A Humble Tribute to the ‘Greatest Generation’

Driving along the sharp curves of Ridgewood Drive in Druid Hills, you’re used to being charmed by the lovely houses – no two alike – well-tended yards and stately trees that shade the street from summer heat.

But nothing quite prepares you for the garden of bright white crosses marching across the broad green lawn in front of 1803 Ridgewood.

In the day, they seem to sparkle, whether it’s overcast or sunny; at night, they’re illuminated by vintage barn lights that bathe them in an old-fashioned glow.

Dave Maddlone’s 1940s-era ranch is set far enough back from the street there was tons of room for the moving installation he calls The D-Day Memorial.

But what led him to plant this tribute garden of white crosses and stars, as a way of saying thanks to the thousands of servicemen who gave their lives fighting for a cause during World War II, is a less straightforward story. He’s put the display up every Memorial Day since 2004 and taken it down the weekend after June 6, the anniversary of D-Day.

On the fact-packed website he created to chronicle his project – www.dday0606.org/ – Maddlone described his motivations this way: “First, since several generations have now grown up in the post World War II era, it is hoped that the memorial will invite questions from young people about Word War II. The desperate nature of the time and the sacrifices made by so much of the world seems greatly understated to our young people of today. Secondly, many local World War II veterans may never have had the chance, or lack the ability today, to visit the actual American Cemetery in Normandy, France. By recreating these 42 monuments in detail, those who wish to get a sense of what the actual cemetery is like, may do so without leaving Atlanta, Georgia.”

Maddlone – a computer programmer at Emory University – never served in the military. Though both his grandfather and an uncle had support roles on ships during World War II, neither lost their life in battle. His appreciation for their contributions – and the selfless gifts of the thousands who lost their lives – was crystallized for him by a movie.

“I was actually out at Lakewood flea market, looking at this one guy’s booth,” he said Monday, which happened to be the 67th anniversary of D-Day, a day he always commemorates. “He had authentic K-rations and C-rations from World War II. We were talking about the two, he was saying it was like ‘Saving Private Ryan.’ That got me thinking about it again – this was  1998 or 1999 – so I found a copy of it, rented it, watched it, and literally wept the first time I saw it.

“All my life I heard stories about these men, old guys who’d be talking about the war again, and I didn’t used to want to hear it. But then it all clicked, I saw a little of what they went through. I was really moved by that scene of old Ryan [walking through the sea of white markers at Normandy, which opens the film] and I wondered what it would be like to see that. Then I thought how many old veterans weren’t going to be able to go over see it either.”

As humble about his project as his heroes are about their service, Maddlone doesn’t list his name on the website; declines to have his photograph taken at the memorial and consistently deflects any praise about what he’s built with his own money back toward the men and women he’s honoring.

“I don’t ever want anyone to think I’m doing this to get something out of it,” he said. He funded the project and doesn’t take donations – though he said he had lots of help in bringing this little slice of Normandy to life. A friend found the proper polystyrene for the crosses (sturdy and waterproof); a local Kinko’s manager contributed the lettering; the American Battle Monuments Commission provided advice, blueprints and historical renderings.

“They sent me copies of drawings they used for the [original] marble cutters in Italy,” Maddlone said, “ and a picture of the way it looked when it was done in the ‘50s.  I was very moved they trusted me with the materials – and they donated the full-color booklets they actually give out in Normandy.”

Over the years, Maddlone says, he’s given out 400 souvenir booklets. But there’s no way to tell how many visitors have actually stopped by his memorial; not everyone signs their name in the guest book. The few times anonymous donors have left a few dollars, he turns it over to Operation Uplink, which pays for active military to make overseas calls.

What really matters, he says, are the servicemen and what they gave.

His biggest reward, he told a CNN reporter in 2007, is watching an older person stop by and take time to stroll around the markers.

“You can just tell they’re back there in that time,” he said. “Good, bad or indifferent, their past is important to someone – and to a community that remembers it.”

Maddlone’s D-Day Memorial will be up through Sunday.