Kudos to Steve Bouser for his piece “Greatest Generation: “Giants in the earth.” And 20 lashes with a cold noodle for the person who changed the name of Iwo Jima to “Iowa.”

But this is not an uncommon error. After 55 years, not many people remember Iwo Jima, or even heart of it. Of course, those of us who were there remember it well.

Today, I found myself at the Veterans Administration hospital in Fayetteville, principally because I could not get a flu shot anywhere else. It was the first time I had ever been in a VA hospital. There were vets from all our wars as far back as World War II. Most wore baseball caps captioned with the name of the conflict in which they served.

One vet who caught my eye and impressed me greatly was a little bird-like man in a wheelchair whose hair was pure white, whose legs were frail, who peered at the world through thick glasses, his cap proudly proclaimed, “Veteran, WW II.”

Thank you for your tribute to him and all of the Greatest Generation.

Roch Bell

Whispering Pines