We remember

Memorial Day remembering.

Today we honor my dad, Ralph, who enlisted at 19 on June 29th, 1942. (My niece was born many years later on June 29th). He trained  at Chanute Field, Illinois, made his way around the world via the Panama Canal on a transport ship headed to the the war front. He served proudly in India, in the high tea country of the north, in the Assam Valley. Dad worked his way up to TSgt,  in the 1337th Army Air Force Base Unit, Air Transport Command part of the China, Burma, India Theater(CBI) in Sookerating India. Dad learned welding and became an aircraft body specialist, servicing the P-39, Aircobra, P-51 Mustang and C-46 Cargo planes that brave pilots flew over the 'Hump'. He was proud of his service and came from a long line of men who defended our country beginning in the Revolutionary War. I'm also glad to say that my brother never had to take up arms to carry on the tradition. I found this quote about the mission of my father's unit...

"The mission of the airbase at the end of the line in the upper Assam Valley of India could be stated simply as flying supplies to China over the "Hump" during WWII. However, that simplification would be an under-statement, and would hardly do justice to the military mission which has been accomplished so successfully by the pilots and men of the 1337th. AAFBU." 

The small penknife in the photo is the one he carried around the world in his pocket, 18 months in India, R&R in Australia and back home safely to marry a woman he had known all his life, but really noticed in high school. They were engaged on Valentine's Day after meeting again at a dance soon after he returned. They began building the house I grew up in, next to the one we live in now before they married that August of 1946. Three years later I was born, and my brother in 1955. My dad died well before he was finished with this life, at 75. My mother at 85 joining him 9 years later, never adjusting to his loss.

For the Record, 
This day came in warm and sunny, perfect holiday weather.

All hands healing.