Memorial Day

I have an interesting story about two men who were in the service together. One, who enlisted, and one, who was drafted. This was back in about 1951-52. My father is the one who was drafted. He could tell us the years, months, weeks, days and even to the hour of how long he was in the army. He got on a plane and flew to Indiana for training with another man who was from a small town near where he lived. He had gone to school with him, and knew him. Although I'm not sure they were really friends at the time, they did become close and years later they got together and told tales of their days together in the army. My father's stay was shortened because he got burned really bad and was given an honorable discharge. But if the officers had known the details of how he was burned he probably wouldn't have gotten an "honorable" discharge, as he set a can of gasoline on fire to keep warm while they were in the snowy mountains of Colorado, it slipped from his hands and set him on fire....The other guy is quick to say he covered for him, and kept him from getting into trouble about the incident. This is the guy who enlisted, and loved it, undoubtedly....LOL stayed in and eventually retired after about 25 years. Don't get me wrong, my father was as patriotic as they come....He just had a bad taste from some of the things that happened, and I'm sure he missed his family, as well, so he was happy to get to go home. After my father died in 1990, my mother went to work at a little store that had a cafe in it, in the town the other guy was from. He would come in to get a cup of coffee and a sandwich, and got to know my mother. Well, by now you might have guessed it....The other guy is my step-father now! He lovingly tells us stories about my father, and isn't at all jealous as some men might be. He even goes with my mother to put flags and flowers on my fathers grave. How nice is that??

So there's my little story! Happy Memorial Day to any and all who had loved ones, now gone, who served our country.





Me and my Dad