Veteran’s Day
The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
Armistice Day to Gramps who was in France in WWI.
Veteran’s Day to my favorite veteran …
I was home being baked in the oven when these were taken.
On the Korean front line:
The field artillery battalion had 8″ M110 and M115 howitzers. They mostly worked the area known as the Iron Triangle in central Korea, north of the 38th Parallel. The three major battles Papa-san was involved in were White Horse Hill, Triangle Hill, and Pork Chop Hill. The region today straddles the demilitarized zone.
My papa-san is there closest to the camera
The Battle of Triangle Hill was an unsuccessful battle of attrition that put a serious hurt on the UN forces. Papa-san doesn’t speak much but he once mentioned their position was over-run by Chinese troops. But nothing more.
Pap-san is 98 now and far healthier than one would expect a 98yo to be … albeit with a bit of a hearing problem.
And the day of course for several of my old friends and buddies of a later kurfluffle – especially Randy – a Marine on the Cua Viet River in 1968 Vietnam (he survived). And Jim in 1971. He came home but I can’t say he survived.
I missed that little joy ride because Nixon changed his mind and rescinded my draft orders. I put my time in helping build the shaft of the pointy end; I was more a wizard than warrior anyway.
I don’t know that of any of my ancestors died in any of the wars they were in from the Revolutionary War onward.
My Dad’s dad was in France at the tail end of WWI and my Dad missed WWII by a couple years. I was in at the end of VN but was never deployed. Most of the males in my family have been soldiers going back at least 200 years. Dad was 17 in this pik and stationed in Japan.