Think where our world and your life might be were it not for the many men and women who have served in the military. If you see one...a veteran..you might take a minute and say thank you...and to those families whose loved ones did not come home/ their lives were changed forever......a prayer of thanks and a thank you to them...
I returned the sixty-four year old picture to its rightful place and thought at least there is one soldier that has not been forgotten and his memory lives on in the mind of his son, two daughters and his brother.
Below is something I wrote back in August of 2012.
Just some thoughts:
KOREA, A FORGOTTEN WAR
“Comb your hair, paint and powder,
You’ll look proud but I’ll look prouder,
Tonight we’re settin the woods on fire.”
Isn’t it strange what we remember? Songs, people and circumstances often take us back. Hank Williams, Sr. had this song as a hit in 1950. The first time I heard that song was with my mom, dad and another couple as we had gone out to eat. I was eight years old at the time; and going out to eat was something my family seldom did. But this was a Saturday night. We were eating at Bert and Finn’s Truck Stop just a bit north of Shelburn, Indiana. You can see my family had fancy dining habits if and when we ate out. Yes, Bert and Finn’s Truck Stop.
I remember that song being played constantly on the juke box. My mom made some comment about it and the man from the other couple commented on how a number of folks must like the song because it was number one last week on the TV show, The Hit Parade. Now you surely don’t remember that show; Snooky Landson, Geilse McKenzie and Dorothy Collins.
But what I most remember about that evening was not the evening of dining out, but what had taken place earlier that day. On that day my older brother, eighteen year old Daren had left the train station in Terre Haute going to Lackland Air Force Base in Texas to begin his basic training. The other couple also had put their son, Dean, on that same train headed to the same location. It was the time of the Korean War; I call that war the forgotten war. Sadly, too many do not remember that time or the cost of lives.
Now, as an adult I realize going out to eat was not the main reason for us being together that evening. I think two families wanted company, wanting to be together with another in like situations. When I think back to that day, I think it was the first time in my life I cried, I mean really cried over something that hurt, other than bumps, bruises and scratches.
I look at my grandchildren today and wonder what it is they will cry over. That day two couples were wanting support and to share in their sadness
"Sadness not shared can multiplied, sadness shared can be halved."
“Pity the man who falls and has no one to pick him up.”
August 28, 2012
Keep on
Larry Adamson