When World War II broke out my father left his young wife and daughters and went to fight the Japanese in the South Pacific.

He served in the Makin, Caroline and Solomon Islands.

He was a Marine, and as it is with the Marines, he remained a Marine the rest of his life. He was enormously proud of his service to the country and at the same time humble about his contributions.

As men do, he rarely if ever talked about it in any detail.

But he wasn’t the only hero in this story. My mother stayed behind and cared for their two daughters and waited for him to come home. She, like other women whose husbands had gone to war, had to make ends meet and keep the family together during the years her husband was gone.

When the country was at war, everyone did their part. Sacrifices were made both overseas and at home. The country pulled together and did whatever was necessary to win the war so the country would be safe again and the boys could come home.

So on Memorial Day I am grateful for my own personal military heros, my parents, my husband and my son. Especially my father as he is gone now and I miss him terribly.

It’s a day of honor and sadness as I think of all the young men who died on battle fields around the world and didn’t have the opportunity to grow old.

We owe them everything.

~~~~~~~~~

My Mother, A Train Trip, Scarlett Fever and Her Marine

More (and better) Memorial Day reads:

My mother has written much more eloquently about her experiences and remembrances of World War II. It’s well worth the read.

Cathouse Chat shares her personal experiences and pictures of spending Memorial Day in D.C., here, here, here

Echo9er has some Memorial Day history, OUR mission for Memorial Day, some awesome pictures I have not seen before and a good list of Memorial Day posts.

Argghhh! post about Taking Back Memorial Day. He has a series of posts that I haven’t gotten through yet because of tears. If you don’t understand Memorial Day by the time you read his post, you never will. Read them all.

Darlene thinks it’s interesting how Google doesn’t have a special logo for Memorial or Veterans Day as they do for every other holiday. “Pity the studied ignorance of those that benefit by others’ sacrifice. Pity the ungrateful child.”

Planck’s Consent noticed the same thing about Google. [makes me wonder who's paying their bills].

My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy says Thank You!

Ace in the Hole (I love that picture.)

The Violence Worker says set politics aside today and honor those who served.

AubreyJ has a round-up

There’s so many more …..