My Dad And Veteran's Day

My dad was a quiet spoken and gentle man. He seldom raised his voice. He loved his family with a fierce love that equaled few. He was not a veteran.
 I was born in 1944. As I have mentioned several times in my posts, I was constantly asking questions. As I got older and went to school, of course, I learned about Veteran's Day.
I went to school in Cherokee, Iowa. My grade school was called Lincoln Elementary. I can remember asking for a nickel to take to school to watch the Veteran's Day movie upstairs.

Upstairs was a long ways up for a little girl. I can remember the steps were cement and the edges showed silver all the way across from hundreds of people using them for years and years.
In those days, Veteran's Day was observed on the 11th day of the 11th month at 11:00 in the morning. It was then that an armistice was signed to end war and start peace among all nations in the year of 1918. It was the day that the first world war had ended. The world had never seen anything like WWI. Over a million people had been killed. Nothing like that war was ever expected to happen again. But of course, it did.
My ancestors had fought for our freedom since the Revolutionary War. My great great grandfather fought in the Civil War and my Uncle was in active duty during WWII. My brother was in the Navy for several years as well.
Well, of course I asked my daddy if he was a veteran. I can actually remember him hanging his head when he answered me. He said, "No, I didn't pass the physical." His brother had been in active service also. Mom and Dad would get letters in the mail from both Dad's brother and Mom's brother.
It took me a few years of growing up to understand just how important Dad felt that his brother and brother-in-law's jobs were compared to his.
My father was a farmer at that time. He did his duty for his country by helping feed the folks that were still left in our country. I can remember them taking food into town for folks at the church that needed help because their "bread winner" was in the service. I can also remember someone stealing food out of their car one night. Mom told me she was sure that whoever stole their food was hungry. That's the way folks used to be. Yes stealing was wrong, but hungry children is wrong also. We had very little money, but we did not ever go hungry.
My children's father was a veteran of WWII and won the Silver Star for saving lives of his men from a German attack. He often said to me, "I just don't understand why I was saved when men that fought with me were not. They had wives and children at home. I did not." He had several brothers that were in the service at that time also.
My mother-in-law had brothers that either served in the service or helped our nation by building bridges and roads. Her mother hung their pictures proudly on her living room wall I was told by one of her nieces. When the war was over one of her brothers joined the Navy. Marie said that her mother was not a bit understanding of that decision, saying, "The war is over, you don't need to go." I think many mothers feel the same way. My mother was when my brother left. The fear of him being hurt and also just missing him was told many times over the years.
My husband had three children in the service as well. It seems everyone knows someone that was or is a veteran. Thank you for all that you do to protect our flag and our freedom. Do not ever hang your head because you don't pass the physical. There is so much you can do for your country at home.

Voting Day A Long Long Time Ago

When I was a little girl, I have often mentioned in my posts that I had an inquiring mind much to my grandfather's chagrin. He thought that little girls should be quiet and never enter into grown up conversations. I do remember my mother standing up to him one time. Seldom in those days did children, even grown up children stand up to their fathers. But this time she did. Mother told her father that if LuAnne didn't ask questions she wouldn't learn new things. She continued to tell him that she had every right to ask questions. Wow! When I think of that conversation now it just makes me smile. He was such a stern man and he liked to think he ruled the roost. Only at this time he wasn't ruling my mother's roost. Ha!
Eventually, however, my constant questions and singing and talking at our table did make my own quiet spoken father take action. He did indeed tell me that at the table there was to be no singing and I could speak when spoken to. You have to remember that this was when I was six to eight years old or younger.
As I grew older I was more aware of not only my home environment, but also aware of what was going on in the country due to current events in school. Elections were talked about and discussed in school.
One evening my mother and father left my brother and me home alone with my sister while they went to an old school house to vote. Two things to note here; they rarely if ever left us home and another we lived in the country.
 Of course, as soon as they got home I asked them who they voted for. Oh my, I got a lecture! I was told that it was no one's business who people voted for and furthermore do not ask again. My parents did not react like that. Both of them were quiet, my father more so than my mother. Since I got that stern response I never asked again, or for that matter didn't ask why I couldn't ask who they voted for. What was the big deal?
I found out when I was older why the secrecy of their voting when I was a teen and young adult; McCarthyism. There was a movement in the early 50's that wreaked havoc with Americans. Many Americans would be accused of being Communists and would be Black Listed. There were even movies stars that would be Black Listed and their careers were ruined. It was a terrible time. I remember watching  at that time what were called "News Reels" at the movies about him.
He was a very influential man because for one thing he was a Senator from Wisconsin. He professed to have a list of card carrying Communists. Even the folks in the White House feared but also hated him. In later days it was discovered that he in fact had "lost" the so called list.
Because of our constitutional right of free speech he was allowed to speak in public forums which were also covered by the press. Before long there was a mass fear among our citizens both from the city and the rural areas albeit my folks.
He was finally defeated by not only alcoholism but by the good people of the our United States.

I was reminded of this horrible time not only today, Election Day for the Mid Term elections, but by the open way people now tell everyone how they vote. The days of McCarthyism is over thank goodness. We are once again free to voice our opinions because we live in a freedom of speech country. We may not always agree with the people that we hear make speeches, but we can say, that we do not agree with no recriminations like in the early 50's.
This is a fun picture of my parents in 1955. I actually was allowed to take this picture with Dad's Kodak Brownie camera. Cherokee, Iowa Bluff Street at my grandparent's house.