Posted on 05/28/2004 8:09:36 PM PDT by redrock
When I was around 6 or 7 years old (funny how you really don't want to remember some things) my father got hurt while on the job.
The accident broke his spine in half...leaving him paralyzed from the chest down. I remember all the hectic days from that time...and I remember when he was finally stabilized...that he transferred to the V.A. Hospital in Long Beach,California.
I remember going to the V.A. Hospital for the first time.....being surrounded by so many people in wheelchairs...or on gurneys. Men with missing legs....or arms...or eyes. Being as young as I was...it was quite frightening.
There I was...a young boy....standing next to my dad...who still had bruises galore...and still had lots and lots of tubes coming out of him...and going into him. Here was my dad.....a person so full of life....who ran races with me all of the time.....liked to play catch....took me fishing.....looking like he had run his last race.
I thought (in my young boy mind) that my dad was going to die.
I guess that I looked the part of a scared little boy....because my dad grabbed my hand and pulled me close...giving me a hug as best he could.
Then he said quietly ( he had a tracheotomy) something that I didn't really figure out for a couple of years.
"Skipper....look around at this place. Full of old soldiers....sailors....and fliers. You are the luckiest boy in the world."
I didn't understand....but as the tears flowed...I just hugged my dad.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
My dad stayed in the V.A. for almost three years...(and afterwards would periodically have to go back for more surgery etc). Long about the second year my dad was there....I began to understand why he said I was the 'luckiest boy in the world'.
Here I was...surrounded by men who had landed at Normandy....or had jumped into France the night before.
Men who had fought their way up Italy.....
Men who had fought the Japanese at Guadacanal....or Iwo Jima....or the Philipines.
Men who had served on the U.S.S. Indianapolis.
Men who had fought at Chosen....or Inchon.
Men who had flown P-51's.....Corsairs....P-38's.....B-17's----B-24's.
Men who had kept their Nation and their families safe.
...and I got to talk with everyone of them...and learn.(although I'm not sure I was aware that I was learning...)
In short....I was surrounded by living History.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
And this weekend....You can be surrounded by History too.
Just take some time (an hour will do nicely) and visit the local V.A. Hospital....or Veteran's Home...or Nursing Home.
Visit...and hear first hand...the stories that the men (and women) are wanting to tell. Let them tell of the time off of Iwo that the Kamikaze's tried to sink their ship.....listen to them tell of the night's at Bastogne....let them pass on the stories.
You will be better for hearing them.
....and part of the American Story...will then become part of you.
redrock
redrock
redrock
A Memorial Day bump to you, and to your dad, and to our beloved soldiers.
Hey, redrock, your offering was wonderful, as usual. Just a thought about the Long Beach Vet’s hospital. My son’s father (a Viet Nam combat vet) was recently in an auto accident, busted up foot, cracked ribs and sternum. They transported him to LA County, where they let him lay with no medical help, except kept him drugged, for over a week, until someone finally found out where he was. He couldn’t call out. Finally a friend took him to the Vet’s hosp in Long Beach, where they told him there was no room for him. So they casted the foot/ankle...that has to be operated on and sent him home. Well, he almost died, was there all alone. He was never able to get into the Vet’s hospital. Something is badly wrong here with the way our vets are being treated. I also know some who have suffered agent orange and other problems but can’t get the SSA to approve benefits for years. It’s not right and really ticks me off.
I’m not in a good mood today. Just got a “humor” piece from a liberal relative that was so vile and distorted.....he sent it to just tick me off, and it did!! You wouldn’t have wanted to see what I told him. Oh, well, scratch another relative!!! LOL!!!
That's a truly touching post (#54).
I love it.
Thanks for the ping to this thread, Brian.
Been out of town all day just read this, it is truly touching, as they all have been. Thanks.
What a beautiful story. My dad, who we buried today, was a Navy vet. Happy Memorial Day to all who have served out great country, and those are still serving.
A special thanks to my relatives who have served:
My brother Rick
My brother-in-law Bill
My late Grandpa George who "fibbed" about his age, so he could join up early at 16 and served in WWI and WWII
My late Uncle Joe who was on the beaches at Normandy
My late Uncle George
My late Uncle Norman
and my dear friend Billy, who gave his life for our country in Vietnam.
God Bless you Veterans, today and everyday.
"I watched the flag pass by one day,
It fluttered in the breeze.
A young Marine saluted it,
And then he stood at ease.
I looked at him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud,
With hair cut square and eyes alert
He'd stand out in any crowd.
I thought how many men like him
Had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign soil?
How many mothers' tears?
How many pilots' planes shot down?
How many died at sea?
How many foxholes were soldiers' graves?
No, freedom isn't free.
I heard the sound of Taps one night,
When everything was still,
I listened to the bugler play,
And felt a sudden chill.
I wondered just how many times
That Taps had meant "Amen,"
When a flag had draped a coffin.
Of a brother or a friend.
I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.
I thought about a graveyard
At the bottom of the sea,
Of unmarked graves in Arlington.
No, freedom isn't free."
........
God Bless our troops, and their famlies.
Thank you for your service.
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
"Wild poppies flower when other plants in their direct neighborhood are dead. Their seeds can lie on the ground for years and years, but only when there are no more competing flowers or shrubs in the vicinity (for instance when someone firmly roots up the ground), these seeds will sprout.
There was enough rooted up soil on the battlefield of the Western Front; in fact the whole front consisted of churned up soil. So in May 1915, when McCrae wrote his poem, around him bloodred poppies blossomed like no one had ever seen before.
But in this poem the poppy plays one more role. The poppy is known as a symbol of sleep. The last line We shall not sleep, though poppies grow / In Flanders fields might point to this fact. Some kinds of poppies can be used to derive opium from, from which morphine can be made. Morphine is one of the strongest painkillers and was often used to put a wounded soldier to sleep. Sometimes medical doctors used it in a higher dose to put the incurable wounded out of their misery."-
- Rob Ruggenberg
Thanks for the great poems and Thanks to those who sacrificed so that we are here for this Memorial Day.
redrock
Thanks.
redrock
BTTT!!!!!!
My family and I will never forget...
Thanks. G'mornin' ! :^D
mornin backatcha, Meek!
Thanks for the ping to the Memorial Day thread.
Hope you and yours have a great weekend.
Regards
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