Walt, the Old Man came out with a Bronze, a Silver, and two Purple Hearts and a huge scar on his left shoulder made by the Army surgeons that pulled a thumb sized piece of shrapnel from an 88. He said getting hit probably saved his life.
I never served in the Military.. Born 1959 – never had to worry about being drawn in lottery..
Never had to register for draft (caught in the donut hole – fortunately – I guess)..
I thank each of you for your service – and at same time – regret the fact that you risked your lives – to
fight an “unwinnable politicians war”. Damm shame how our government lied about Vietnam.
I want to share a story about my Father - Charles – a.k.a. Buddy (RIP).
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Growing up - I knew my father served in the Military, (WWII and Pacific Theater) but he never spoke much about it. The only thing I recall was he talked a bit about a Samoan soldier who saved his life while battling Japs on island territories.. He stated that the Samoans were kind to their friends, but the most brutal of warriors.
My father never hunted -which is big is PA. When I came of age – my Uncle would take me hunting.
I never pressed my father – as to why he would not take me hunting.
Another thing I noticed about him – he would get “peeved” when he overheard some guy bragging up war stories – about how many kills they had – about how they vanquished the enemy!!
He told me – that in 99% of the cases – the braggart is Full of Chit – and probably never saw action.
He felt that someone who went through such horror would not openly share with strangers.
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Buddy died on 02-28-1995.
Next day – I was going through his closet & dresser drawers – looking for clothing (suit & tie- etc) for his burial.
Tucked far in the back of the bottom dresser drawer – was an old 38 special handgun with 10 rounds.
Below that was a small jewelry type box .
I opened it.
Inside was a folded letter and a Silver Star Medal.
I never knew Buddy was awarded the Silver Star Medal. He never spoke of it, He hid it away in the back of a dresser drawer.
I unfolded the letter. It was really old-school typed style – from Dept of Defense/Army…
The narrative stated:
My father and his platoon were trapped between crossfire – with wounded comrades to tend to, and about to exhaust their ammo supply.
My father took it upon himself to grab hand grenades and run along perimeter and up a hill -and successfully took out the enemy machine gun nests via grenades.
As a result – he helped save the lives of 14 other soldiers – who most likely were minutes away from
certain death -or possibly worse – being captured by the Japanese Army.
For his heroic efforts - he was awarded the US Silver Star.
Suddenly - it was clear to me:
No wonder he hated braggarts – telling white lies about Military Heroism.
But I still did not understand why he never shared this story with us.
I still did not understand why he never took me hunting.
Until
in the letter – was a sentence that stated Buddy was 18 years old – the day that battle went down.
It blew me away -
envisioning the horrors he witnessed – as an 18 year old (barely an adult).
Now I understood why he kept silent.
Now I understood why he did not want to hunt.
Charles “Buddy” – was buried with Military Honors – with the Silver Star Medal pinned to his chest -with a new pack of Pall Mall cigs and new Zippo Lighter in his suit jacket pocket.
RIP Buddy
