This World War I monument was dedicated in our cemetery on Memorial Day, 2019. Dad was the honored veteran on this day. This was his final piece of business representing the veterans he so dearly loved and revered, as he passed away a few weeks later. It is such a fitting closure to a life well-lived.
My Dad transitioned to the eternal in 2019. The following is a tribute I wrote in his memory in 2020. I now share it annually.
Memorial Day was my Dad’s day, and it is a day all Americans should appreciate and honor if we understand and value our freedom.
Respect for Memorial Day
Another Memorial Day without Dad…sigh. 🙁
Memorial Day was my Dad’s day.
He was a proud veteran but an even prouder steward of preserving the honor of those who sacrificed to protect our freedom, which affords us so many opportunities.
For years, he was the chairperson of Covington’s Memorial Day festivities.
Our kids and my brother’s kids always looked forward to helping Grandpa proudly place flags on the graves of veterans in our village’s cemetery the week before Memorial Day.
Ironically, working in that cemetery was my Dad’s first job, and one of the greatest stories he shared from his time there was when the cemetery superintendent excitedly came running toward him, shouting, “The war is over.” “The war” was World War II.
Dad was sixteen when World War II ended.
Two years later, he enlisted in the Army.
He proudly served as a member of “The Big Red One, ” also known as “The Fighting First Infantry.”
A severe blood infection prevented him from being deployed to Korea.
I believed he viewed that as a blessing and a loss, as he genuinely wanted to serve his country in war. He loved watching “Mash” reruns, and I often wondered if that was his way of “being there” when the Good Lord saw fit to keep him away.
We will never know.
My Dad always made my brother and me grateful for the sacrifices of people we never knew.
Somehow, I believe we got to know them all.
Thanks, Dad.
P.E.A.C.E.
Jay@EagleLaunch.com
