Remembering a Late Hero

Memorial Day is a time to remember those heros that once served our country and have now passed on.  Not to be confused with Veteran’s Day which is intended to honor those who have served and are still among the living.

This year for Memorial Day, I’ll be traveling.  There won’t be time or opportunity to visit (or even just drive by) a national cemetery and visually remember the sacrifice of those who took time out of their lives or who gave their lives to make sure that I had the freedom to live life in this great country.

Since I don’t have that opportunity, this year I pay tribute to the memory of one who sacrificed many things to help ensure our freedom - my Grandfather.

If I get any of this wrong, I am certain someone will correct me.  But this is Grandpa’s story, as I understand it.

Sometime, I have no idea how long, after quitting school in the 8th grade, my Grandfather joined the Navy.  After an enlistment period, he left the service and got married. 

After an incident that was not his fault during a civilian job, Grandpa decided to re-enlist.

From the stories I’ve heard, I know that the family lived in many places during the military years:  San Francisco, San Diego, and Illinois, at a minimum.  (Grandma told me once that she used to keep a yardstick above the visors of the station wagon so that when one of the kids was acting up during a long cross-country drive, she could still reach them in the back of the wagon.  It seems like she told me that they had either rear-facing or side-facing seats in the back of the car.)

Adding up all the time, Grandpa spent over 20 years serving in the Navy.  He served in WWII and Korea, as well as during peace time. 

He spent time in Japan where he picked up a few words and stopped at a shop to record a record of himself talking to my mom.  An audio letter, if you will.

He spent time in Korea where he told me that he and his shipmates once found a very cute puppy.  They decided that they wanted the puppy on board ship as a mascot.  So they asked if they could have the dog and were told that the puppy would be brought to them that evening.  They went home to the ship happy.  That night the dog was delivered, as promised.  Unfortunately, he was packaged for cooking.  Grandpa said they were so disappointed and disgusted at the idea of eating the dog that they threw it out.  He warned me to be certain of the customs when asking for a pet in another country.

He spent time in the Philippines.  I can’t remember enough detail of the stories out of there to share it here.

And he spent time in Hawaii.  I was warned before I went to Pearl Harbor to be careful not to mention that portion of the trip to Grandpa.  But when I came home, Grandpa wanted to know whether I had been to visit and what it was like.  He looked at my pictures and then proceeded to inform me that his ship pulled out the day before the bombing and he never understood why he was allowed to survive but so many were not.

I’m pretty certain that he saw some horrible things that he would never share with someone like me who hasn’t had to go through some of that.

He sacrificed time with his family; he sacrificed the ability to be ignorant of atrocities; and He was willing to sacrifice his life to give us a good life.  May we all remember the many who have offered their lives in the same way.

A year or two before Grandpa passed away, I was sitting at the house with him and Grandma.  Grandma started singing one of her songs, which discussed a soldier.  So many years later, Grandpa was still loyal to the Navy.  He jokingly told her to quit saying bad words.  To which Grandma replied, “Soldier, soldier, soldier.”

When he started having trouble going up and down stairs because age was catching up with his legs, Grandpa informed me that when he thought he was going to fall, he remembered his Navy training and fell properly to avoid injury.

I watched him sit and tie knots for fun, practice, and to make pretty keychains.  I have one such keychain.  Recently my son was practicing knot-tying in Boy Scouts.  It made me think of Grandpa and how proud he was to be a sailor.  I’m sad that my son cannot learn proper knot-tying from his great-Grandfather.  But I am so proud to have had the privilege of knowing the character of one hero who cared enough to make the ultimate sacrifice.