Pearl Harbor

This morning while I was checking the news on the internet I came across an article about the 65 year reunion of the Pearl Harbor Suvivors. I don't know what it is about the stories of old veterans, but they always touch me. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that all of my childhood role models were WWII vets. Whatever it is, nothing else seems to get to me as quickly.

My own father was a WWII vet. He never did talk much about it. I know he was with Patton's Third Army at one point. On one occasion he was shot through the field jacket three times. He said he later found out that it was American's that had been shooting at him. They had been some distance away and had mistaken my father and another guy for Germans. At another time, he was shot through the helmet and the bullet traveled along the top of his head taking hair and scalp with it. Some of his more touching stories that he told about the war had to do with encounters with civilians.

Linda's dad spent time in India and got malaria which caused him problems on and off for the rest of his life. I talked to him on a couple of occasions about his WWII experiences. He, like my dad, would talk about certain aspects of it but I am sure there was much that he did not want to think or talk about.

A few years ago, the father of a friend passed away. We went to the funeral in Winfield. The father was a WWII vet. He had been seriously wounded during the war. He came home, worked hard, raised a family and was an outstanding citizen, but I know from talking to my friend that his father suffered for the remainder of his life from his war experiences. During the funeral, there was an honor guard of old VFW men who marched in and stood at attention and saluted the flag covered casket. I really think that was the saddest moment that I have ever experienced at a funeral. Even today, years after, I can't talk about it without tearing up. I really can't explain it but there was and is something about the sight of those old men standing at attention and saluting that flag covered casket that really touchs my heart.