Vera Lynn (1917-2020)
Filed under the name Vera · February 27, 2026
Donna and I dance in the kitchen sometimes to the old songs, and Vera Lynn's music was the kind that got whole countries through wars, which is a different kind of labor than most people give singers credit for. 'We'll Meet Again' comforted millions of people who didn't know if they'd see their husbands or sons again, and that's not a small thing — that's morale, and morale wins as much as any factory floor does. My grandfather came through Ellis Island to work the mills, and he used to say the war effort back home was carried as much by the people keeping spirits up as by the people making the steel and the shells. I think Vera Lynn understood her job the same way a good union rep understands his — sometimes the work isn't heavy lifting, it's making sure people don't give up before the job gets done. She kept singing through the whole war and people never forgot her for it. That's a kind of loyalty to a job I can respect.