The Greatest Generation Thomas Broderick Story

What was the 15th anniversary of D-Day for?

Gathering to pay tribute to those whose sacrifices were marked by simple headstones

Who was the Historian?

Stephen Ambrose

In WWII, how many Americans were killed in battle?

292,000 Americans killed in battle

How many Americans returned home physically affected in some way?

1.7 Million Americans

Where was Thomas Broderick studying?

19 year old premed student at Xavier College in Cincinnati in 1942

Which branch of service did Thomas Broderick first enlist in?

Merchant Marine, spent 10 weeks in training and sent on a mission to North Africa on a supply ship.

What was the name of the ship in which he was sent to North Africa?

John W. Brown

Why did Thomas Broderick want to join the Airborne?

So he could be cocky like those paratroopers in Algiers

Where did Thomas Broderick go after leaving the Merchant Marine?

Became a member of the 82nd Airborne, where a captain offered him an instructor’s job and the rank of sergeant

What was Thomas Broderick first jump into combat?

Battle of Arnhem

What was the Battle of Arnhem

A joint mission of American and British paratroopers, and their objective was to take the Nijimegen bridge to help pave the Allies’ way into Germany and to discourage any German counterattack (outnumbered 40k to 28k)

What was Broderick’s mistake on the fifth day?

While being on a foxhole and lining up his aim on a German. He got a little high on the foxhole and got sniped through the head’s left temple

Where was Broderick sent after being shot?

He was sent to Dibble General Hospital in Menlo Park, California, one of the two facilities in the nation treating blind veterans

Who and what did he recommend Broderick to do after failing to work on his father’s trucking business

His Veterans Administration counselor recommended he enroll in a class in insurance sales, a fast-growing field in postwar America

What did Broderick tell his daughter, Katy Broderick Duffy?

After the war, he went to visit Lourdes, the most famous shrine in France, to pray for a Miracle asking the Lord to find him a girl to marry if couldn’t get his eyesight back. Eventually meeting Eileen, his future wife, on a blind date

Where did Broderick and Eileen settle

On the south side of Chicago

What did Broderick and his friends form at the rehabilitation center in Connecticut?

Formed an informal organization to help each other adjust their new realities, becoming the Blinded Veterans Association. Counseling sightless veterans on the career possibilities in insurance, mortgage sales, and car financing

What was a common lament of the World War II generation?

The absence of personal responsibility. Broderick remembers listening to an NPR broadcast and hearing about two boys finding a loaded gun in the house and one of the friends accidentally shot the other. The victim’s father talked about suing the gun manufacturer, and not accepting responsibility for having a loaded gun in the house