Veterans Day 2018

My son and I went to the Veteran’s Day parade on Sunday.  It was a sunny, crisp, cusp  of winter day in New York. As we stood at the corner of 28^thStreet and Fifth Avenue, watching the many different groups of vets, other marchers, pipers, bikers, a great marching band, I thought of my father.  And as a float went by saluting “the Greatest Generation” with one or two World War II vets in their 90s, tears came to my eyes as those thoughts intensified.  My dad was a private in the infantry and fought in the South Pacific, earning a Purple Heart, a Bronze Star for bravery, and other commendations. He was a lovely man, quiet, unassuming, he always treated people with respect, even those he disagreed with. He was proud of his service but would not have wanted or expected a parade, a pat on the back, or really any recognition at all.  He likely would have found this writing unnecessary and embarrassing.  He was called upon, and, like so many of his generation, he answered the call.

Also like many others, my dad’s service continued after the war. A child of immigrants, the first in his family to go to college, he taught English in a public high school for many years, and, after retirement, volunteered in a range of community service organizations.  On a day that honors those, like my father, who did and do serve, the character, words and behavior of the politicians who purport to lead us insult his memory and those of the many others who served, an affront to everything they fought and died for. We are in dire need of people to lead us forward with hope, optimism and decency, not hatred, small-mindedness, egotism and bigotry.  Until more of those leaders arrive, we can gain some measure of comfort from the strength, resilience, courage, and sense of duty of men and women like my dad.  I can only hope to live up to the example they have set.