By Howard Wilkinson
The Cincinnati Enquirer

PHOTO GALLERY

Photo gallery from dedication.

WASHINGTON - The veterans rose to their feet by the tens of thousands on the National Mall here under a cloudless sky Saturday afternoon, just as they did 60 years ago when the storm clouds of war gathered.

"Please rise as you are able and receive the thanks of our nation,'' President Bush told the nearly 140,000 gathered on the Mall for the dedication of the National World War II Memorial.

From the furthest stretches of the Mall in the shadow of the Capitol to the foot of the granite obelisk of the Washington Monument, the men and women who are the survivors of the 16 million Americans who went to war and saved the world from evil rose to thunderous applause, many of them leaning on canes or struggling to lift themselves from wheelchairs.

With his father, former President George H.W. Bush, a World War II veteran, and former President Bill Clinton on the stage, the president described what has been called America's "greatest generation.''

ABOUT WW II MEMORIAL

Authorized: By a 1993 law signed by President Clinton. Honors: The 16 million Americans who served in the armed forces during World War II, the more than 400,000 who died and the millions who supported the war effort from home. Located: Rainbow Pool site of the National Mall, between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. Cost: $172 million, most paid by private donations. Construction: Began September 2001. Design: Memorial plaza built around a restored Rainbow Pool is the heart of the monument. Two 43-foot arches represent the Atlantic and Pacific theaters of the war. Twenty-four panels depict America's war years. Each state and territory is represented by a granite pillar. A wall of 4,000 gold stars commemorates the more than 400,000 Americans who died. More information • www.wwiimemorial.com (official memorial site). • www.legion.org (American Legion). • www.vfw.org (Veterans of Foreign Wars of U.S.) Gannett News Service

FADING GENERATION

The generation that served in World War II is dying at the rate of 1,400 a day nationwide. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs projections estimate surviving veterans. In the table below, the first estimate is the number of survivors on Sept. 30 of this year. Below are projections of survivors in years to come: OHIO 2004: 172,931 2010: 81,560 2020: 8,340 2030: 117 KENTUCKY 2004: 52,274 2010: 25,755 2020: 2,858 2030: 43 INDIANA 2004: 81,110 2010: 38,711 2020: 4,108 2030: 60

WORDS OF THE DAY

comments Saturday about the dedication of the World War II Memorial and the memories it evokes: "The years of World War II were a hard, heroic and gallant time in the life of our country. When it mattered most, an entire generation of Americans showed the finest qualities of our nation and of humanity. On this day, in their honor, we will raise the American flag over a monument that will stand as long as America itself." President Bush "At this place, at this memorial, we acknowledge a debt of long standing to an entire generation of Americans - those who died, those who fought and worked and grieved and went on. They saved our country, and thereby saved the liberty of mankind." President Bush "In my father's time, conscience was the difference between honor and holocaust. The difference is why we remember the Greatest Generation in an imperishable way. Because of them, liberty did not perish from this Earth. When the future hung in the balance, they stood on the edge of tyranny and devastation and risked their lives for a history and a hope bigger than themselves." Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass "These were average men and women who lived in extraordinary times. No matter their role on the home front or on the front lines, they were united; no matter the danger or hardship, they responded with exceptional bravery." Former President Bush "We have raised this memorial to commemorate the service and sacrifice of an entire generation." Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, a wounded World War II veteran, a major advocate and fund-raiser for the memorial "This new monument isn't to glorify war but to recognize the defining event of the 20th century." Retired Gen. John William Vessey Jr., former chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff "I have some wonderful memories and also some terrible memories. The terrible ones are all the good friends I lost." Anthony Palazzo, 82, who enlisted at 18 and flew with the 384th Bomber Group, 8th Army Air Force "I just felt I ought to go and serve." George Dolezal, 76, who had to have his parents' signature before he could enlist in the Navy at 17 and become a Seabee

"They were the modest sons of a peaceful country,'' said Bush, on a stage from which he could see both the White House and the Washington Monument. "They gave the best years of their lives to the greatest mission their country ever accepted.''

Among the tens of thousands of veterans who have made the pilgrimage to the nation's capital this weekend for the memorial dedication were hundreds of World War II veterans from Greater Cincinnati.

The old soldiers, sailors, Marines and flyboys came by bus, by plane and by automobile for what many believe will be the last bivouac for a generation that is fast fading away.

"I'm glad to be here, but I think about all of those boys who aren't,'' said Joe Wilmer of Mount Carmel. He came with his wife, Lois, and a busload of fellow veterans and their wives from American Legion Post 72 in Mount Carmel.

What was on the mind of Wilmer and thousands of other veterans Saturday was not only their own hardship and sacrifice, but the 407,316 Americans in uniform who lost their lives in the war and the millions more who have died as the decades passed, waiting for their nation to show its gratitude as it did Saturday.

"The Silver Star boys, the Purple Heart boys, all the boys who have passed on in the last few years; I remember them today,'' said Wilmer, looking out over the vast crowd that gathered in the seating section nearest the 7-acre monument.

"This should have been done a long time ago.''

They came not only from Post 72, but from other American Legion and Veterans of Foreign War posts all over Southwest Ohio, Northern Kentucky and Southeastern Indiana. They were joined by hundreds of others who came on their own, some with children and grandchildren who look upon them as heroes.

Some attending were sons and daughters of parents who wore the uniform but have passed away.

Donna Kluba of Batavia and Tina Henry of Amelia were among them. Their father, William Rossman, served in the Navy during World War II.

"We moved heaven and earth to get here today,'' said Kluba, as she and her sister stood at the front of the front seating section and took pictures of the Lincoln Memorial off in the distance.

"We have a farm and it's planting season, but we were determined to come,'' Kluba said. "Dad would have wanted it.''

It was a long and grueling day for the veterans and their families, who began filing into the three vast seating areas around 9 a.m. for an hour-and-a-half long ceremony that didn't begin until 2 p.m.

The men and women of Post 72 were shuttled from their hotel in suburban Oxon Hill, Md., on three buses before arriving at the Section 1 gates near the Washington Monument about 9:30 a.m.

At RFK Stadium, about one mile east of the Capitol, tour guides from Croswell Bus Tours in Clermont County passed out boxed lunches and bottled water to all as they waited to transfer to Washington Metro buses. (Croswell brought 109 busloads to Washington.)

On the Mall, event organizers from the American Battlefield Monument Commission, which supervised construction of the memorial, were conscious of the age and fragility of many of those who had to sit in the sun for six hours or more Saturday.

First-aid stations, manned by Navy doctors and nurses, were set up in the three main seating sections, where dozens were treated for heat exhaustion, sun stroke and other ailments.

Hundreds of volunteers walked among the elderly ticket-holders passing out bottled water.

Most of those gathered on the National Mall were too far away to get even a glimpse of the memorial. It was closed to the public Saturday. Most saw the memorial and the stage where President Bush accepted it on behalf of the American people on giant TV screens scattered across the three ticketed seating areas.

What they will see later is a 7-acre granite plaza encircled by 56 columns representing every state and territory that sent young men and women into the service during World War II, and 24 bronze panels depicting scenes from the Atlantic and Pacific theaters of war.

It is a $175 million project that has been 17 years in the making.

It began because an Ohio veteran, Roger Durbin, from the tiny village of Burke, near Toledo, took his grandchildren to Washington in the early 1980s and discovered that no memorial to those who served in World War II existed.

U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo, told the crowd Saturday that Durbin came to her concerned about the lack of a monument, prompting her to introduce the legislation that took years to work its way through Congress.

Durbin, who fought in the Battle of the Bulge, did not live to see the memorial he helped create. He died shortly before the groundbreaking in 2000.

Former Sen. and presidential candidate Bob Dole, who lost the use of his right arm when he was injured fighting in Italy in 1945, was one of the key figures in getting the legislation passed and co-chaired the committee that raised millions for the memorial's construction.

He delivered a moving tribute to those who did not live to see the day.

"Today, we can say that we have kept faith with our comrades from a distant youth,'' Dole said.

The ceremony ended with 140,000 people (according to D.C. police) standing and singing the National Anthem as F-14 fighter jets did a flyover of the Mall.

In Section 1, Bernadine Hein of West Chester tapped her husband on the shoulder and asked him if he was doing OK in the afternoon heat.

Bob Hein, who 60 years ago was a young soldier building airplane runways in the Pacific theater, laughed.

"Back in the Philippines, I used to run a bulldozer all day long in the sun,'' Hein said. "I've seen worse than this.''

E-mail hwilkinson@enquirer.com