I am thankful to be in this free country. Even if I don't like the way things are going, I can still write things and say things, and not be arrested for my opinion or asking question.
What an awesome country our Forefathers started, and our family and Friends have lived and died defending.
I am also thankful to be from a family where my Father and Brother both served in the U.S. Navy in wartime and in peace. I served 5 years as a police officer, and so did my brother in law. Even though these are not military, I feel that police and fire personnel are from the same mold, they are all heroes.
My father enlisted in the US Navy right after hearing about the Bombing of Pearl Harbor, as a lot of young men did back then. He love electronics and got into the new fandangled Radar Repair program, and eventually came out as the youngest Chief Petty Officer in the Pacific.
He was on a Destroyer Escort the USS Reeves, and their job was to clear the way of mines, subs and whatever for the big destroyers who could not move as fast. They served in the Philippines and all over the pacific.
The story that stays etched in my mind is when they were near Japan (I know I won't get every detail right) and the fleet was under Kamikaze attack from the Japanese Suicide Bombers. Ships were getting hit, and a plane was heading right for the ship. My dad was on the bridge where the Captain and other staff were. Apparently the captain went "yellow" and ducked under the counter.
Someone on the bridge took over and started yelling commands and quickly turned the ship a hard right or left and the plane missed the ship by mere feet, and crashed into a fireball right off the bow of the ship.
Needless to say, they locked up the captain to protect him from getting killed by the ship personnel and then took him to shore to get rid of him.
Another story I love, and he has photos he took to prove it, is that his ship went into the POW camps in Tokyo and they rescued Pappy Boyington and his crew. Dad has photos of him chowing down in the officers quarters. He wanted toast. Lots of buttered toast. I have the negatives somewhere and I plan on scanning and sharing those sometime.
My dad was so fortunate to live to tell those stories and others. He bravely served on that ship, watching out for our country and land and protecting us so we have freedom and liberties that no other country enjoys the way we do.
From the guy or gal who serves as a computer geek on a base in some god forsaken part of the country and never sees a gun, to those who recently died in the terrorist attack on Fort Hood, to those fighting daily, risking life and limb every day to protect us and our freedom, I say thank you for all you do!
I love you Dad,
Paul
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