According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, there were approximately 240,000 U.S. World War II veterans still alive at the end of 2021. That’s only a small fraction of the 16 million Americans who served in that devastating conflict that caused over 50 million deaths and forever changed the geopolitical international landscape. With the remaining veterans now well past 90  — and some 100 years or more — an average of 234 pass away each day. “There’s no time to lose,” declares Gordon H. Mueller, president and CEO emeritus of the National World War II Museum. “We want to be able to finish and dedicate our (museum) expansion while we still have members of the Greatest Generation to thank for their sacrifice and service to the nation and to show the world what they mean to the principle of freedom.”

Mueller and other museum supporters are not the only ones trying to keep World War II alive in the consciousness of Americans; my friend Tony Littlefield is, too, through a newly launched blog. I got to know Tony about 15 years ago when he was writing a memoir that detailed the efforts he and his father made to discover their family’s roots. The resulting book, Bittersweet Journey (Publish America, 2008), is a heartfelt narrative that underscores the obstacles African-American families face when tracing their ancestry due to the disrupted (not to mention oppressed) lives their forebears experienced due to slavery.

Tony’s latest writing venture is the aforementioned blog, which gives special attention to the aircraft used by the belligerents before the war as well as during the war. To his credit, Tony considers more than just the dogfights that erupted between Allied and Axis airplanes. He looks at the developments that took place in aircraft design and propulsion from the early years of the 20th Century to the end of the war in 1945. He notes, for example, that the speed of airplanes and their ability to provide a panoramic view of the battlefield were driving forces that led to their introduction into warfare. Another posting amplifies the revolution that resulted from the creation of jet engines. Ironically, a German scientist and a British scientist working independently were the primary figures in the development of jet technology. Besides airplanes, Tony’s posts look at the pilots who flew them in battle, and unique groups such as the Mexican Air Force’s Squadron 201. The “Aztec Eagles,” as they were called, saw heavy fighting in the campaign to liberate the Philippines.

It’s worth noting that Tony draws on other writers to add to his blogs. One of those writers is me. When Tony asked me to author a piece on baseball during World War II, I didn’t wait long to answer “yes.” I’ve been a fan of America’s pastime since I was about 7 and — in little league — demonstrated at least modest skill as a player. Even before writing the piece, I knew that star players such as Ted Williams and Stan Musial went into the military after Pearl Harbor. I also knew about the World War II-era women’s baseball league from watching the 1992 film A League of their Own. But my research for the blog opened my eyes to so much more, including the growth of little league baseball, the impact of the war on baseball in Japan, and the unique people who stepped in to replace the players who went off to fight. I’m not sure when my essay will be posted but when it is, I’ll be in some elite company. That “company” includes Alan Chanter, a decorated retired British staff sergeant who contributed an essay on the Battle of Britain.

So what motivated Tony to create a World War II-oriented blog? I believe the answer can be found on the back cover of Bittersweet Journey, where Tony is described as “an avid history lover,” and a man “who is fascinated by the march of civilization and lessons learned from the past, believing that civilizations that build and educate are remembered forever.” Thanks to people like Tony and Gordon Mueller, the service and sacrifice of World War II veterans of every nationality may indeed be forever remembered with reverence and respect.  You can visit Tony’s blog at https://ww2f.org/. I encourage you to do so.