to do with my life. I still haven't figured that one out, by the way, but I'm working on it.

A few days after I spoke with Richard, another voice from World War II went silent when the singer Vera Lynn left this world at the age of 103.

Known as the “Forces’ Sweetheart” during the war, Vera Lynn recorded such classics as “We’ll Meet Again,” “I’ll Be Seeing You,” and “When the Lights Go On.”

However, my favorite Vera Lynn number is her rendition of “It’s a Lovely Day Tomorrow,” a beautiful Irving Berlin song that brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it.

Written in response to the Munich Agreement, which seceded the Sudetenland to Hitler’s Germany in 1938, the song is about hope for the future while the shadow of war was looming over the world.

“If today your heart is weary,” the lyrics say, “if every little thing looks gray, just forget your troubles and learn to say, tomorrow is a lovely day.”

My parents’ generation had to stay strong during that terrible time. And now, with the coronavirus, we’ve entered into another dark phase with no end in sight.

Whenever I was nervous about something, my father used to comfort me by quoting General Patton, who said “never take counsel of your fears.”

I’m really nervous right now and I think the best way of honoring my father, Richard, and everyone else from that generation is draw strength from their courage and determination.

So, come and feast your eyes on tomorrow’s clear blue skies.

Happy Father’s Day.