My Marine Dad

My dad was a loyal, faithful, practical man. He was also very humble. I don't think I ever recall him bragging about anything ..... except for the Marines. And he was one. Not a career Marine, but enough of one to eek it into our life as a family. I know my brothers will back me up on this whenever they got their haircut with the buzzer. He watched many war movies and documentaries and read as many books about war time. I remember he wrote a letter to the editor of our local paper because the caption was wrong under the famous flag raising photo at Iwo Jima. By the time I came along, dad’s Marine days were done. He was the manager of the Alpha Beta store. He would have peanuts in his shirt pocket for me when mom and I came shopping. But when I was old enough to notice how organized and routine happy he was, the Marine influence was glaring. For example, all our canned foods were in nice neat stacks, labels facing out, green beans on the veggie side, and pineapple chunks on the fruit side. And so it was with many things - sorted, labeled, and ready for use. A place for everything and everything in its place. Boy was it frustrating for him that the others in his household were not born with the Marine gene! “How come I can never find a pen (or comb, or insert your ordinary everyday household item in this space) around here!” was a frequent complaint by dad. I loved my dad – his attention to detail, his neatness, his example of loyalty and honor to God, family and his country. This weekend, a local cub scout troop placed a flag on every grave at Willamette National Cemetery. A row of cars stretched far and long to make it up Mt. Scott to spend time there. I was awed at the sight of the flags, and the number of people who made the time to visit this day. But I was also sad that I had not made this trek on a Memorial Day until today. All I kept thinking as I wandered the rows and read headstones near dad’s was how much I wished I had come here WITH him to share in his pride of the men and women that sacrificed days/years/life for us. I heard someone say, the time never passes too far to say thank you. Thank you and Godspeed men and women in the armed forces. Thank you families that sacrifice years without their loved ones. Thank you dad.