Rant #1,552: Gallant Men

Yesterday was Veterans Day, and I hope you celebrated it the right way, by honoring our troops in some way.

The way I honored our troops was at work.

Yes, I had to work yesterday, in what amounted to one of the slowest days of the year, because the people we deal with are off.

And please explain to me this: as the associate editor of a publication the deals with military exchanges and commissaries, basically the department stores and supermarkets of the military, stores that are used by service members, military families, retirees, and yes, veterans, why was my place of business open yesterday?

I have no idea.

Anyway, going on Facebook when I could, I found a relatively new phenomenon on this site: people were posting pictures of their fathers who had served in the military.

Most were from the Korean War frame, some were from World War II, but people were posting these photos along with little vignettes about their time in the service.

I learned a lot, I have to say, even about people I once knew, or thought I knew.

One of my friend's fathers, who died just a few years back, was a Purple Heart recipient. I had no idea at all about this.

Now, what about my father ...

My father only talks about his time in the Marines during the Korean War when asked to. He tells all the funny stories--and there are plenty--about his time in the service. If you want to believe all these stories, he was a cross between Sgt. Bilko and Valentino during this time stationed in places like Camp Lejeune and Opa Locka and Cuba.

But there was also a dark side to all this, and that stuff doesn't come up as much.

He has told some stories here and there about his time in the Marines which aren't funny, and really kind of sad.

I have heard from my aunt that when he came home on leave, he wasn't the same guy he was when he left.

But that was more than 60 years ago, and I guess he has learned to handle it, by telling the funny stories--which I believe probably aren't all true, but based on things that really happened--and forgetting the not so funny stories when pressed about it.

My father never went to Korea. One of the not so funny stories he tells is that two sets of papers were drawn on him, one to send him there, one not. The Marines thought there was some monkey business on his part, and threw him in jail for a time until they could sort it out.

So yes, according to my father, they never apologized for doing this to him, and he has a prison record in the Marines. I don't know if it was ever expunged or not, but according to him, his time in the brig is still on the books.

Anyway, I wanted to put up a photo of him on Facebook, but alas, my problem was that I had no photos of him in the military.

As I said, he only talks about it when pressed, or when he wants to talk about the funny stories.

I figured my mother had some photos squirreled away somewhere, so I called her, and she said she had just one photo.

So when I came home from work, I got the photo, scanned it, and you are seeing the only photo I have of my dad in the Marines.

He doesn't remember where it was taken, but I estimate it was taken in about 1949 or 1950, when my father was 18 or 19 years old--just slightly younger than my son is.

Even though he never went to war, he was there to serve, and his contribution should not be downgraded because he never went to the battle line. You always need a solid backbone at home, and he provided that, and he would have gone if called upon.

My mother says there are other photos, but she doesn't know where they are, so this one photo will have to suffice.

So here is the photo, and yes, I am proud to say that my father served in the Marines during the Korean War.

He helped make a world where I, and my son, did not have to serve, and we could go about our lives without having to worry about such things.

I salute him, and all the others who made life what it is today.

Semper fi!