Time to Honor the Man Behind 'The Longest Day'

In 2009, the world will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the publication of the best-selling book The Longest Day - a literary tribute to those who ensured our freedom during World War II. This classic also is a reflection of the journalistic craftsmanship of the late Cornelius Ryan, a naturalized citizen who recognized the value of telling "the story of people" caught up in one of contemporary history's greatest moments.

The Dublin-born Ryan, who died in 1974, is long overdue for special recognition by his adopted nation. For openers, I suggest that our government honor Ryan by issuing a postage stamp with his likeness.

Honoring Ryan in this way would introduce his work to new generations of Americans, the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of "the greatest generation." "I am a reporter," Ryan once said. "If I am some help to serious historians, I'll be satisfied....There is no reason for history to be dull."

Moreover, honoring Ryan would reemphasize the contributions of the men and women who have embraced America as foreign-born discoverers of all that our nation offers in terms of freedom and opportunity.

Most important, honoring Ryan would add a national coda to the legacy this historian-journalist fashioned from the pages of The Longest Day, The Final Battle and A Bridge Too Far.

"Nobody knew their names until I began research for The Longest Day," Ryan told his wife. "No nation ever gave them any medals - those paratroopers who dropped from the skies, the air and naval personnel involved in D-Day, and the infantrymen who stormed ashore in the crucial first three assault waves. I guess I wrote The Longest Day because I never understood why nobody seemed to care about the names of the ordinary men and the civilians involved. If I ever did anything right in my life, I made their names immortal."

As the 50th anniversary of the book's publication approaches, it seems wholly fitting for America to formally acknowledge Cornelius Ryan and his work.