Today is Veterans Day in the US when we
honor people who have served in the Armed Forces. My father was one
of those people when he was drafted into the Army for two years
during the Korean War. After basic training, he spent his time in
Germany as an engineer who could build or destroy bridges at a
moments notice. Luckily, he didn't see combat, but his time in the
Army was difficult all the same.
He was newly married and hated leaving
his wife alone. When he left, my mother had to find work and teach
herself to drive. Soon after, they discovered that she was pregnant.
Also because his father was sick, he still felt an obligation to his
mother, siblings, and the family farm that he grew up on. It didn't help that when he was
shipping out of New York Harbor, the army band played, “So Long,
It's Been Good to Know You.” My father told that story until the
day he died. Someone in the army didn't think that one through very
well.
A few years ago, I was lucky to find
letters that he wrote to his mother while he was away. These were
remarkable not only because they were a part of the family history,
but also because my father did not like to write—at all. So to see
things he had written was indeed special. To truly appreciate his
experience you need to read all of his letters in order. However,
below is a sample.
How is everyone? Fine I hope. I am fine.
We have been so busy, I've had hardly any time to do any writing or much of anything else. I try to write my wife every chance I get, so don't worry if I don't write too often. I just haven't had the time.
We have already moved once and we have only been here 12 days. I always did hate to move and now I think even less of the idea. We have been standing one inspection after another ever since we got here. Last week we went on 3 hikes with combat packs and rifle. There were several of the guys that could hardly walk. Friday evening I was as sore as the devil but otherwise alright. We are having physical training again on top of the hikes plus some work.
This is an awful climate and right now it is about 20 above zero. There is a heavy coating of frost on the trees and everything. That makes the scenery really nice but the sun hasn't shown in a week here.
How is everything going there? What's Paul and Harry doing the most of right now? How are the kids getting along in school?
I must close for now. Tell everyone hello for me. And write soon and tell me all the news.
Your loving son,
Earl
P. S. Say, Mom, has anyone told you that we are expecting a baby. It is due about the first part of Aug. I'm hoping for a boy, but I'll be very happy with either one.
What a lovely letter to have from your father. So meaningful.
ReplyDeleteMy dad is a WWII vet. Fortunately for him, he was shipped over to Germany after the fighting was done and was part of the clean-up crew. He saw some pretty horrific things, but he also made friends with a local German family--he and some fellow soldiers were able to help with rebuilding people's lives, which, knowing my dad, would have been something he would be good at doing. He was part of the cavalry, which isn't a branch of the service you hear much about these days.
Thanks for your post.
Very interesting. You don't hear much about the Calvary or the clean up crew. I would love to hear more of his stories.
DeleteThe letters that my father wrote are very interesting to all of us. He has told us just a few generalities, but not much detail, so the letters filled in a lot of blanks. And hearing from my father as a young vulnerable man is the most interesting.
Wow! That's a wonderful letter to still have. My dad enlisted in the army when he thought he might be drafted during the Korean war. He did 2 years at the tail end, learning how to fly, then clean-up stuff afterward. He later became a commercial pilot. My FIL was in WWII, and did see some pretty awful stuff.
ReplyDeleteWe were talking at the dinner table the other night, about Veteran's Day and who in our family has served in the military. We could think of very few people in our generation, but many in previous ones.
I think our generation was mostly between wars. Too young for the Viet Nam War and too old for the Gulf wars. We were lucky that way. My father was actually old enough (just barely at the end) to serve in WWII, but got a farm exemption. He was working on the neighbors dairy farm at the time, and his employer got an exemption for him. I guess that somebody had to stay behind and help produce food.
DeleteI think it's important to get the stories of those that come before us and it sounds like that you've done that in your family.
I have an aunt who has been the keeper of all the family stories, on one side of our family. Knowing what ancestors have gone through makes me appreciate how easy of a life I really have, even when it feels like everything is crumbling around me.
DeleteI think my dad was too young for the actual fighting in WWII, which is how he ended up on the cleanup crew. My dad has dementia so I'm not sure his stories are very accurate these days--my sister has some of them recorded from when he was younger, which has turned out to be a good thing. And you're right, Lili, it's good to hear how other generations survived difficult circumstances--we are not alone in our struggles!
DeleteWhen I was younger, older people always said, "Get the stories now. You never know when it will be too late." I appreciate that a lot more now than I did then.
DeleteGreat tribute and remembrance, "June." Our dads had very similar experiences. Mine was a similar age and had a deferment as an only son working on his dad's farm in 1945. He told me, though, that he thought if the invasion of Japan had gone through he would have been drafted. He was with an engineer company in the Korean War. He also didn't serve in combat, but his unit built a petroleum pipeline from the Japan Sea over the Korean mountains to a Marine Air Group inland. I have one of his letters that he wrote home to mom & dad, about the rough conditions in Korea.
ReplyDeleteDo you have pictures of your dad during that time? You seem to have a lot of old ones. I have one picture of my father in his uniform, but I couldn't find it for this post. Some picture clean up is in order.
DeleteHow sweet!
ReplyDeleteMy dad served in Vietnam and my husband served during Dessert Storm. Veteran's Day is a bittersweet day for me...it is both my birthday and my dad's and now that he is no longer here it seems to be filled with memories.
Happy birthday, Shara. I'm so sorry that your dad isn't here to celebrate with you. I was born on my father's bday, as well. I understand the connection and loss that you must feel without him with you to celebrate.
DeleteHappy Birthday, Shara. Holidays are always hard when you think about the loss of a loved one, but I hope that you are at the point of good memories and good times for your birthday.
DeleteWow... that's so wonderful to actually have your father's letters. My family is full of veterans as well. Both of my grandfathers served in WWII - which is sort of a story of how rich vs. poor carries over even into the military!
ReplyDeleteMy mother's father (who was well off) was assigned the job of going into newly conquered areas and setting up command posts for the allies. He spent most of the war on the Isle of Capris overseeing an R&R camp.
Meanwhile, my father's father (who was dirt poor) was assigned to a tank unit. They took a German grenade and he was the only survivor. But it left him with significant liver damage and since he couldn't stop drinking, he died shortly after the war.
My dad enlisted in the Air Force shortly after the Korean war and spent his time in a small shack out on the tundra of the Aleutian Islands listening for radio signals from spy balloons that the US floated over Soviet Russia. He tells some crazy stories about that experience.
But the craziest stories of all come from CatMan who was drafted in the first round of Vietnam drafts.The stories he tells make it sound like theater of the absurd - sort of like Catch 22 on steroids. Anyhow, through a bizarre set of coincidences (including an airline strike and a typo) he lucked out and spent his time at a psychiatric hospital (as a psych-tech, not a patient) in Fort Ord in Monterey Bay California.
I am so grateful to those who have served our country, but sure wish the human race could find a better way of resolving its conflicts.
You have some interesting stories about servicemen in your family. I bet CatMan also has some interesting stories and learned a lot working in a psych hospital.
DeleteWouldn't it be great if human nature could change and wars would be a thing of the past? We can always dream.