Veteran’s Day

I attended my first Veteran’s Day assembly this year at our elementary school and I was surprised how emotional I was as the veterans in attendance were honored for their service. Both Katie and Drew’s classes sang touching songs to the veterans which I loved to see, but most of all I wished that my kids could be up there introducing their Grandpa, my Dad, as he proudly stood next to them.

I listened carefully to each of the introductions and was surprised that there wasn’t a single veteran there who’d served in the Korean War. It made me realize that even if brain cancer hadn’t taken my Dad so many years ago the likelihood of him still being with us is pretty slim. Twenty-one years gone is hard to believe, but the fact that he’d be 90 is even more unbelievable.

I felt guilty wondering if my younger kids even knew/remembered that their Grandpa was a veteran. His time in the army was difficult and unpleasant. Those that served in the Korean War were not honored, respected, or even thanked for their service when they returned. On the back of this picture of him in uniform he wrote “The uniform was ‘loaded’ to those on R&R as we never had as class ‘A’ uniform in Korea.” 

In 1991 my Dad was invited by the Korean government to return to Korea as a way of saying thank you. He wrote in his journal of an experience he had as he waited to board his flight to Seoul... 

“I was approached by a Korean lady and her small son. She asked my reason for going to Korea. I replied that a number of us were returning to Korea as veterans of the Korean War and as guests of the Korean government. What she did really shocked me. She gently touched my arm, looked me in the eyes, and said ‘Thank you for helping to save my country’. I replied that never before had anyone said thank you to me. She had tears in her eyes when she said she was sorry to hear that. Both of us had tears in our eyes. I had believed that I would go through life never hearing anyone say thank you for the many horrible months I spent in Korea. But, over the next week Koreans by the hundreds (mostly children) said thank you.”

I’ll be at the veteran’s assembly again next year and when they request photos of family members who’ve served I’ll be sure to send in this picture of my Dad, in his “loaded” uniform, so he can represent the veterans who’s service may have been largely unrecognized by Americans but honored by those whose freedoms they sacrificed and fought for. So grateful for the country we live in and those that serve to protect it!