:20:01
"The Nilands are going to war",
:20:03
so-and-so enlisted when...
:20:04
It was a pride thing
among the Nilands.
:20:08
There were four Niland boys -
Edward, the oldest, he was 31 .
:20:13
Preston was 29,
:20:16
Robert was 25
:20:18
and Fritz was 24.
:20:22
Understand, these were
young, gorgeous men
:20:25
on their way to a beautiful life.
:20:28
They committed to being the
best damn soldiers there were.
:20:32
They wrote beautiful letters.
They worshipped their mother.
:20:36
And they wrote in one letter,
:20:38
"No one can say the four Niland
boys were draft dodgers."
:20:42
"Please, Ma, don't worry.
Everything will turn out fine.
:20:46
"Just watch, pray and hope.
:20:48
"Don't worry, Ma. All of your
boys will come back home safely.
:20:53
"This war will be over soon.
:20:55
"Some night we'll be together again
:20:57
"and it will seem like a big dream."
:21:02
Uncle Bobby was killed D-Day,
:21:04
and Preston D-plus-one-Day.
:21:07
My father Fritz was shot down,
:21:09
and May 20th my uncle Eddie
was shot down in Burma.
:21:14
So within this very tight timeframe
:21:17
my grandparents thought
they had lost every son,
:21:21
and when they realised Fritz was
alive they went looking for him.
:21:26
Fritz was then brought out
and sent home
:21:29
because he was the only
known survivor of the family.
:21:32
It was 18 months
before Uncle Eddie escaped
:21:35
from a Japanese prison camp.
:21:39
There is a legacy of honour
that goes with this family
:21:43
and that's why we're very proud.
:21:46
The sight of that Western Union
kid riding up to a house
:21:51
just struck terror into your heart.
:21:54
Now, imagine
what it must have been like
:21:57
to get three telegrams
in the course of the war.