...For those who served

For some it was a sense of duty, for others it was because they had no choice.  And for still others, it was because they knew it was time to grow up.

Tom Brokaw called them The Greatest Generation.  They would be the ones who felt a sense of duty, the young men and women who signed up with Uncle Sam in the late thirties and early forties to serve our nation.

One of them would be the first from his community to enlist in 1941 a few months before Pearl Harbor.  He would take his girl to what they later called their Sweetheart Tree and give her an engagement ring on his 20th birthday, just days after that fateful day in Pearl Harbor - and just a month before he climbed aboard a train and was off to serve his country.  He did get to come home for a short leave in August 1942 and marry his childhood sweetheart.

For the next four years, it was all about a war - him in the Pacific and her in Jacksonville.

In late 1945 he came home and they began to plan for their future, built a house and decided it was time to start a family.

That is how I became a baby boomer.

By the time I was in high school and college, many of my generation were far less that patriotic.  They were the ones who went reluctantly.  Some of them even became what was known as a draft dodger. They did not feel that same sense of patriotism that our fathers had experienced.  One man I know, whose father was a navy recruiter, fled to Canada,

Rich Suhey hoped he wouldn't have to go abroad. so he joined the National Guard.  He spent much of his time of service in Missouri doing something that was connected with the building of bridges.  But he served - and when he died my dad wanted him to have a flag on his casket.

I didn't realize the significance of that until yesterday.

My favorite veteran spoke to my mother's sharing group.  He was one who joined the Army because he knew he needed to grow up.  He had been gently nudged by a beautiful blonde that it was time for him to get his act together.  As that veteran's mother I can tell you I thank God every day for that wonderful girl and her encouragement.

One of the key points in Tray's talk was of the comradery that he and his granddaddy and my nephews share.  Well of course they share a bond - daddy loved his "boys".  But Tray said it was more than that.

"It was because we served".

So on this Veteran's Day - when daddy and Rich are not here for me to thank, but others, like Tray and Chad and Brad are ... I am grateful for those who served.