I never served in the military but my family has. My father in Vietnam, my uncle in Korea and my grandfather in WWII. All Army.
My dad and my uncle are still here, but my grandfather has long passed. On this Memorial Day I'd like to post a little something about him.
He was late to the war. Served first in the Pacific then was part of the occupation of Japan. He talked about the second part with me, not the first, when I was young. The occupation was easy, as you might imagine. I still chuckle when I think of him riding trains to the country with his service rifle to hunt "wherever looked good". I don't think he shot a thing. He just needed to be outdoors.
He was just as late returning home, and for all the love our country showed the returning GIs there wasnt enough peacetime work to go around. Many companies literally gave jobs to soldiers and hoped they'd grow into their payroll as things got back to normal.
Being so late, he was literally SOL finding a job. So he went to work anyway, at a manufacturing company. He was able to keep it quiet for a couple of weeks before the foreman realized he wasn't getting paid. When the truth came out, that company stretched one more time and hired him.
He started at the. very. bottom.
And he worked his way up through every manufacturing position there, from stockroom to running a simple cutoff saw to true machine work. Then toolwork, not just earning a position as a Toolmaker (trust me it was a big deal then) but eventually running the large toolroom. Then the pressroom too. Then the entire plant. Best hire that company ever made.
He did this while raising 11 children.
He made that family with the love of his life. The night they met he told her with confidence that they would be married, and she told him that it wasn't going to happen because she was a couple of months away from taking her vows as a nun.
Well, he climbed that mountain too.
The only time he reserved for himself was mushrooming and hunting season, Saturday mornings only and I was the lucky kid who got to go with him. My father worked his ass off too, and I never resented it, but having my grandfather "filling in" was a big deal to me then and always.
He taught me how to shoot, sure. And more. But mostly I learned things from his example, about how to live right. About honesty and dedication and resolve. About the things that are really important in life. And to do it all with a smile.
He died in his hotel while traveling for work. The great number of people who attended his services, from near and far, are the best testimony to the kind of man he was. He is still missed by many, many people 30 years after his passing.
When people talk about The Greatest Generation, I automatically think of him. His name was Bill.
Last edited by kragman1; 05/27/19.
