Duffle Bag Opens Memories of D-Day

Tampa, FL � What you�re about tomen who were at Normandy 64 years ago are turning
read is the story of a duffle bag. It is also a story of82-years-old this year.
ours�specifically Leo E. Ours. This man�Americans cannot forget the heroes who
carried that duffle bag on June 6, 1944; D-Day.died on the battlefields so we must gather the spoken
�My father told us little about his participationhistory of our service people and their families to fully
in the war with the 662nd Medical Clearing Companydocument the details of our history,� says
following Patton�s 3rd Army acrossOurs� Jr. �I was so moved and
Europe,� reveals Leo Ours, Jr., author of theintrigued by his stories that I felt compelled to write this
new book, �Hospital on Wheels: World War IIbook detailing my father�s service to our
MASH.� Ours Jr. says his father wouldcountry.�
occasionally speak about humorous memories of theOurs Jr. realizes many men who were at D-Day
war then the laughter would fade, the mood woulddon�t feel comfortable talking about their
grow somber and his father would drift into quiet. Likeexperiences. Some are scared by the experiences or
many veterans he did not want to talk about his daysworried they�ll sound like they�re
at war.bragging. He feels that all veterans should try to tell
That is until the duffle bag began speaking for him.their stories. All Americans should encourage WWII
54-years after Leo E. Ours� duffle bagveterans to unzip their memories and share their oral
safely saw him home at the end of the war; it waspieces of history.
re-discovered in a friend�s attic. After theLeo motivationally declares, �They did their
duffle bag returned to the father�s hands,duty. Now we must do ours and help to fill-in the
fond memories returned to his voice.historical gaps; even if it means retelling history one
�My father started telling all theveteran at a time.�
stories,� says Ours Jr. �He told meWhen his father's military duffle bag showed up,
of the day he and his duffle bag boarded the S.S.amazingly so did his father. The result? Our's Jr's new
Eugene E. O�Lennell. He thought,book �Hospital on Wheels: World War II
�this is it, there is no turning backMASH.�
now,� and, �my god, we are goingHe doesn�t want a story of our men and our
to Normandy and the war.��nation to be lost to time. Normandy now looks like a
Leo�s father served as a medical andrandom beach where children play in the sand, women
surgical technician in World War II. He is one of the 3.5sunbathe and men swim. The soldiers who were at
million living World War II veterans. Many have spokenD-Day and those who loved them are graying and
publicly about their experiences, but many more havedying with each passing year. The only things not lost
not. Time is running out for this sect of �Theyet are the stories and the duffle bag that brought
Greatest Generation.� The youngest of thethem back to America.