War veterans fight to keep memory alive

COSTA MESA -- When veteran Sy Budes took his 33-year-old son to a Jewish

War Veterans group meeting, the youngster asked him what he was doing

with all these old men.

At 69, Budes is the youngest member of a dwindling group of men that hold

the history of World War II, the Korean War and even the Vietnam War in

their hearts.

“Our post is dying out,” he said. “People don’t know what [Memorial Day]

is about. I very seldom see American flags.”

What worried the motley group of veterans that gathered on Sunday at the

Orange County Fairgrounds is that they are fading. Their once starched

caps are frayed and the medals are tarnished. Over time, even their

commanding voices have wavered and people have simply stopped listening.

“He who does not remember history is doomed to repeat it,” warned veteran

Siegfried Pinchut. “It’ll happen again.”

Many of the veterans that sat at various informational booths were

saddened by what they see as increasingly apathetic citizens. America has

never had a war fought on its own soil, Pinchut said, and people are

starting to forget. The other problem is that younger veterans just don’t

have the time to join and teach the community about their experiences.

Patriotism seems to be dying, he said.

“It’s imperative we continue what our fathers fought for,” Budes said.

On the one day to remember those who have died for America’s freedom,

some veterans said no one even seems to know what Memorial Day stands for

anymore. The holiday has become an extended weekend to go to the beach

and barbecue, Pinchut said.

For the Jewish War Veterans group in particular, they worry that the

growing silence will become a breeding ground for intolerance.

“Anti-Semitism is alive and well,” Pinchut said. “We need to teach

tolerance -- teach children of man’s inhumanity to man.”

Budes nodded in agreement, adding that one of the main purposes of their

group is to make sure the Holocaust never happens again.

Despite his son’s resistance to the veterans’ meetings, Budes hopes to

teach the next generation the lessons he so painfully experienced during

World War II.

Later today he will plant American flags on lawns with his grandchildren.