PAST HEROS ….. WARRIORS BOTH. ONE BRIT … ONE AUSSIE … RIP
on 07/10/2009 at 08:41 AM
Sad - and most today have no clue as to why we should miss men like these.
Two things on this particular topic - when History Channel ran The Band of Brothers on TV - they added some commentary of actual WWII 101st (506 Easy CO, I think, history isn’t my passion, but I live with 4 passionate historians) - and one of the segments was two children who said that while young they did not care and when they finally did start asking their father about WWII - he wouldn’t talk much - finally he started talking about 5 years before he died, they both were sad that they couldn’t have shared more with him about that time - and how much living history they had missed. It so struck me - I remember only one time my Dad talking about WWII - he had this trunk (actually he had two made by the Seabees) and he showed me and my brother his Rising Sun flag, a samurai sword and a stack of pictures (which would turn a grown persons stomach - after an attack type). Yes, through my mom and a few other people we know about the Jeep through the motel window in Corpus Cristi the night before they shipped out, yes I know about him destroying his clothes by using bleach - straight. And we all heard the story about the prank (see the Jeep story above) that almost lead to him and his best friend being shot at sunrise. And we all knew about that same friend being captured and held by the Japanese - and how the resulting recovery/care lead to him marrying the nurse and never, ever forgetting my father - and doing many wonderful favors for all of us over the years. But since my Dad died when I was 13, I never really got the chance to talk to him about it. And I regret that.
The other is that a couple of weeks ago we went to a gathering that my mother had, as the ‘Canadian cousins’ were visiting and as my mother is 93 and her brother 80something - not to mention the one cousin is 80 something - it was felt best to bring the whole family together one last time. Not much to say other than the insanity of the Borden gene is well drifting down the generations - wow as to what is going on in some of those families. But apparently someone (not known by me) made a family tree for the oldest grandson (who btw, did not attend, I can’t remember the last event I’ve seen him at) - my hubby snapped some pictures so that we could add the names, dates and such to the family genealogy info we already have. Very interesting to see - all the names and dates and places everyone was from. England only flagged up with my maternal Grandfather (who was born there), his mother and her line (Charles Smith of London(of course) and one other person who was born in Cambridgeshire in 1690 and came to America sometime after that. It is interesting to see what your family did where they lived - and to realize how many of them were part of making America - America.
Sad that so many today just want to tear down all the countries and turn it into some bland pop culture land - we are on the verge of making Idiocracy a reality.
And so yet more noble people go off to their just and long overdue reward.
How can we possibly replace their like with such a decrepit and decadent generation as our own?
In Pace Requiscat.
Posted by Turtler
07/10/2009 at 04:26 PM
