Time marches on: The D-Day anniversary lives in generational memories of WWII

Judy D.J. Ellich, The Daily American
·4 min read
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The year 2022 is many lifetimes from 1945 and the end of the World War II.

As time marches on, memories of the few remaining veterans who have been anointed as "the greatest generation" by numerous wordsmiths have blended into the memories of their families' generations.

This aerial view taken on May 30, 2022 shows a US memorial garden shaped as a military transport aircraft Douglas C-47A with 20 trees in Picauville, close to Sainte-Mere-Eglise, north-western France. - This garden honours the 20 American servicemen who died in this field on early June 6, 1944 during the D-Day allied invasion of Normandy that began the liberation of France during World War II.A plaque in the garden reads: "Taking off from Upottery Airfield, England, during the night June 5, 1944, a 91s: Troop Carrier Squadron, 439th Troop Carrier Group C-47 transport aircraft (serial number 42-100819), it aircrew, and passengersmet a tragic end in the early hours of June 6. After being hit by the German anti aircraft fire, the aircraft crashed in flames at a place called « La Maison de Haut»." The sixteen 506'h paratroops and the four 91S TCS airmen were all killed in the crash. An engine of this aircraft, a Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92, was discovered in this field, at the crash site, in 1986 by the Dennebouy family.

The "greatest generation" has been defined as individuals shaped by the Great Depression and becoming the primary participants in World War II.

This is the story of one such family in the Confluence area.

The stars

Lottie Younkin's windows were a sight to behold during the war to end all wars, according to her family members.

Families took pride in adorning their windows with flags that displayed stars, each one depicting someone in their family who joined the military during the war.

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Lottie had somewhere around 16 children, of which a large number were represented, along with her sons-in-law, on that loaded-down star-studded flag in her home.

The brother

An 84-year-old woman remembers her brother stationed in Berlin at the end of the war. She preferred not to use her name, other than sister, and was more than willing to talk about her family's discussions about him.

"I was just a kid when my brother came home a few years after the war. A couple of years later he was with a group of friends ice skating on Cranberry Lake when he went through the ice and they couldn't get to him. He drowned," she said.

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She got to know her brother, David (Skip) Silvaugh, through stories told within the family. The one story that stood out was her brother's job while in the military toward the end of World War II.

"He was in the military police. He helped paint the white line where the Berlin Wall was later built," she said, chuckling. "His friends told me that he painted his name, Silvaugh, everywhere he could."

The nephew and son

"My dad was a good guy. He grew up kind of poor. He worked from the time he was young. He was child in the depression," said Harold Kinsinger, who lives in Addison. He is a member of the Silvaugh and Kinsinger families.

Wilbur Kinsinger didn't talk a lot about it — his time in the Japanese theatre during War World II — his son Harold said. He had friends that remained friends since the war. He was shot in his leg in the Battle of Luzon in 1945. He was shot with bullets from a machine gun which went through one leg, broke a bone and then when through his other leg.

"His one leg was shorter, but it never stopped him," his son said.

Memories of his buddies from their time together in World War II, paratroopers in the 11th Airborne, were never far from Wilbur's mind and his talks with the family. One of the things he really enjoyed was their get-togethers in Confluence, even when he had moved away for many years because of his work on the railroad.

"He was somebody who loved life," his son said. A big part of his life was his family that included his son, two daughters and their kids and his wife, Dolores, who passed in 2015.

"He was always happy-go-lucky. He was always whistling and singing and playing the piano," he said.

"I was proud of my father. How hard he worked in life. He was good at his job. He started out a signalman's helper and when he retired he was a signalman supervisor of the northeastern division of the Chessie System."

Wilbur Kinsinger died in 2011.

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"We have a flag from his funeral. I have his metals on the wall. He had them when he passed away. We kept his metals for the grandchildren to see and talk about him and his life."

In a cemetery on the west side of Confluence, there is wide headstone with roses on one side for Dolores and the 11th Airborne paratrooper wings on the other side for Wilbur. In the middle between their names are their wedding rings and the date they married.

Follow Judy D.J. Ellich on Twitter at @dajudye.

This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Memories of WWII passed on through generations keeps loved ones alive