Yesterday, as my friend at Random Threads mentions here (in a very good post), we Were going to go to DC for the 25th anniversary of the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial Wall, but for several reasons, we ended up not going.
However, I wanted to take a moment to remember all our Veteran's,
and also to particularly remember the Veteran's in my own family.
Grandad, who served in WW II in the Navy
(and I've written before about his service here)
Click here: Some of My Family History,Grandad in WW II (Updated)
My aunt Lynn, who served as an Army Nurse in Vietnam
(and I've also written about her service to our country)
Click here: For My Aunt...A Thank You to an Army Nurse Corps Vietnam Veteran
My Dad, Mark,who was a pilot in the Army from 1961-64.
And my fiancee,Tony, who served in the Army from 1984-88.
Tony's brother,Chris, also served in the Army (not sure of the dates) and here he is pictured with Tony and Dustin(who is now continuing the tradition of service to our country.)
Tony and Chris's brother, Mark, served in the Navy.
I was talking to Mom and Dad earlier, and was reminded of how Many Veterans we have in our family. Dad's brother Ray served in the Navy in WW II, his brother Bob served in the Marines in WW II, and his brother Tommy served in the Army in Korea.
And his brother Bill died in the Battle of the Bulge in WW II, serving in the Army.
Dad also has 3 nephews who are veterans...Michael served in the Air Force, Steve served in the Army, and Rick served in the Gulf War.
All in all, I think my family has a very rich history of service to our country, of which I'm very proud, and on this Veteran's Day, to them
and to all those who are Veterans
I just wanted to say THANK YOU
7 comments:
Kathi, you may not remember my Uncle Doc, who was my mother's sister Pat's husband (did you follow that? It's part of the Theory of Relativity, a scientific branch of study that includes things like "my mother's aunt's third cousin by marriage twice-removed" and is of little interest except to genealogists - my genealogy software has a relationship indicator on it so I can have it generate all these relationships, so my own Relativity understanding doesn't have to be taxed any more). Uncle Doc is Bud's father.
Now for the extra fun part: Doc's real name was Frank, Pat was in actuality Ella, Bud is really Reed, and his brother Jack is John - why is it that that side of the family is a bunch of AKA's?! Makes you wonder...
Uncle Doc was a scary-looking old man (to l'il ol' me as a puny kid, anyway), tall and cadaverous. But I truly loved spending time at their house in St. Petersburg, which is where Aunt Pat gave my older brother cookies for being a "poor abused little boy" when his older sister (oh wait, that's your mother!) hit him with a wooden spoon.
One time, a friend and I stopped by to visit and my friend got Uncle Doc talking a little about his wartime service. Unfortunately, I have forgotten the details of his service and he is long gone. Anyway, Uncle Doc served in WWI on the battlefields of Europe. He was gassed - I think it was mustard gas - and disabled. Maybe Bud knows more. So there's one more vet to add to your list.
Bud also served in the Army. He visited us when we lived in Columbia SC and he was stationed at Fort Jackson SC.
Thanks,Uncle Don, for adding more to this!! (except I think that Mom will get you for telling about the wooden spoon thing,LOL:)
Kathi
FYI:
Bud is the one who was watching us kids when Mom & Dad were out that infamous evening when my loving older siblings had fun pretending to flush me down the toilet while they held me by my heels with my head right by the swirling water of death (to a 2-year-old, anyway). Apparently, Bud heard my screams of terror and saved me from dying of fright. Somehow, to save their own skins, they managed to get Bud to agree not to tell our parents. I wonder what he extorted from my sibs to do that!?
I was scared to flush a toilet until I was 13! Do you suppose that has anything to do with my Generalized Anxiety Disorder now? Naw, couldn't be...
You and your Blog always warm my pea-pickin' heart... !
Tom Schuckman
tschuckman@aol.com
'Old Soldier Tom's Journal'
Wisconsin--- Green Bay Packers whipped the Vikings last night !! Wooo Wooo!
Adding my own 'merci beaucoup plus et plus' ... 'thanks a whole bunches' ... and I try to do that when I meet new ones. At a funeral, one day, I stood behind a big burly guy in a leather H/D jacket that had 'I am a VietNam vet' on the back of it. When the service was over, I shook his hand and said 'thanks'. He looked at me like I was strange, and said 'why; what for'. I said 'I am assuming that the back of your jacket is telling the truth'. I was smiling, just so he would know that I was not trying to pick a fight. (Lots of them went through that for years after returning home; some of my cousins told me.)
Well, his jacket was ... telling the truth ... and we had a nice talk about me and mine ... and he and his; made my heart sing.
Thanks again to you, Kathi ... for all you do 'supporting our troops'. Ohe, that we had a dozen or so more like you; ahhhhh, make that a dozen or so MILLION.
DIEU TE BENISSE!!! GOD BLESS!!! Cajun Sissy Macile
Oh, I should scan some old photos sometime, also! :)
Considering the weather and how I'm fighting a touch of "something," it's good I didn't push it and go downtown!
One day! -- Robin
Your family its indeed great, thanks for sharing your experience.
Tim McCallan @
http://www.timmccallan.com/
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