Veterans Day

Today Facebook is filled with people posting stories about veterans, pictures of grandfathers from WWII, fathers from Vietnam, and pictures of themselves. All this once a year hubbub got me thinking about the veterans and lack thereof in my family. My husband's family is full of them. My husband, both of his parents, his step-father, and one of his grandfathers. Both of my grandfathers were in the military.   My father was not and luckily was never drafted, yet his number was up next. They called the draft off just before my dad's number was called. My dad was pretty much a "worthless hippie." He had an Afro and bell bottoms. His friends all had nick names. I grew up knowing and hearing, Crazy Tim, Stupid Sam, Fat Dan, and Sticky Turtle. They each had their own stories. My dad tried to shield me from his friends. He did not want me to be like them. Strung out, broke, and dying young. Most of them are dead, dying, or in prison. One grandfather, still alive, never made it to war for his stint in the Navy. He spent most of his time getting drunk and getting in trouble. I don't have any war hero stories to share about him either. To this day he says he is a vet for his benefits but he mumbles and waves away any gratitude civilians give. My other grandfather, my dad's dad, did see action. Frontline Battle of the Buldge action. The kind of action that made him adamant that none of us never join the military. The kind of action that he refused to speak about sober, the kind of action that changed that man forever. A change that is still rippling throughout the family to this day even though he is no longer here. 

My grandfather saw his best friend killed. He screamed Tom, my grandfathers name, and then his bottom jaw was blown off. That was the only story we ever heard. Basically, if you read Naked and the Dead you will get the gist of his ordeal. After the war ended and he was still stranded in Europe he got thrown in jail. Why? Some Germans, they had to share space with the enemy since the war was officially over, were mistreating some American soldiers. My grandfather jumped in a jeep and purposefully ran over a German that couldn't get away. My grandma said if the German died then my grandpa was going to prison in Germany and most likely for life. If the German lived he was going to stay with the Americans and spend time in a military prison and be dishonorably discharged. Lucky for me, the German lived. Otherwise grandma would have had children with someone else. 

War changed the course of our family. Even though neither of my folks were ever in a war zone the effects from our veteran elders made an impact. Distrusting of the government. Lack of religion. Short tempered. Fearful. 

Tom said more than once that "all wars are started in the name of god."  No good comes from war and  no good comes from religion. That was the underlying theme. Unspoken yet very much there. 

Today is Veterans Day. A holiday where most veterans are still working while non-vets get the day off to  lounge and not knowing the true cost of what a veteran means.