My Dad-home from the War
The smile on his face seems a bit forced, but I learned the reason after turning this recently found photo over, reading on the back, it was taken just one year after his returning from the horrors of serving in the Army during WWII. Daddy was in the Infantry, served in Six Major Campaigns-stepping forward to serve his country and face things very few could imagine.
He never spoke about the War-it was an area of his life that we knew not to tread on, but as I reached my teenage years, something spurred me forward and I recall vividly what happened as the subject
was approached~~ "Daddy, I want to ask you something about the War" his face seemed hard as stone, it felt as if he was trying to silently tell me "Trouble-don't go there, just leave it be!" I pushed on,
unsure of this risky move~~but being his daughter, I started with the toughest question~~
~~~~~~~~~~ "Daddy, did you shoot anybody?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~
His eyes appeared to have gone back in time~memories rising to the surface that he worked hard to stuff down inside his heart each day. It felt as if time stood still~~when he finally turned to face me with a look I shall never forget-
"Daughter-the enemy was in a Trench, just like we were, barely three feet of distance apart~~nobody dared raise their head because if they did, Death was waiting for them. All I did was put my gun over my head and squeeze the trigger, over and over.!"
The space around us felt so cold-I was old enough to realize the Depth of his answer and before I could ask another question, his memories had started flowing~~
"I had a Buddy in the Trench with me one night, we had missed too much sleep and I forgot about raising my head up-Suddenly we heard the sound of a Bullet, I dropped to the ground, grabbing my cloth cap, seeing a Bullet hole had gone straight through it. I turned to show my Buddy how close I had come to being Dead-but he lay dead from the Bullet that missed me! I will tell you this Sister, it taught me to Never raise my head up again!"
My young heart was trying to take all this in~~ it hit me I had opened up a door to my Dad's heart and nothing was going to stop the memories now~~words tumbling out as his eyes pierced through me, perhaps waiting for me to beg him to stop talking. He paused to light up a smoke~~glancing at it as he said "I never smoked until I was in the War~~something about being shot at, having to walk among a Sea of Dead Soldiers-well it has a way of getting you hooked on smoking."
His words slowed down as I prayed for hurt rolling from my Daddy to just Stop- suddenly one final memory surfaced as the tone of my Dad's voice had changed, his words came out, Pain in each word he spoke~~
"I was in the 3rd Wave of Soldiers when we landed on Leyte Island-bullets flying at us- we had big boxes of extra Ammo to take with us. A young guy told me he would grab the box-urged me to go ahead and jump in the water. We all were praying the water might keep us safe, but I saw the box was heavy and figured it was my job to grab it. I told him to Jump~ we would see each other later~~
I grabbed the box, turned to jump~~but this kid was lying face up, dead from a bullet! The box being so heavy pulled me down into the waters, probably helping to save my life. After all these years, I keep thinking~~ Why God-why did that young kid have to die? Why wasn't it me?"
Daddy looked like a ghost~~I hated myself for having forced these memories from him-and there was nothing I could say to help ease his Pain. As he reached to light up another smoke, he told me
"Trouble, War is Hell-never forget that."
I thank God for sparing my Dad and bringing him back. On this Veteran's Day-I ask God to ease the hearts of all the families who lost their children to War. I pray for those who now serve our country, Volunteers-giving so much to preserve our Freedom. They come home missing arms, legs, traumatic brain injuries, burns~~~We call them "Our Wounded Warriors!" They are amazing men and women. Amazing.
Martha
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