Monday, May 26, 2008
Another Memorial Day
This year marks the fiftieth anniversary since my dad, at the age of eighteen, enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. He served for twenty years, retiring as a First Sergeant. He traveled the world in duty, including Cuba (the Missile Crisis), Viet Nam, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Korea, the Philippines, Japan, Okinawa, Hawaii, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland and California. Today marks the seventh year that we've had to include him in remembrance on Memorial Day.
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4 comments:
Sarah, Words can't begin to express the appreciation I have for men like your father that served our nation to safeguard all the freedoms we're so fortunate to enjoy. I'm proud to salute your father and the men and women who have helped make our country a beacon of liberty.
It's so fascinating that we not only share the distinction of having former Marines as fathers, but the fact that they both enlisted in the same year.
My father was 17 when he went to Parris Island, much to his parent's dismay. They had saved money for college and he dropped that bombshell on them his senior year. But it was what he wanted and they signed the consent that was necessary since he wasn't of age. Then they used that money and bought a bigger house. So everyone was happy in the end.
As a result, I have had the privilege of encountering numerous men and women of the armed forces, especially a great many who served in WWII, and have listened to countless stories about service to our country, especially my father's closest friend who is a survivor of Iwo Jima, and was a source for the book "Flags of Our Fathers." Sadly, much to the tragic inevitability of our existence, many are leaving us at an increasingly rapid pace, so in that I appreciate even further the legacy they have passed on to our generation.
That was a beautiful tribute and I must echo your sentiments. I still offer up a "Semper Fi" to any Marine I encounter. It seems to brighten up both our days.
My cousin Fred was a surgeon in the Navy, and was a prisoner of war in the Philippines for three years. He is 94 now, and still picks people up at the airport and takes everyone to dinner, and sends me emails. What a guy. He was remembered in a book "Conduct Under Fire." A truly remarkable man, and just another one of the fine men that made everything we have today possible. Liberty comes at a high price. Fortunately, many of the men make it back home.
But we never forget those who left us, heroes all.
Thanks for writing that for Daddy!
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