With all of the vitriol going around in regard to Iraq, the evil US, etc., I thought I would share the story of my wife's parents, who met in Germany at the end of WWII. My father-in-law just died about a month ago, and was without a doubt the greatest man I've ever met.

John Israelson was the son of Danish and Swedish immigrants who was born and raised in NYC. After high school he held several incredibly varied jobs, including a seaman on freighter ships, farm manager in Wisconsin, and banker with Chase Bank. He enlisted in the Army at the beginning of WWII and served stateside and completed Officer Candidate School before going to Europe in 1944 with the 10th Armored Division, which was part of Patton's Third Army. He was quickly promoted to Captain and was commander of Company B, 55th Armored Engineer Battalion.

The heaviest fighting he saw was in the Saar River region, where his company erected the bridges used to cross the river. In the course of WWII he earned the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and two Purple Hearts (bullet in knee, shrapnel in back).

My wife's mother was born Koidula Kroll in Viljandi, Estonia. Her father was a judge and her mother died of illness when she was ten. She had a brother, Roland, who was an artist and actor. Estonia was absolutely ravaged during and after the war, being occupied by the USSR, Nazi Germany, then the USSR again until recent independence.

Her father was arrested and executed by the Nazis, and she and Roland continued to live in their house with occupying Nazi officers. She fled to Tallinn, the Estonian capital, as the Soviets pushed back the Germans. Her brother stayed and was arrested and sent to Siberia, never to be heard from again. She left on one of three German passenger ships leaving Tallinn for Germany - hers was the only one that made it out of the harbor after a bombing and strafing run by Soviet planes.

She ended up in a work camp for a while, but eventually found her way to the Eibsee Hotel in southern Bavaria where she worked as a waitress. General Patton personally directed my father-in-law to take over this hotel as an occupation headquarters at the close of the war, and he established it as 'The Tiger's Lair'. They met, fell in love, and the rest is history!

They eventually settled in DC after he served in Korea (another Bronze Star), Turkey with NATO, and several other stateside posts. While stationed at the Pentagon, he also attended classes full-time at the U. of MD and received a BS in Engineering. After retiring as a Colonel, he was Vice President of Planning and Construction for Woodward & Lothrop department stores. After retiring from that job, he volunteered at Walter Reed Army Medical Center until his health prevented doing so.

He was just buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full honors. It was a truly surreal experience, and made me so proud to have known him, and so proud to be an American. He embodied the helpful side of American nature, as so many letters attest to from his superiors and those under his command. And his wife, now Katherine Israelson, embodies the open and welcoming nature of this country, and knows all too well the horrors of war and tyrannical rule.

These are truly lessons to be remembered, and while the ability to dissent is part of the American experience, any dissent should be grounded in facts and be cognizant of the lessons of history. No nation is without faults, but some do truly stand above the others, and this one is at the top! We all need to be thankful that we have the ability to freely debate ideas as we do here, and that is directly attributable to the sacrifices of men like John Israelson. R.I.P.