[Don'tMessWithTexas]

My daddy was a Navy boy in Korea. In 1950, he served on a minesweeper in the South China Sea. When it hit a mine, he was topside smoking a cig. He saw one of his buddies blown to bits. My daddy lost all his hair. I try to imagine a poor skinny kid all alone in the ocean. He died 14 years later.

God Bless all our veterans. The ones still with us and the ones who paid the ultimate sacrifice.

[MistyCA]

There is a special place in heaven for men like your Dad. May God Bless and keep him. I am sorry for your loss.

[wimpycat]

Poor kid! The vast majority of our combat veterans were just kids at the time, but they sure grew up fast. The ones who didn't make it will always be young.

My daddy just missed out on Korea; he joined the Air Force in 1954 for a four-year stint, spent mostly in France and Germany, fueling aircraft and basically having fun.

One of his uncles was at Pearl Harbor on that fateful December 7th, and he also survived the battle of Midway, I believe it was, as well as several other battles. He's still alive, too, God love him.

My brother-in-law Brad is a Marine and a Gulf War combat veteran. He's now a recruiter, and apparently is regularly exceeding his quota.