Somewhat off topic but I had to post this somewhere where I'd get intelligent comments.
I attended the funeral of one my father's younger brothers today, my Uncle Walter (one of seven children, five boys & two girls). Ninety years old, never married, lived in my grandparent's home (having taken care of not only my grandparents, but my grandmother's brother, my great-uncle Stanley).
Very smart man, electrical technician, worked at Fort Meade for decades, grew his own vegetables and herbs, cooked and baked like a professional, could fix almost any radio or TV, always provided thoughtful and intelligent advice to all of us nephews and nieces; a real renaissance man.
Anyway, my father and all his brothers (second generation Polish-Americans) were in the military, all but the youngest serving during WWII.
Like much of that generation, my father almost never talked about his service during the war. Oh, I knew he'd been a Sgt. I knew he'd been in the Army (in the Cavalry when they still had horses, the memory of which probably finally convinced my father to tell me his story when I showed him a photo of Army Rangers on horseback in Afghanistan after 9/11). He had been in the Army for a couple years before we declared war, then had his term extended for the duration of the war. I knew he'd been in New Guinea and the Philippines.
It wasn't until about two years before my dad died (in October, 2005) that he told how he had been on board a transport ship (with hundreds of others) off the coast of South America for weeks waiting to go to the Philippines. Waiting, as it turns out, to become part of the Battle of Leyte Gulf!!
I was flabbergasted! Here was a man I'd known my entire life, and he never thought it any big deal that he had been involved in the largest air and sea battle in the history of this planet! He ended up establishing a radio communications setup on some hillside along the San Juanico Strait.
Well, this morning, during the funeral service for my Uncle Walter, I find out from one of my cousins who had looked in on my uncle the last couple of years as his health started to fail, that my Uncle Walter, the smart, good looking guy who I always saw at Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners with his homemade bread and pleasant smile, had been at Pear Harbor!!
I know this might be from trying to forget what they were involved in, or that they were, as a group, apparently very humble guys, but I'm just amazed that someone could be involved in something as historic and heroic as Pearl Harbor and Leyte Gulf and never want to brag about it just a little bit. Or at least let your family know you were there.
I'm just stunned by my father's and uncle's humility at having been involved in something really heroic.
God rest their souls.
--Jay
I attended the funeral of one my father's younger brothers today, my Uncle Walter (one of seven children, five boys & two girls). Ninety years old, never married, lived in my grandparent's home (having taken care of not only my grandparents, but my grandmother's brother, my great-uncle Stanley).
Very smart man, electrical technician, worked at Fort Meade for decades, grew his own vegetables and herbs, cooked and baked like a professional, could fix almost any radio or TV, always provided thoughtful and intelligent advice to all of us nephews and nieces; a real renaissance man.
Anyway, my father and all his brothers (second generation Polish-Americans) were in the military, all but the youngest serving during WWII.
Like much of that generation, my father almost never talked about his service during the war. Oh, I knew he'd been a Sgt. I knew he'd been in the Army (in the Cavalry when they still had horses, the memory of which probably finally convinced my father to tell me his story when I showed him a photo of Army Rangers on horseback in Afghanistan after 9/11). He had been in the Army for a couple years before we declared war, then had his term extended for the duration of the war. I knew he'd been in New Guinea and the Philippines.
It wasn't until about two years before my dad died (in October, 2005) that he told how he had been on board a transport ship (with hundreds of others) off the coast of South America for weeks waiting to go to the Philippines. Waiting, as it turns out, to become part of the Battle of Leyte Gulf!!
I was flabbergasted! Here was a man I'd known my entire life, and he never thought it any big deal that he had been involved in the largest air and sea battle in the history of this planet! He ended up establishing a radio communications setup on some hillside along the San Juanico Strait.
Well, this morning, during the funeral service for my Uncle Walter, I find out from one of my cousins who had looked in on my uncle the last couple of years as his health started to fail, that my Uncle Walter, the smart, good looking guy who I always saw at Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners with his homemade bread and pleasant smile, had been at Pear Harbor!!
I know this might be from trying to forget what they were involved in, or that they were, as a group, apparently very humble guys, but I'm just amazed that someone could be involved in something as historic and heroic as Pearl Harbor and Leyte Gulf and never want to brag about it just a little bit. Or at least let your family know you were there.
I'm just stunned by my father's and uncle's humility at having been involved in something really heroic.
God rest their souls.
--Jay
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Sorry for your loss(es).
