[lksteve]

i've been hesitant to post in this thread, in regards to this day...TRs post regarding the movie stars of the WWII era is the catalyst (that's right, blame it on someone else)...but let me put some things right at the start...to those who went before me, let me extend my gratitude for you service and your example...for those who went with me, let me extend my gratitude for your camaraderie...i knew someone always had my six covered...for those of you who serve now, thanks...a lot...for those who are here to support those serving, i am not sure i can express how much it means to me, thanks...

my father served as an infantryman in WWII (Panama and the Pacific theater), Korea (August 50-51, 17th Infantry Regiment) and Vietnam (68-69, MAC-V, Tay Ninh Province)...he served in Berlin (62-65) during a tense period in our history...he is buried at Andersonville National Cemetary, not far from the entrance to the site under a live oak tree...Three CIBs, never wounded (although he had a watch shot off his wrist at Inchon), small of stature and left-handed, he died of lung cancer 10 summers ago...there was a bulldog of a counselor (a woman with no military service) who discounted the pack-and-a-half of Kools dad smoked daily for sixty years and won a determination that the cancer was caused, in whole or in part, by exposure to Agent Orange, providing a more substantial pension for my mother...where ever that lady is, i am in her debt...

we lived in Chicago for awhile in my early childhood, as Dad was doing whatever he could to avoid the Appalachian coal mines...(he reentered service at the age of 43, as the Berlin Wall was being erected)...we lived on the South Side and were frequently in attendance at White Sox games at Comisky Park...Dad's favorite player was Ted Williams for reasons that took me entirely too long to understand, given my chosen profession...we went to at least one game during every weekend series the Red Sox were in town...looking back on those times, i'm glad we did...Dad would berate other athletes, stating when they had done what TW had done, he'd give them some time...Dad wasn't talking about TWs considerable accomplishments on the field..Dad was referring to his wartime service...Dad was fortunate enough to play regimental baseball with Marty Marion and Terry Miller (although he 'complained' that he had to move from SS to 2B when Marion came into the regiment) in Panama, before eventually moving on to the 6th ID at the tail end of the war...

my parents' favorite actor was Jimmy Stewart...i always liked his movies, but, once again, never saw the depth of their affection for the man...sometimes, i guess i'm a little dense...there was a bit of competition, though...my mother worked at a defense plant in Radford VA after graduating from high school...Audie Murphy came through on a War Bonds tour and she was allowed to touch the CMH around his neck...BTW, Audie Murphy was only slightly taller than Dad...anyway, not unlike TW, if a JS movie was on, we were there...must have seen every western he made growing up...later in life, i became partial to 'Shenandoah', as my father told me it was rather like his family's experience during the War of Northern Aggression...a historical footnote, we were in the Outpost Theater in West Berlin, watching 'The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance' November 22, 1963...i have never seen that movie all the way through to this date...

this day is rough on a lot of us...we've all lost friends along the way...not all of them died in combat...i am reminded often of the men from the 101st Airborne, returning from the Sinai in 1985 on Arrow Air 007, who crashed at Gander, Newfoundland...i knew every company grade officer on that aircraft...the captains had either gone to IOBC or IOAC with me and every lieutenant was in an IOBC class where i was the senior trainer...several of them were in my platoon...one young man, named Parks, from Montana, had a pretty little wife, his high school sweetheart...they were expecting a child as he was completing IOBC...RIP...

once again, thanks...