Veterans Day

Today is Veterans Day, the federal holiday honoring U.S. military veterans. And on this day, I always think about my father Nelson, seen on the left in the photograph above, and my Uncle Jack (my mother's brother), on the right. They both served in the armed forces during World War II. My father, who was a dentist, was drafted in the fall of 1943, and after training in Abilene, Texas, was sent to Okinawa. My father hated being a dentist, and according to my mother Mary, actually liked being in the army. It was a break from his usual routine. And, of course, he was not on the front lines. My Uncle Jack volunteered to serve in the Air Force, was rejected due to a hernia, and had an operation so that he would be accepted into that branch of the service. While my father spent all his time on Okinawa, Uncle Jack traveled all over the South Pacific, starting in New Guinea, where he contracted malaria, which effected his health for the rest of his life. He ended up in the Philippines, where that photograph was taken. My father was on leave at the time, both to visit Uncle Jack and find out what had happened to his cousin, Adam Boysen, who was captured by the Japanese and was subjected to the Bataan Death March. Adam survived that march and was put on a prison ship heading to Japan. That ship was torpedoed, even though warned not to, by an American submarine, and as those American prisoners struggled to survive in the water, were shot by Japanese soldiers. Adam did not survive that. War is a horrible thing, and it is indeed important for all of us to honor those who served in the United States Armed Forces, many of whom served during wartime.