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.