Carlene Havel's Blog: Carlene - Posts Tagged "paw-paw"
Veterans' Day
We are about to celebrate Veterans’ Day, that one day out of 365 when we stop to say “thank you” to the people who protect our way of life. Hats off to them collectively—on November 11th and every other day. Those of us who know someone who is serving, or has served, in the armed forces understand how appropriate the word “serve” is. War is ugly, and the fighting forces are on the leading edge of that horror. Being a soldier is no easy job, even in the midst of peace.
My family has a tradition of military service, to include a never-ending debate about which is better: the Army, Air Force, or Navy. Today’s salute to my Paw-paw does not constitute a vote in that private war. In all fairness I must admit if he were here to speak for himself, Paw-paw would tell you the American military is the finest in the world. Furthermore, he would say, the Navy is far superior to those ground pounders and flyboys (a term that does not apply to Navy aviators, of course).
He was an ordinary fellow, my Paw-paw. Yet in the 1940s he and a few million other average guys got together and saved the world from despotism. Almost forty, with two kids and a wartime essential job teaching electronics, he didn’t have to go. He could have avoided the danger, disease, and discomfort of those Pacific Islands. But my Paw-paw was a man who put his beliefs into action. He chose to endure confrontations with people bent on killing him because he wanted his children to live in freedom—even if he didn’t survive to see them grow up.
Thank you, Paw-paw. Rest in peace. You were my hero, and I miss you still. The world would be a better place with more men like you.
Carlene Havel,author of "A Hero's Homecoming"
http://www.prismbookgroup.com/AHerosH...
My family has a tradition of military service, to include a never-ending debate about which is better: the Army, Air Force, or Navy. Today’s salute to my Paw-paw does not constitute a vote in that private war. In all fairness I must admit if he were here to speak for himself, Paw-paw would tell you the American military is the finest in the world. Furthermore, he would say, the Navy is far superior to those ground pounders and flyboys (a term that does not apply to Navy aviators, of course).
He was an ordinary fellow, my Paw-paw. Yet in the 1940s he and a few million other average guys got together and saved the world from despotism. Almost forty, with two kids and a wartime essential job teaching electronics, he didn’t have to go. He could have avoided the danger, disease, and discomfort of those Pacific Islands. But my Paw-paw was a man who put his beliefs into action. He chose to endure confrontations with people bent on killing him because he wanted his children to live in freedom—even if he didn’t survive to see them grow up.
Thank you, Paw-paw. Rest in peace. You were my hero, and I miss you still. The world would be a better place with more men like you.
Carlene Havel,author of "A Hero's Homecoming"
http://www.prismbookgroup.com/AHerosH...
