Heros

Medal of Honor

I realize Memorial Day was yesterday, but I think it is appropriate to say a few words about the spirit of the day and what I feel it means.

In my family we had one WWII Hero, my Uncle Bill. He was my fathers older brother. He was a Marine.

When he was only 23 he was killed on the Island of Tarawa. His bravery was witnessed and reported by his fellow soldiers and he was awarded the Medal of Honor Posthumously.

My father, nor the rest of his family ever recovered. When I say never recovered, I mean Never. While my father went through the stages of his dying almost 2 decades ago, he was still mourning the loss of his brother. I feel confident in saying Uncle Bill's death in a sense killed the whole family.

Now, I am not saying the medal is not an honor for the family. It is.
 It is amazing  to think I may carry in my blood the potential for such bravery. When my father passed away I recall my Mother wrote in his obituary about "a hero gene" that she saw in her husband, that same gene that was dominant in Bill.

Fast forward to today.

My oldest son carries this gene. He is a life guard, put in his application to serve in the Volunteer Fire Dept.,
and is planning on getting his EMT Training.  I insisted he get the Medical Training because he wants to eventually join the Coast Guard. If he were to be deployed I want him to  be doing more than fighting

To think my son could be deployed gives me a little taste of what Memorial Day means.

 Really means

and it
terrifies me.

It is late, and it is certainly not enough, but Thank you to all of you who carry this Hero Gene thing. Thank
you for being willing to be on the front lines for the rest of us. Know we do appreciate and honor every single one of you, medal or no.
 

Thank You.