Today is Veteran's Day, and in honor of this I am featuring a photograph of my father Nelson (seen on the far right) with two of his fellow officers during WWII. I'm not sure if the photo was taken in Abilene, Texas, where he underwent basic training, or Okinawa, where he was sent afterwards to join a MASH unit. My father was a dentist, and was drafted - much to his surprise - around the age of 35, probably in 1944. He just hated being a dentist, and my mother Mary told me that he actually liked being in the army - it meant he didn't have to go into the office for 4 years. He came back home to Chicago (again a guess) in 1948 and he, my mother, and sister Susan lived with my mother's parents before moving to our house in the South Side Brainerd neighborhood of Chicago the following year. I myself arrived in January of 1953, to the great joy of everyone except Susan, who eventually forgave me for being born after about 50 years or so. Better late than never, right?
No comments:
Post a Comment