Today I will celebrate and remember my father,(Patton's 3rd Army artillery WW-2) my uncle Kenny, (Carlson's Raider battalion, Marine Corps WW-2). Along with Joyce’s father (USN USS Brownson, WW-2) he survived his ship being sunk on Christmas Day 1944) and Joyce’s uncle William, (Army Air Corps B-24 gunner WW-2) his B-24 was damaged during a mission over Munich, Germany. They were limping back to their base in Italy but did not have enough power to get over the Italian alps. They bailed out and he was captured shortly after landing in his parachute in a deep snow bank. He spent a year in a German POW camp until the end of the war. Joyce’s family suffered greatly for that year. William finally made it home after the war. He was a changed man. It took a long time for him to return to who he was before the war, but he did and was another great man I knew.
I also want to celebrate Joyce’s cousin Jim, (US Air Force) He served as a male nurse I think that was in the late fifties and early sixties. He is a very accomplished man and is still going strong, despite being older than I am, he is still playing on a soccer team and does charity work. This is what veterans do in service and beyond their service time.
I am also celebrating my nephew Patrick (23 years in the Army) he served in Iraq, Afghanistan two tours, Korea two tours at the 38th parallel just a short distance from thousands of North Korean soldiers waiting to invade South Korea. Patrick also served in Somalia, the invasion of Panama and more places than I can remember. I spent 11 years in the Navy expecting to see the world, but only saw one half of it. Patrick saw all of it.
I also celebrate my neighbor Pete, (retired Army tank operator, who was in the first Gulf War as a tank driver. He later saw most of the world traveling everywhere the USA sold tanks to other countries, Pete was there to train their tank crews. I feel lucky to have known all of these veterans I mentioned and countless sailors, shipmates I knew and served with during my years in the Navy. out of the hundreds I served with I only met 2 turds that challenged my belief in humanity. I believe that says a lot about the character of those who have served. I don’t know about the other services, but Navy guys I served with knew how to work hard and party hard. They were great to know and serve with.
One last veteran I forgot, Barry Litchfield, who served on the USS Ponchatula an Oiler during Vietnam and of supreme importance in keeping our carriers fueled and our aircraft fueled. Oilers are hard and dirty work. Those poor guys really get a soaking refueling carriers. The wake from a carrier bounces their bows up and down, showering the sailors on deck with seas spray and of course the fuel spills. during refueling. We were both in station at the same time period.
And one last vet I know and worked with John Alehandro, a helicopter door gunner in Vietnam. A crazy dangerous job hanging out an open door on a helocopter and shooting at bad guys or using supression fire to protect his copter from Viet Cong ground fire. Thanks John
thank you for your service Bill..
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your thanks. The navy was a good thing for me and I did my best to be an asset to the service. I also had a lot of experiences that I would never have had without being in service.
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