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.