The people of our past

Today is the 60th anniversary of VE Day. For so many years I didn't pay any attention to this day or not even know what it meant. And apparently even now there are more people like how I used to be. There was a questionnaire on teenagers in school, 70% of them didn't know VE day was, many thought it was actually a day for a STD. What shocked me the most was that 15% of the people asked thought that Adolf Hitler was made up, and didn't actually exist. Is this the generation we are living in now? They do not understand their past or history and all the people who fought for the freedom we have today.
My Granddad was one of those men. He was part of a special regiment who actually fought in Iceland, then went on to fight in North Africa and Italy. To his dying day he never spoke much about what he did and you could see the scars that had buried themselves into his heart. Too deep for anyone to reach and never be able to heal.
He was the final man in the regiment who was still alive and could speak of it until he had the stroke. Then it all dawned upon me, why hadn't I asked him those question? Why hadn't I found out what he did for this country? Why didn't I ask him about the friends he made? But like a normal person we put things off, and then it was too late to ever find out.
I just hope that the other men in his regiment told their families about it, so people will still be able to remember the unique work that they did. And so they will not be forgotten.
I think my granddad just thought he was doing his bit. He earned so many medals through the fighting he did in the war but he never got them. He never wanted to receive them, maybe it was too painful, maybe he just thought he was doing his bit, maybe he thought he was just an ordinary guy and didn't need them. I do not know what he thought. But I have found out that my dad can actually still send off to receive them, and I really want this to happen. I may not have the stories to tell my children, or my grandchildren of how my granddad fought in the war but if I had the medals to show them then they can be as proud of him as I am. And be truly thankful for the work that he did and the freedom he helped give us.
So to all the men and women who fought in the war, thankyou and you truly will never be forgotten.