Remembering our veterans, part II

Yesterday, I posted a story about Slane's great-grandfather and his military service. In writing the post, I asked my parents (GrannieCue and Papa Smurf) to share their stories of family who served and their own stories. Today, I post a story from GrannieCue about a wedding proposal she received from a solider:

That guy was a man I met on one of our family vacations. I was a teenager and ordered to watch Aunt D in the swimming pool at a motel. This guy, who was on vacation with his family as well, kept swimming around us. Eventually, he asked D for my name. (I was really mad at her for telling him cause he was kind of creepy, but very good- looking.) We started talking and vowed we would write each other when we returned to our homes. He was from Dixon, Illinois.

We wrote to each other for quite a while. He also came by bus to Columbus several times, often arriving at 5:30 AM, so your grandfather would drive me down to the bus station to pick him up. Your grandfather, by the way, liked him very much because he always addressed him as "Sir."

He was drafted to go to Vietnam, which made me sad even though I still didn't have romantic feelings for him. I didn't want anyone I knew to go there. He was ready to go and fight for his country and wrote me from there many times. Your grandmother and I would bake cookies (her famous oatmeal chocolate chip) and pack them in popped corn so they had that to eat, too. We sent many gifts of food during his tour. He sent me many pictures and gifts as well.

When he finished his tour in Vietnam, he went home to Illinois and almost immediately came to Columbus to see me. Without my knowledge (or consent, for that matter), he went to my parents and asked my father for my hand in marriage. I wasn't ready to marry anyone and still had spent more time writing him than spending time WITH him. He was very upset with me and told me that he would sign up for a second tour of duty in Vietnam if I did not marry him right away. I told him I couldn't so he went back to Vietnam. I never saw nor heard from him again. I have always felt in my heart than he must have died in Vietnam, although his name is not on the memorial.

Remembering our veterans

Yesterday, the United States paused and recognized military service on Veterans Day. (Learn more about the history of Veterans Day.) Many in the U.S. and abroad recognized military veterans. If you watch a hockey game tonight, you may still see a poppy on the lapels of the bench coaches. (Explanation here, courtesy of Paul Lukas.) 



In a provocative post about Veterans Day, Penelope Trunk reflects on choices we make to serve (or not serve) in the military make and how these choices ripple through our lives and the lives of those around us. The story she shares about her parents inspired me to share my own story of the ways war affected my life.

Grandpa Daniel graduated from Tri-State University (now Trine) in 1940. He went to work after graduation, but recognized that the United States was headed into World War II. Congress had recently passed a law instituting a military draft signed into law by then-president Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Rather than wait to be drafted, Grandpa and his friends enlisted before their draft numbers were called. He had some prior health conditions that could affect his eligibility, so he made sure found a recruiting office with standards he could exceed. Grandpa served in the Pacific theatre, putting his engineering and mechanical skills to work for the U.S. Army Air Forces (now its own branch of military, the U.S. Air Force). He never shared with me all that he saw and experienced, but it was clear to me that his military service during had a profound effect on his life.

Following the end of the war, he came to Columbus, Ohio. After meeting and marrying my Grandma (another story for another day), having GrannieCue and Aunt J, and moving into a house, the United States military prepared for a skirmish on the Korean Peninsula. Grandpa, a reserve officer at the time, was called up to active duty. They sought volunteers to work at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, 70 miles away in Dayton. Grandpa volunteered, not knowing what would happen. He spent the duration of the Korean War (1951-55) communting between home and Wright-Pat, having Aunt D during the war. (Lori Tagg wrote On The Front Line Of R&D, about Wright-Pat and the Korean War.)

Following the Korean War, Grandpa served the rest of his professional career as an officer at the Defense Construction and Supply Center in Columbus (now the Defense Supply Center Columbus). He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel two months before I was born.

I emailed GrannieCue for her memories of Grandpa's service. Here's what she wrote back: 

Your grandfather retired from the Air Force as a Lt Col. He was very proud of his service in both WWII and Korea. His dream was to be a pilot (one he had from childhood) and, although he piloted several planes, he was never at the helm when they took off or landed. (He was never trained for that.). Although we know he was in the South Pacific, he didn't talk about it much. After viewing some of what our guys had to endure at Rantoul AFB when captured by the Japanese, I am not surprised. (Q note: GrannieCue and Papa Smurf visited the Chanute Air Museum in Rantoul, Illinois.) He spent some time training before going overseas at Rantoul. As a matter of fact, he actually met someone there from McConnelsville, his home town!

After we kids grew up and left home, he and your grandmother travelled all over the world EXCEPT anywhere near Asia. He refused to go there. He spent his time in the Korean War stateside, but far from home. When he left, I was about Slanes's age and Aunt J was a baby. He cried the day he left us to, once again, go to war. (Aunt D was born nine months after he returned home!). He made many lifelong friends during his time in the service and corresponded with and met with them until he was too ill to travel.

Interesting note: His two brothers went into the Navy and Marines. I have always found that interesting that the three of them enlisted in different branches of the service.

In a future post, I hope to share more stories of how our family has been affected by military service.

a different kind of corsage

The weather this weekend was beautiful, and we chose to spend Saturday afternoon strolling around town. We went downtown for lunch, stopped at various stores looking at various items, stopped to pick up the mail, and then after a couple hours of that headed home. Now, before we left, Slane insisted on wearing a Little Swimmer. If you have any experience with Little Swimmers, they are not made for absorption. We put a real diaper on top of the swimmer.

Slane was starting to get really fussy on our way home, we just assumed it was time for a nap. Then Q got her out of the stroller, and she was soaked. She had soaked through the stroller. We happened to be in front of Bates Flower Shop. So, we stopped in and asked Mr. Jim if we could do a diaper change in his shop. "Sure," he said, "you can use the corsage room. It is more private."

So, after we got some of the glitter off of Slane's little bottom, we thanked everyone there and got ready to leave. But, Mr. Jim has grandkids about Slane's age, and wouldn't let us leave without a pink helium filled balloon. It only lasted three blocks, but Slane loved it! She bounced it around and watched what the wind did with it.

I was prepared for a meltdown when the balloon was let go of and lost forever, but Slane took it very well. "Bye bye balloon. Bye bye," she said, as she watched it get stuck in a tree branch. She looked at it longingly as we kept walking, and then moved on to the fact that her hat had fallen off.

So, the next time you get a corsage, be warned that Slane has also been there.