Queen Elizabeth’s death should remind SC to cherish a fading generation that won WWII
Queen Elizabeth II died Thursday at 96 and with her goes one more member of a fading generation that was marked by World War II and defeated fascism.
Her death should be a reminder to South Carolinians to hold close those loved ones who won the war and to gather their stories while they’re still with us.
South Carolina had about 3,000 living WWII veterans as of October, the Charleston Post & Courier reported.
In 1940, then-Princess Elizabeth was not on the front lines, of course, but she gave her first public broadcast that year at 14 years old to reassure her country during the fighting, according to the Associated Press.
“We children at home are full of cheerfulness and courage,” she said. “We are trying to do all we can to help out gallant soldiers, sailors and airmen. And we are trying, too, to bear our own share of the danger and sadness of war. We know, every one of us, that in the end all will be well.”
The AP said the message from the princess was “a blend of stoicism and hope that would echo throughout her reign.”
Any veteran or civilian marked by World War II can have that same stoicism and hope. Children should learn from these aging family members, and relatives should take time to be with them.
John J. Bouknight of South Carolina joined the Army in World War II and lived with such stoicism and hope, according to his family.
In December 2020, Bouknight’s grandson spoke with The State after his family found a vile of ashes from a Nazi concentration camp in Bouknight’s closet following his death the previous month. The family believed he received the ashes during his deployment to Germany in 1945.
Bouknight’s grandson described his grandfather as the “most moral man” he knew. He was a person of high character who rejected bigotry and racism, which the grandson believed came from his grandfather’s experience in World War II. He taught his grandchildren to be the same way. He was humble about his war experience and in life.
Bouknight’s family connected with a Columbia rabbi who performed a Jewish burial ceremony and interned the ashes in an Arcadia Lakes cemetery.
The hopes of the people represented by those ashes were destroyed by bigotry and hatred, but Bouknight’s concern ensured that, though those people were gone, a community cared for them after their deaths.
When she turned 18, Princess Elizabeth joined the women’s branch of the British Army and trained to become a mechanic, according to The National World War II Museum in New Orleans. Her service is a reminder that the war was won by soldiers on the battlefield as well as people on the homefront.
The time for discussion about the British monarch as an actor and symbol in the evils of imperialism will come.
But for now, Queen Elizabeth’s death should remind us of a generation of South Carolina World War II veterans and civilians touched by the war like Bouknight.
This story was originally published September 8, 2022 at 3:07 PM with the headline "Queen Elizabeth’s death should remind SC to cherish a fading generation that won WWII."