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.
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