ORLANDO, Florida (CNN) -- Hobbled with age, weathered with time, the World War II veterans stood at attention. One by one, a two-star general delivered flags flown over the Pentagon in their honor. He looked them in their eyes and snapped his right hand in salute.
It marked the first time in history the U.S. Army recognized 350 soldiers held as slaves inside Nazi Germany. The men were beaten, starved and forced to work in tunnels at Berga an der Elster where the Nazi government had a hidden V-2 rocket factory. Berga was a subcamp of the notorious concentration camp Buchenwald.
"These men were abused and put under some of the most horrific conditions," the general told a private gathering of Berga survivors. "It wasn't a prison camp. It was a slave labor camp."
No ranking Army official had ever uttered the words "slave labor camp" in reference to the men's captivity at Berga. Boles knew the gravity of his statement -- that he was setting the historical record straight after 64 years.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/06/08/berga.recognition/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
It should not have taken so long to honor these brave men. Few Americans will ever read this story. Instead, the media reports on such "important" people as Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, who have really accomplished next to nothing of value in their lives.
This is one of the main things wrong with the country at large today. It is not that Americans are stupid - it's that no one tells them the important things. If you're watching Entertainment Tonight and Fox News and expect to get all of the news you need to know to appreciate and change this country for the better, it isn't going to happen.
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