A big thank you to all of the veterans out there. Your service helped make this country great!!!
On a personal level, I was reminded recently of my father's service in WWII when my oldest daughter asked for information her son could use for a Veteran's Day report at school. My father never talked about his service, but my mother filled me in when I asked as an adult many years ago. Dad came back from the war in Germany with shrapnel in his head and occasionally had severe headaches. He was a good man and made a good life for all of us, regardless of what had happened to him. Mom told me he was in the middle of a battle in Germany. When his unit was under fire, a mortar shell landed in or near the foxhole he and his buddy were in. His buddy was killed right next to him and dad received some injuries. As I said, dad never talked about his experience, although many men bragged about theirs.
I recall a conversation with my father when I must have been about 35. I had made it through the Vietnam era with job deferments and pure luck with the draft lottery. Way back in 1964 when I was called up in the draft, my employer offered to apply for a job deferment, which was approved. I was fully prepared to join the Navy and talked at length with a recruiter, but my employer's offer won out. When the job deferments were eliminated several years later, I dealt with the lottery situation year-to-year. After I hit age 35, I considered myself fortunate but always wondered about how my father might have felt about it since he served in the heat of battle in Germany in WWII. When I said something about feeling lucky and wondered how he felt about it, he assured me I had done the right thing. Nothing more was said.
Dad had a series of severe heart attack when he was in his early 40s and was never the same again. He lived until age 62 and enjoyed every day he had. His love of woodworking steered me in the same direction, although we never had a chance to work on much together because of distance. One thing I learned from his experience with his heart problems is to listen to what my body was telling me. As a result, I've had good medical attention and have lived way past what I expected. Although his experiences in serving our country were not something he chose to talk about, they made him the quality of man he became. I'm fortunate to have had a dad like that!