The Sentinel, Christmas 1943 and beyond

The picture below is the USS Brownson in 1943, that's important to this piece.

Christmas 1943 Bob Hope (God bless his soul) was in the European theater doing his first Christmas show for the troops. At the same time Joyce's father was onboard the USS Brownson DD-518 off the coast of New Britan in the Bismark archipelago, south west Pacific providing air cover for the Marine landings on New Britan. A host of Japanese bombers and fighters came in to attack the American fleet and destroy their support ships. The ship was sunk by a Japanese bomber, one of 60 attacking the American fleet. Joyce's father was one of the lucky survivors, 1 of 108 out of the 336 crewmembers aboard. I never got to ask him what he was thinking when he was swimming in shark infested waters off New Britan. The other destroyers there, the USS Daly and the Lamson broke standard operating procedures to rescue the survivors. They should have sailed away, but brave captains stayed to rescue fellow sailors.

Christmas 1944 Bing Crosby was on a USO tour in Europe entertaining the troops there, while Joyce's rescued father was marrying her future mother. He had been reassigned back to the USA after his ship sunk. Just shy of 10 months later my bride to be was born. Had her father not been rescued, only heaven knows what my life would have become. I shudder to even wonder about it. I was born almost 8 months into 1945. Had dad not been in artillery training in Colorado at the time he was, I might not even be, or at least not the me I am. I could have been someone different, with a different wife, different daughter and the list of things goes on until who knows? My daughter (if I would have had one) wouldn't have been the same and my granddaughter would not have been the same.

The odds against any 2 particular people meeting and getting married in this country are astounding. The rest of course gets even further away from possibility, in fact impossible to say at that point.

You should be thankful every day for the one you love and if there is no one in your life, you could be thankful for the one who is not in your life.