Veteran's Day

On this Veteran's day I am remembering two WWII vets that I was close to growing up...

Emery Turner...a coworker of my dad, and like a grandpa to me, he could write a poem for every event. The only one who thought I could win the P&H drawing contest back when I was nine. A great inspiration for my creative side. (He would love my scrapbooking) I never had a conversation with him about his service in the war. In fact, the only memory I have him as a veteran was at a dinner table conversation. I don't remember the details or the words, but I remember the emotions that arose from him during the interaction. As a young child I became scared and sad seeing a usually happy man so upset. That was a teaching moment for me, learning that the devastation of war may not consume a person, it may not come up often, but it lasts a life time.

My other WWII veteran was my Uncle Clem...The gentlest man you could ever know. My childhood memories of him include piling into his car with my mom and dad, not to go on a trip, but just to visit with him while he sat in the drivers seat parked on our driveway. I remember rides around the block on his lap and my dad taking the doors off the hinges in our house when he was coming to stay. Strange things to remember unless you know that he was a paraplegic. His wartime story was never a secret; he was shot during the war, and his life changed in an instant. Because of his injury, as a young man he would no longer walk, but would find the woman he would fall in love with, marry, and adopt a wonderful daughter. The way he lived his life, without complaint or condemnation showed me what a hero he truly is.

Knowing those two men has instilled in my heart a soft spot for that disappearing generation. So here is a video that stuck me as a great way to remember those veterans of WWII.