Soldiers prepare to head off to a far away land to fight for their country, families pray for the best and fear the worst, and a nation holds its breath wondering how we will come out on the other side. It seems there is no generation that is spared this ritual, times that test the spirit and the soul. Like millions of other young Americans Joseph Corbett spent his youth circling the globe as part of the Allied forces during World War II. This humble and charming gentlemen proudly tells the story of his friends and fellow soldiers during the dark days that saw over 16 million Americans serving their country during World War II with 405,399 soldiers who did not make it home and 670,846 who returned wounded. Corbett’s book “We Played Our Cards: How my Generation Met the Call of World War II” brings to life the stories of the men who served. This book is not about the battles it is about the heroes.

When Corbett was asked why he decided to write this book he matter- of- factly said that he “thought the stories of all these men should be told, people should know that part of their history and pass it onto their children. We should never forget the past but always look forward to the future.” Corbett’s future like those of his classmates at the University of Vermont were forever changed as the attack on Pearl Harbor brought the United States into the war as Hitler’s army marched over Europe and the Japanese air bombed the Pacific. Corbett writes “we all knew that as soon as we graduated we would be putting on some kind of uniform” For Corbett that was a naval uniform and the Navy decided he would be a great salvage diver. As Corbett chuckles “they didn’t ask me they told me I would be a diver so that was what I became.”

These young men knew how important their mission was. “Hitler decided to rule the world and wanted to kill all the Jewish people, it was pretty sad” Corbett reflected when we recently sat down to talk about the 113 soldiers that fill the pages of “We Played our Cards (www.weplayedourcards.com).” These Stories tell the tale of not only what these young men did in the battlefield but the remarkable accomplishments when they returned home. Philip Hoff broke a century of Republican rule becoming the first Democratic Governor of the state of Vermont, Francis Cain was the mayor of Burlington from 1965-1971 and participated in the urban renewal project that revised a major part of Burlington from Church Street to the harbor, and numerous other young men who came home and become doctors and teachers and businessmen and husbands and fathers.

One childhood friend of Corbett’s was made famous in the motion picture “Saving Private Ryan” based on the tale of a family who looses three sons to the war effort and whose only remaining son is sent home from the European theater. The Niland family grew up near Corbett in upstate New York. The Niland boys were fierce athletic competitors growing up as Corbett acknowledged “The Niland family, in peace and war, is symbolic of the great tradition of competition on the courts, and dedication to the country on the battlefields.”

With the horror of war also came the opportunity for millions of young Americans to see parts of the world they could not imagine. Corbett’s eyes light up as he shows me the well worn atlas tracing his travels from Africa to Italy, France, the Pacific, Hawaii, Guam and Kobe, Japan. As Corbett exclaims I went from “Casablanca to Kobe.” His travels brought many adventures and cherished memories including an audience with the Pope in Rome and kissing the Blarney Stone in Ireland. However the more Corbett saw the more he realized there was no place like home. Corbett wrote “with every new place I see each day that passes make you realize more and more how wonderful the good old United States is and how lucky we are to live there.”

For Corbett admits he is a “product of the war just like so many thousands and thousands of guys.” These shared experiences made them friends for life. “Everybody did it”, that is join the war effort according to Corbett whether in active duty or stateside, civilian or military; World War II tested the nation and united it.

As the war approached, Corbett and his buddies “sat down to the dealing of the cards and prepared to play them as they were dealt.”

Sarah Lemnah writes on senior issues for CVAA. This article was originally published in Livin' The Vermont Way Magazine.