Mary Ann Stafford

Of the Greatest Generation Mary Ann Stafford

Mike Stafford tells the story of his father with humor and understanding. Through many hours of interviews, Mike relives his father's experience during World War II and what it was like for a naïve young man to face death for the first time. His father spoke of snipers firing at him and remembering that "just a few months ago, I was running for a touchdown and now I was running for my life." After the war, Lyle continued to serve his country at the Pine Bluff Arsenal, married and raised a large family, and died at the age of 86. Mike recalls that if not for the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that ended the war, he and the rest of his siblings would not be here. Not only is this Lyle's story, but the story of innumerable survivors of the "Greatest Generation" dying out at the rate of 1200 per day.