Dad was a very tough taskmaster....imagine being raised by a drill sergeant! He always expected us to do our best and excel in whatever we did. To have goals....never give up trying ....always try to improve yourself. Yet he never wanted us to follow in his footsteps and pursue a military career....he felt we were destined for something else. And there was always an emphasis on education. I guess thats why my brother became a Doctor of Veterinary medicine and I became a lawyer (I was probably a disappoint there..
. And he encouraged my mom to go back to school and she received her Masters in Speech Pathology at the age of 56. Dad even returned to school and got a degree in Marketing when he was in his late forties. Didn't need it....just wanted it. I t likely was because he was in the military so young and never got a chance in his early years.
Dad never talked about the military after retirement to us or anyone else except for rare snippets here and there. People knew he was retired Army but that was about it/ Never talked about his experiences or accomplishments. No "ego" wall in his den. Never would watch a war movie or the history channel. He quietly went on with his life.
But here's a thumbnail sketch of our discoveries in going through the bottom of a cedar chest through hiws papers and ribbons and medal tossed haphazaradly in a zip lock bag. He probably would be on my ass for telling this because he never did.
Dad started his carreer fighting in the Korean conflict likely joining to escape the abject poverty of his youth in south Louisiana. He was 6' tall and 140 lbs when he joined. He would ultimately reach ^ 6' 3" and 215 lbs before retiring. In Korea he was seriously wounded with 18 machine gun wounds in his torso and legs. He received the Purple Heart. He left Korea and spent the next 9 month in a body cast. O yeah...He received the Silver Star and the Bronze Star with the V device for valor.
We did find an officially validated report that he was seperated from his squad and founde himself trapped betweem his men and ten chinese combatants dug in. He charged the ten men and emptied his last two clips from his M1carbine and only wounded them superficially (now I know why he a;ways hated the M1). He took the men prisoner and escorted them back to his base alone. Good thing they didn't know he was out of ammo.
Because of his conduct in Korea he began to get sought after positions and promotions yet he decided to go to ranger school. He was in weapons development working with domestic and overseas manufacturers. Because of hyis stature and movie star looks he was the human "model" in numerous weapons training manuals. The are several pics of him teaching various generals how to shoot new weaponry. He went to sharpshooter/sniper school.
More to follow if this doesn't bore you guys or make me sound like a braggart. It is cathartic for me...