Years ago, my dad’s youngest brother encouraged my grandmother to write her life’s story. Since then, he’s published several other books on our family, including some pictures that help tell the story.
There were eight kids in their family, six of them boys. When World War II came, several of the boys enlisted. This picture from 1943 shows the strain the family was under during those stressful years.
My uncles Charlie and Luther were already in the navy; they are on either end of the picture. My dad is second from the left; he would soon join the Air Force, as would his brother Sam, second from the right. The other boy in the picture, Coleman, would join the Navy upon graduating from high school the following year.
Sam was the only one of the boys that didn’t come home. On May 22, 1944, the family received a letter telling them that Sam’s plane had been shot down. A month later, they got official word that he had been killed.
The stress of having four sons in the military and the pain of having lost another took a terrible toll on my grandmother. The picture below was taken in 1946. Less than three years from the picture above, yet the physical change is dramatic. (Note that my grandmother was already using a cane in the above picture, she just didn’t have it with her when that picture was taken)
On this Memorial Day, let’s remember those who suffer during wartime, especially those who are left behind.
Thank you, Tim, for posting this link on Facebook. Once upon a time we were all young. :)Mignonne
Thanks, Tim! I have the scrapbook that my grandmother made during the war years. She had 3 sons in the military. One died in North Africa. The scrapbook featured him and his death. The telegram that they got announcing his death is in there. The first time I read it, I cried. It broke my heart. I always choke up or cry again when I read it. It has the letters that he wrote home to them in it. And it has the letter that one of my uncles (her baby) wrote back to her when he visited his brother’s grave in Onan. He described the cemetary, etc. All I can say is wow. My heart breaks everytime I read it. Okay, now I’ll sniffle all day thinking of them. I hate to think that this scenario is multiplied for every death of a soldier before and since..it’s not just the soldier..it’s the families that bear the tragedy of the death of a young son so far away from home.
Thanks Tim,
I served from 1980-1991 in various garden spots such as Beirut, Nicaragua and the Persian Gulf. I know now that there were times when my mother did not know where I was, but knew that I was close to the action. She said she never prayed for God to keep me out of trouble – she knew I would find trouble! She just prayed that the Lord would keep me safe. I’m now preaching in Texas and doing some short-term mission work. I know she worries (and prays) every time I get on the plane.
Tim,
The story of your family’s personal loss touched my heart. In 1993 we met our daughter’s college roommate for the first time, she became like our own daughter. In 1998 we watched her marry her soulmate, a young Army officer. They were stationed in Germany and sent pictures as they happily toured Europe. In Dec. 2003 they welcomed their son and 6 weeks later her husband went to Iraq. In Nov. 2004 he was killed and we watched her suffering as he was buried with full military honors. Since that day she has been on a long, tiring and painful journey, although things have much improved… on days like today…. the pain and loss is revisited.
The families of Fallen Soldiers need our compassion, our encouragement, and most of all our prayers. They need to know that we remember… the loved one who was lost… and equally important… that we remember them!
This was the buzz of the family. Thank You for not letting Uncle Sam be forgotten. Because his brothers and sisters never let him out of their rememberances.