Many of my readers know that I work part time doing qualifying, physical exams on military candidates. Last week I asked an 18 y/o man what inspired him to join the Marines.
“It’s in our family,” he replied. “Both my grandpas and my uncle and my dad have been either in the Army or the Marines. My Grandpa actually saved my uncle’s life!”
“Really? Tell me about it.”
He smiled and began, “Grandpa was a medical corpsman in the Marines and my uncle, his brother, was in the army. They were both in Vietnam, but didn’t know they were in the same battle. Grandpa saw a soldier get shot right through the stomach. It went in here,” he said as he pointed to his right side, “and,” slapping his left side, “out here. Before that soldier even hit the ground Grandpa was there and with gun-fire all around them he pulled that soldier to safety. It wasn’t until he had the bleeding stopped that he noticed the soldier was his brother, my uncle!”
I wish you could have seen the pride in that boy’s face. I reveled in it; it brought to mind the fact that kids always try to be like the heroes who raised them and their other family members. It also gave great comfort to my heart knowing that this boy, who wanted to be a medical corpsman like his grandpa, will save some lives and help make our world a safer place.
As we celebrate this Memorial Day, let’s pause to thank every service man and women we see. They deserve our support and appreciation.
Let’s remember too, that our kids are becoming us, so we need to be the person we want them to become.